Who is Jen Pawol? How female umpire is making MLB history in Braves-Marlins series

History will be made during the weekend series between the Marlins and Braves at Truist Park, as Jen Pawol will become the first female umpire in MLB history to work a regular season.

The Braves and Marlins play a scheduled doubleheader on Saturday, stemming from a postponement earlier in the season, so a fifth umpire was needed to join the crew, as each home plate umpire in the crew is required to sit out the day’s other game.

Pawol will be part of the umpiring crew for both games on Saturday and stick around for Sunday’s series finale, as well. The series actually spans five games, thanks to the doubleheader, but Pawol will only be on the field for three of them.

Jen Pawol will become the first female umpire ever to work a regular season Major League game during this weekend’s Marlins-Braves series in Atlanta.

Pawol, a Minor League Umpire since 2016, is one of 17 current Triple-A call-up umpires eligible to substitute in Major League… pic.twitter.com/j5sZCzY1Uo

— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2025 Here’s what you need to know Pawol, an umpiring history-maker. 

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Who is Jen Pawol? Pawol was a part-time softball umpire until she decided to commit to the profession full-time and attended the MiLB’s Umpire Training Academy in 2016.

The 48-year-old has worked her way up the minor league ranks since 2017, reaching the Triple-A level in 2023 and becoming the third woman in MLB history to umpire a spring training game in 2024. Pawol umpired spring training games again in 2025, and she earned the call-up to make some history with the Braves and Marlins entering a series with a scheduled doubleheader on the docket.

Before umpiring full-time, Pawol grew up in New Jersey and played catcher on Hofstra University’s softball team. According to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Pawol was an eighth-grade art teacher. She told SABR that she doesn’t see umpiring as a “gender job,” even as the field is dominated by men.

“I just view it as, if you’re good at it, and you like it, you should do it,” Pawol said.

Now, Pawol is going further than any female umpire ever has before — and she is hoping she is only the start of a trend among women interested in umpiring. 

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History of female umpires Pawol is achieving a first at the MLB level, but the moment has been coming for quite a long time. Six women umpired at the minor league level before Pawol, including Bernice Gara, who had a one-game stint in 1972 and became the first woman to umpire a professional baseball game.

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