Sam Holbrook: 90 percent (9 over, 1 under)
Holbrook began his career as a Major League umpire in 1998 and worked his first World Series last season.
Of all the umpires on this list, Holbrook has the strongest reputation as an over umpire. The over is 131-111 since 2002 when Holbrook is behind the plate and he’s had more overs than unders in four of the last five seasons.
While the sample size is still relatively small (Holbrook is generally behind home plate between 30 and 35 games per year), his strike percentage (60.75) is 1.33 percent lower than his career average and his walks are up, too. That’s something worth monitoring as the season progresses.
Scott Barry: 88.9 percent (8 over, 1 under)
Barry has been umpiring big-league games since 2006 but didn’t achieve full-time status until earlier this year.
Few umpires have been as controversial as Barry, who ejected three All-Stars in less than a week last August - Ivan Rodriguez, Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard.
Barry has only called games with single-digit totals so far, and the over is 6-1 in games where the total is eight runs or less. It will be interesting to see if more unders start hitting as Barry calls games with higher totals.
In his brief career, Barry hasn’t trended one way or the other. He’s had 63 overs and 60 unders. Given his personality and his seeming desire to be a control freak, the guess here is that he eventually evolves into an under umpire.
Tim McClelland: 80 percent (8 over, 2 under)
McClelland is one of the most recognizable umpires in baseball, having been involved in a number of controversies and dustups, most notably the Sammy Sosa corked bat incident in 2003.
From a betting perspective, though, McClelland couldn’t possibly be more anonymous. He hasn’t trended over or under throughout his career (the over is 140-134 since 2002) and his numbers have been fairly consistent across the board.
The under was 16-14 last year, likely because the average runs per game when McClelland was behind the plate was 8.36 - about 1.34 runs lower than his career average.
Hunter Wendelstedt: 80 percent (8 over, 2 under)
Much like McClelland, Wendelstedt, an 11-year veteran, isn’t really known as an over or under umpire. In fact, of the 272 games he’s umped behind the plate, the over and under have each come in 136 times.
Wendelstedt has, however, trended under in the last five years, as the under has come in more than the over four times during that span.
This year, Wendelstedt’s two unders have come in games when the total was 7.5 runs. The over is 3-0 when the total is nine runs or more.
Tim Tschida: 77.8 percent (7 over, 2 under)
Of umpires who have called at least eight games, nobody has a lower strike percentage (60.1 percent) and a higher average runs per game (11.7) than 25-year veteran Tschida.
The high scoring comes despite Tschida calling games with mostly low totals. Five of his games have had a total of eight runs or less, and the over is 4-1 in those games.
Holbrook began his career as a Major League umpire in 1998 and worked his first World Series last season.
Of all the umpires on this list, Holbrook has the strongest reputation as an over umpire. The over is 131-111 since 2002 when Holbrook is behind the plate and he’s had more overs than unders in four of the last five seasons.
While the sample size is still relatively small (Holbrook is generally behind home plate between 30 and 35 games per year), his strike percentage (60.75) is 1.33 percent lower than his career average and his walks are up, too. That’s something worth monitoring as the season progresses.
Scott Barry: 88.9 percent (8 over, 1 under)
Barry has been umpiring big-league games since 2006 but didn’t achieve full-time status until earlier this year.
Few umpires have been as controversial as Barry, who ejected three All-Stars in less than a week last August - Ivan Rodriguez, Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Howard.
Barry has only called games with single-digit totals so far, and the over is 6-1 in games where the total is eight runs or less. It will be interesting to see if more unders start hitting as Barry calls games with higher totals.
In his brief career, Barry hasn’t trended one way or the other. He’s had 63 overs and 60 unders. Given his personality and his seeming desire to be a control freak, the guess here is that he eventually evolves into an under umpire.
Tim McClelland: 80 percent (8 over, 2 under)
McClelland is one of the most recognizable umpires in baseball, having been involved in a number of controversies and dustups, most notably the Sammy Sosa corked bat incident in 2003.
From a betting perspective, though, McClelland couldn’t possibly be more anonymous. He hasn’t trended over or under throughout his career (the over is 140-134 since 2002) and his numbers have been fairly consistent across the board.
The under was 16-14 last year, likely because the average runs per game when McClelland was behind the plate was 8.36 - about 1.34 runs lower than his career average.
Hunter Wendelstedt: 80 percent (8 over, 2 under)
Much like McClelland, Wendelstedt, an 11-year veteran, isn’t really known as an over or under umpire. In fact, of the 272 games he’s umped behind the plate, the over and under have each come in 136 times.
Wendelstedt has, however, trended under in the last five years, as the under has come in more than the over four times during that span.
This year, Wendelstedt’s two unders have come in games when the total was 7.5 runs. The over is 3-0 when the total is nine runs or more.
Tim Tschida: 77.8 percent (7 over, 2 under)
Of umpires who have called at least eight games, nobody has a lower strike percentage (60.1 percent) and a higher average runs per game (11.7) than 25-year veteran Tschida.
The high scoring comes despite Tschida calling games with mostly low totals. Five of his games have had a total of eight runs or less, and the over is 4-1 in those games.
