Jen Pawol behind the plateJen Pawol (Photo via Twitter)
Jen Pawol made history, but she also had a rough day.

Pawol made baseball history on Saturday by becoming the first woman to umpire an MLB regular-season game, taking the post at first base during Saturday’s matchup between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

Pawol was called up from the Triple-A ranks to work both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader between the Marlins and Braves.

In Sunday’s series final, she got behind the plate.

Pawol did the punch-out signal in the top of the first inning in Atlanta, highlighting MLB’s first behind-the-plate umpire performance by a female.

Things did not start out well for her. The game’s opening pitch from Braves starter Joey Wentz was inside and out of the zone. It should’ve been an easy call.

Unfortunately, Jen Pawol called it a strike.

However, she quickly settled into the game, maintaining a consistent strike zone.

When it was all said and done, the numbers came out and showed that Pawol missed 14 calls and had a correct call rate of 90.3%.

She was ranked 13th of 15 umpires on the day.

MLB fans had a lot to say about Jen Pawol.

“Was her zone consistent? I think that is the main question when it comes to questionable balls and strikes. Of the zone is consistent, then I don’t have any problems with their calls,” one fan said.


“13th of 15 is pretty bad,” a second fan wrote.

“If I was a delivery deiver and I made 90.3% of my deliveries accurately I’d be fired by the next morning… MLB is the only league that tolerates this level of officiating inaccuracy,” a third person commented.


“Mayhap the spotlight on Ms. Pawol’s “unremarkably” woeful debut will generate the final push to full robo-ump ball and strike calls. A near 10% failure rate would be fatal in nearly any other line of work. Especially one correctable by technological displacement,” a fourth person said of Jen Pawol.

“First call jitters? Sure. But stepping into the big leagues behind the plate is a pressure cooker most of us couldn’t even handle for one inning. Respect,” one final fan added.

Jen Pawol Is Sure To Get many More Shots

Aug 10, 2025; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; MLB umpire Jen Pawol (95) speaks with Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough (86) during eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images
Pawol stood behind home plate for the first time Sunday during a series finale between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

She is one of 17 Triple-A umpires eligible to serve as a substitute at MLB games.

It is unclear if she will be promoted on a permanent basis.