Brandon Hyde didn’t like the direction the question was heading.

“Oh no,” he joked. “You’re really setting me up. How can I answer this in a way that’s not going to get me in trouble?”

Hyde was asked about one of his least favorite topics. This one — about balls and strikes calls from home plate umpires — is a perilous one because criticism could result in a fine from MLB.

“Injuries and umpire evaluations and lineups,” he said, listing topics he normally dodges.

But there’s no amount of obfuscation that will change the facts through the first 24 games of Baltimore’s season: Bad umpiring is hurting the Orioles more than almost any team in MLB

UmpScorecards maps each pitch called by home plate umpires during MLB’s season. The website grades umpires for their accuracy in calling balls and strikes, and it assigns a run value to each missed call. For example, a bad strike three call with the bases loaded cost the offensive team more runs than an incorrect strike one call with the bases empty.

According to UmpScorecards, the Orioles have been negatively impacted by poor home plate umpiring more than all but two MLB teams this season. Entering Friday, the website’s data showed umpires have favored Baltimore’s opponents by a total of 4.76 runs this season — or 0.2 per game. The only teams worse off have been the Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates, two clubs with combined records of 21-30 entering Friday.

“I think that, at times, you’ve got to stand up for yourselves,” Hyde said. “I’ve talked to them about that. I think part of being a major league player and learning to be a major league player is to learn to hold people accountable a little bit.

“I’d like to see our guys step up and say something once in a while. I think that’s OK.”