Jen Pawol, the first female umpire in MLB, has returned to Class AAA after her historic debut.
Sixteen Class AAA umpires, including Pawol, have filled in for MLB games this season due to illness, injury, or scheduled time off.
Fill-in umpires have performed well this season, with a median accuracy rate comparable to full-time MLB umpires.
Jen Pawol’s historic work behind the plate of a Major League Baseball game is in the history books. So what might be next for the 48-year-old umpire now that she’s returned to the Class AAA ranks?
A return engagement in the majors is certainly not out of the question. Including Pawol, 16 Class AAA umpires have called balls and strikes in the major leagues this season, with veteran John Bacon working 23 games behind the plate.
For now, Pawol is back in the minors. Yet where might she work next, and make a return to the highest level?
Here’s a partial breakdown of the fill-in umpire procedures, gleaned from league and umpiring sources:
Where will Jen Pawol next work a game?
Unlike their MLB counterparts, Class AAA umpires aren’t entirely assigned to four-man crews. Instead, 15 three-ump crews are assigned to Class AAA, working both the Pacific Coast and International leagues. There’s an additional group of ‘rover’ umpires who are assigned to AAA crews and made available for fill-in work on MLB games.
Why are minor-league umps forced to fill in on MLB games?
It’s not unlike any other job. Umpires get sick or get injured – think foul balls off the mask or body, sometimes leading to concussion-related absences. MLB umps are also granted time off during the season.
In Pawol’s case, it was a five-game series between Atlanta and Miami that included a makeup of a postponed game. By rule, an umpire must rotate off the crew during that series. (Keep an eye on the upcoming five-game Cubs-Brewers series, which will require similar help from the minors).
What determines which fill-in umpire gets called up to MLB?
It’s not unlike the factors that determine which umpires earn full-time promotions or playoff assignments once they’re in the MLB fold. League evaluations are a significant part of that equation, along with merit. Experience can certainly factor into that.
And then there’s the logistical element of getting a certain umpire from Point A to Point B (along with a replacement for the replacement). In Pawol’s case, the league had a few weeks to work out logistics because it knew an extra ump would be needed for the Atlanta-Miami series. Time off is a similarly predictive scenario.
In cases of injury, proximity and availability are key factors in who gets the call.
How have fill-in umpires performed in MLB?
This season, quite well. According to Umpire Scorecards, the top ball-strike caller in the majors this season is Edwin Jimenez, whose 96.48% accuracy in 19 games behind the plate leads all umpires. Jimenez is a fill-in umpire, and also the brother of full-time ump Emil Jimenez. While internal MLB umpire evaluations are tightly held, it would not be surprising to see Edwin Jimenez elevated to full-time status in coming seasons.
And the collective 17 fill-in umps have acquitted themselves well; their median accuracy for the year is 94.49% across 189 games, almost identical to the 94.22% for all umpires. Pawol’s rating of 92.72% (based on 140 of 151 correctly called pitches) is very respectable for a first-time outing, and a small enough sample that two more pitches graded as correct would put her in the 94% group.