Austin Wells reveals umpire played direct aggressive role in Camilo Doval's struggles

While Camilo Doval still has the electric talent to be successful under Matt Blake, the New York Yankees reliever probably needs an offseason to settle into the instruction to approach his potential. The midseason change of scenery appears to have done more harm than good, and it certainly doesn't help things when it feels like the home plate umpire is actively working against him.

The ump is supposed to be scenery. He's not supposed to dictate the action. And yet umpire Brian Walsh couldn't help himself with the Yankees in Houston on Wednesday. Walsh, pictured in Red Sox gear on his public Facebook page (strike one), reportedly missed 21 calls in the game, according to Umpire Auditor, 15 of which harmed the Yankees. That includes the final pitch of the game, a missed strike three to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in a full count.

But there's "bad calls," and then there's the other way umpires can affect the outcome of a game: intimidation and intentional lack of understanding. According to Austin Wells, Walsh was also an unnecessary bully after Camilo Doval entered with the bases loaded and two outs in the wake of Devin Williams' and Aaron Boone's ejection.

Wells, Doval, Blake and Co. briefly paused the game (in a tense situation) because the Yankees' Spanish-language PitchCom wasn't working. Instead of, you know, helping, which umpires are supposed to do as stewards of the game, Walsh basically told the Yankees to suck it up and get to work. He even implied the Yankees were "lucky" he didn't call a more drastic violation on them and simply stuck 'em with a balk. What a generous guy.

Austin Wells accuses umpire of intimidating Yankees' Camilo Doval: "He didn't really care."

No, the Yankees didn't lose specifically because of Walsh, but they certainly unraveled because of him. The lead had already been coughed up in the seventh, but Walsh helped break the tie in the eighth and hardly treated Doval and the Yankees with an even hand. Of course, it wasn't Williams' walks that made the difference in the game, but Doval's balk and resulting wildness; the Yankees scored three two-out runs in the top of the ninth that otherwise would've given David Bednar a save opportunity.

Thank goodness there's another game in Houston after this one. Can't wait to see Walsh again before coming back home. What an appropriate welcome to the rigors of September baseball.