AWFUL UMPIRING

Here's why the umpire from Astros-Yankees was even worse than we thought

Correa was not happy with the home plate umpire. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images.

Tuesday's Astros-Yankees game was very difficult to watch as an Astros fan. Home plate umpire Jose Navas missed so many calls it was hard for us to keep count during the game. Luckily, the folks at Umpire Auditor kept track of Navas' horrendous performance on Tuesday night. Navas wasn't just calling balls as strikes against the Astros, like during one of Carlos Correa's at-bats when he called two pitches that were below the strike zone as strikes. But he also squeezed Bryan Abreu in the 6th inning which led to the Yankees blowing the game open and never looking back. Astros catcher Martin Maldonado was so disgusted he could be seen arguing with the umpire throughout the inning.

According to Umpire Auditor, Navas missed an alarming 21 calls throughout the game. Have a look at how far outside this pitch was that he rung up Kyle Tucker on. This certainly felt like a game in which everyone outside of Houston wanted to see the Astros "take their medicine" in their first appearance at Yankee Stadium after the sign-stealing scandal went public.

Hopefully, with this game in the books, the Astros can move on and worry about beating the Yankees, and not think about having to beat the umpires too.

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The Houston Astros haven't counted on their catchers to deliver much offensive production in recent years, with defensive specialist Martin Maldonado being their primary catcher for the last few seasons. But top hitting prospect Yainer Diaz is making a case to get more playing time behind the plate and at first, based on his ability to swing the bat.

Until recently, he hasn't been able to get any meaningful playing time. Even David Hensley, who was optioned to Sugar Land a few weeks ago, has more plate appearances than Diaz this season.

So how does manager Dusty Baker find more opportunities for Diaz? Should he use him more often as a DH, along with getting time at first base and catcher?

And what does that mean for Jose Abreu, Martin Maldonado, and to a lesser extent, former first round pick and Sugar Land Space Cowboy catcher, Korey Lee?

Plus, considering how good the Astros outfielders have been this year, does the team need to grab another bat before the trade deadline?

Don't miss the video above as we break it all down!

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