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LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball announced the umpire assignments for both the Wild Card Games and Division Series on Monday, and Jeff Kellogg will be the crew chief for the six-man crew to work the Dodgers-Nationals NLDS.
Kellogg has been an umpire since 1993, and has worked five World Series, six League Championship Series, eight previous Division Series and one Wild Card Game in his career. He starts in left field in Game 1.
The rest of the crew, with their Game 1 assignments:
Home plate: Dan Bellino
First base: Tom Hallion
Second base: Chris Guccione
Third base: Ron Kulpa
Left field: Kellogg
Right field: Manny Gonzalez
Hallion, with arguably the most colorful strike three call in the majors, will be behind the plate in Game 2. Hallion, an umpire with 23 years of experience and a crew chief in the regular season, has worked one World Series, five League Championship Series and six previous Division Series.
Guccione was part of the umpiring crew in the 2015 NLDS between the Dodgers and Mets.
Of this crew, two umpires ejected Dodgers from a game in 2016. Kellogg tossed Dave Roberts on April 8 in San Francisco, and Bellino ejected Adrian Gonzalez on June 29 in Milwaukee. Both ejections were for arguing balls and strikes.
Clayton Kershaw has a 1.59 ERA in three career starts with Bellino behind the plate, though the last such game was July 3, 2015 against the Mets at Dodger Stadium. Max Scherzer has never pitched in a game with Bellino behind the plate.
Rich Hill has a 5.51 ERA in five career games, including three starts, with Hallion behind the plate, though the only such game in the last three years came on opening day this season with Oakland. Hill allowed four runs in 2⅔ innings to the White Sox, his shortest non-injury start of the season.
Tanner Roark has never pitched with Hallion behind the plate. Gio Gonzalez has a 4.66 ERA in two starts with Hallion, with those starts coming in 2011 and 2014.
Back in New York, the four umpires at the replay center during the Division Series will be Chris Conroy, Kerwin Danley, Gerry Davis and Adrian Johnson.