Umpire makes fun of Lars Nootbaar's batting average, a breakdown

May 31, 2024 613.5K views 3:59

What Happened

In the bottom of the third inning, Lars Nootbaar of the St. Louis Cardinals steps up to the plate against the Baltimore Orioles. Orioles pitcher Tyler Wells delivers the first pitch, which is called a strike by the home plate umpire. The second pitch also misses the strike zone, resulting in another called strike. Nootbaar is now in a 2-2 count. The next pitch from Wells is outside the strike zone, but the umpire calls it strike three. Nootbaar appears frustrated, as all three strikes were on pitches outside the strike zone. Nootbaar's manager, Oliver Marmol, begins arguing with the umpire, saying "All three. All three were off the plate." The umpire, Laz Diaz, warns Marmol to stop talking. However, Diaz then invites Marmol to repeat himself, saying "Huh? Stop." This prompts Marmol to again state, "All three were off the plate." Diaz then ejects Marmol from the game for the argument. As Marmol leaves the field, he continues to plead his case to Diaz, gesturing and pointing. Diaz, the crew chief, tries to calm the situation by physically restraining Marmol. The broadcast commentary notes that Diaz seems to be heavily defending the home plate umpire's calls, even though the replays show the pitches were indeed outside the strike zone. The altercation continues, with hot microphones capturing more of the exchange. Diaz is heard making a disparaging remark about Nootbaar's low batting average, saying "He's hitting .210 and wear off." Marmol takes offense to this and tells Diaz, "Nobody's talking to you. What do you want?" Eventually, Diaz walks away, and the home plate umpire is left sheepishly acknowledging that "all three were off the plate." The broadcast commentary suggests the umpire was heavily protected by Diaz, even though the replays showed the calls were incorrect.

Full Transcript

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Bottom of the third inning, first pitch outside, called strike one to Lars Neubauer.

This breakdown is brought to you by DraftKings.

Third pitch also outside.

That's called for strike two.

Now, Lars, he got ejected the game before this.