Minor League Baseball

Minor League Umpire Set to Make History at Braves-Marlins Games This Weekend

Jen Pawol is being promoted to the big leagues.
Brady Farkas|
MLB umpire Jen Pawol watches from first base during the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in 2024.
MLB umpire Jen Pawol watches from first base during the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in 2024. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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Atlanta BravesMiami Marlins

Minor league umpire Jen Pawol is set to make baseball history this weekend, as she's being promoted to the majors for three games between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

With this promotion, she'll be the first woman to umpire a regular season MLB game in baseball history.

Last season, Pawol became the first woman since 2007 to be assigned to a spring training game.

This is a big moment for the game, and for women in it. The sport has sought to be more inclusive, and more women in prominent roles helps achieve that. We have already seen female officials in both the NBA and NFL.

The Marlins and Braves are in two different places right now, certainly, as Miami has crept back into the outskirts of the National League playoff picture at 55-57. They just swept the Yankees over the weekend, but have now dropped two straight against the Houston Astros.

The Braves enter play on Wednesday at 47-65 and as one of the most disappointing teams in baseball. Injuries have derailed them, as Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach and Chris Sale are all on the 60-day injured list. Spencer Strider and Austin Riley have all spent time on the IL as well.

The Marlins will finish out a series with the Astros on Wednesday while the Braves take on the Brewers, who have gone 44-16 in their last 60 games.

The presumption is that Pawol will head back to the minor leagues on Monday, but she's one step closer to a full-time big-league job.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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