Jorge Soler got tossed last week after arguing a borderline strike call. The pitch came in low on the first pitch of the at-bat, and Soler didn’t agree with the call. He let the umpire know, but things escalated fast. The ump warned him to back off, then ejected him moments later. Soler seemed surprised, and his manager came out to argue. The ump claimed Soler had crossed the line by not letting it go and said the ejection was for what he said, not the pitch itself.
A closer look at the pitch shows it was low but close. Going frame by frame, the pitch crosses the plate as Soler’s head turns, which usually means it’s close to the zone. It might not have been a strike, but it wasn’t an obvious miss either. The call was borderline. The frustration from Soler seemed more about the quick hook than the strike itself. The whole moment felt like it escalated quicker than it needed to.