MLB removed Hernández as acting crew chief after accusing him of eavesdropping on an MLB investigative call in July 2019, which focused on Hernández's 20-minute game delay due to umpire confusion over league rules. Hernández did not hang up his phone when his interview ended, and instead continued listening to the subsequent questioning of another umpire that he knew was intended to be separate. Joe Torre, MLB's chief baseball officer, wrote him: "Simply put, we find your asserted justifications for remaining on the line to be implausible, internally inconsistent, premised on facts that are incorrect and not credible.... we have concluded that you remained on the line in an effort to intentionally and deceptively eavesdrop on a confidential conversation in order to hear what [umpire] Hickox would say... This is an egregious offense." Hernández was also chastised for asking pitcher Homer Bailey for 11 autographed baseballs after Bailey's no-hitter, making three incorrect calls that were later overturned on the basis of video replay in the first four innings of Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS, and angrily throwing his headset during a different game when his call was overturned by replay.