Nic Lentz and Gabe Morales to make World Series umpiring debuts, part of crew headed by James Hoye

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Nic Lentz and Gabe Morales will make their World Series umpiring debuts, part of a crew headed by James Hoye for the matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays that starts Friday night.

Dan Bellino, Vic Carapazza, Tripp Gibson and Jim Wolf also will work the Series, Major League Baseball announced Thursday. It will be the third World Series for both Hoye and Wolf, and the second each for Bellino, Carapazza and Gibson.

Lentz made his big league debut in 2016 and at 36 will be the youngest Series ump since Pat Hoberg in 2022.

Morales will be the plate umpire for Friday’s opener, with Lentz at first, Hoye at second, Carapazza at third, Bellino in left and Gibson in right.

Wolf will work the plate in Game 2 and be followed by Lentz, Hoye, Carapazza, Bellino and Gibson.

Bellino will be the crew chief in Game 3, when Hoye is the reserve.

Lentz had a 48.3% overturn rate in the first season of the ABS ball/strike system of robot umpires, ninth-best among 76 umpires with 100 or more challenges, according to taptochallenge.com. Gibson was 19th at 50.4%, Morales 21st at 50.9%, Carapazza 28th at 52%, Hoye 29th at 52.3%, Wolf 39th at 53.7% and Bellino 65th at 59.9%.

Gibson, Hoye, Lentz and Morales had perfect ABS records in the Division Series, each upheld on two challenges. Teams won 2 of 4 against Bellino and 2 of 5 against Carapazza.

Wolf did not have a plate game in the Division Series.

Hoye, 55, also worked the Series in 2019 and 2022, including the plate for Game 4 of the 2019 matchup of Washington and Houston and the 2022 opener between Philadelphia and the Astros.

The 45-year-old Gibson was behind the plate for Game 4 in 2022, only the second no-hitter in World Series history when Houston’s Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly combined to pitch in a 5-0 victory.

Wolf, 57, also worked the Series in 2015 and 2019. The 48-year-old Bellino worked the Series in 2021 and the 47-year-old Carapazza in 2023.

Wolf made his major league debut in 1999, Hoye in 2003 and Gibson in 2013. Bellino (48) debuted in 2008, Carapazza (47) in 2010 and Morales (42) in 2014.

Alfonso Márquez and D.J. Reyburn will be the video review umpires at the replay operations center in the commissioner’s office in New York.

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The Associated Press