October 20, 2023

NLCS: Umpire Dan Iassogna was extremely spotty in Game 3 of Phillies-D-backs

Missed calls weren't why the Phillies lost, but it's undeniable that Thursday night's umpiring was highly inconsistent.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Let's be clear about this from the start: The umpiring was not the reason the Phillies lost Game 3 of the NLCS.

Cold bats and a bullpen that cracked first were.

But man, was Dan Iossagna sketchy behind the plate Thursday down in Arizona – and in all honesty, with the expectation that a day like that would come out of the assignment.

Here's a look at the missed calls via Umpire Auditor on Twit...X...whatever...:

Umpire Dan Iassogna missed 14 calls in #NLCS game 3 #Diamondbacks v #Phillies.

He had a correct call rate of 89.4%. For context, last place Angel Hernandez had a correct call rate of 90.4%. https://t.co/QitKst2XEU pic.twitter.com/UbCQSb5e8y
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) October 20, 2023

At least the inconsistency consistently went both ways, I suppose. Maybe even favored the Phillies by just a hair based on Umpire Scorecards' Game 3 report:

Umpire: Dan Iassogna
Final: Phillies 1, D-backs 2#RingTheBell // #Dbacks #PHIvsAZ // #AZvsPHI #Postseason

More stats for this game 👇https://t.co/JUuBolNRKJ pic.twitter.com/9KJ5GVxiyO
— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) October 20, 2023

To which, again, the umpiring wasn't the reason the Phillies lost Game 3.

Still, in the postseason, when every single pitch matters, it is pretty baffling that Major League Baseball would be OK with that level of discrepancy behind the plate, especially when the metrics have existed – publically, even – for a long time to make the best possible assignments for MLB's biggest possible games.

It isn't a great look, especially when compared to Game 2 back here in Philly, which umpire Carlos Torres called with 95 percent overall accuracy (against Iossagna's 91 percent in Game 3), per Umpire Scorecards.

Umpire: Carlos Torres
Final: D-backs 0, Phillies 10#Dbacks // #RingTheBell #AZvsPHI // #PHIvsAZ #Postseason

More stats for this game 👇https://t.co/VrHjf8hn2F pic.twitter.com/FmmT6JD1F4
— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) October 18, 2023

It is what it is at this point though.

The Phillies still hold a 2-1 series lead and are on to Game 4 Friday night with left-hander Cris Sánchez slated to make the start – after not having appeared at all through the first two rounds of the postseason.

Mike Muchlinski will be the umpire behind the plate this time, working with an expected accuracy of 93.8 percent and a built-up consistency level of 93.6 percent, again per Umpire Scorecards.

And the Phillies on the whole aren't too worried about if they'll bounce back quick behind Sanchez.

"He's thrown the ball great for us all year," shortstop Trea Turner said (via NBC sports Philly). "He takes us deep into games, throws strikes, gets groundballs. We love when he pitches. He's been big for us."

First pitch at Chase Field down in Arizona is set for 8:07 p.m. ET.