MLB’s ABS Challenge reveals the worst umpire in baseball

During Wednesday’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers, CB Bucknor officiated Taking a foul ball to the mask They had to be helped off the field. This was the cap of what had been a particularly bad week for one of the most Controversial rulers In baseball.

It started with the best example of how to play MLB Automatic ball strike (ABS) The challenge system can inject drama into a baseball game. This is the first year of the new automatic rule, which allows hitters, catchers and pitchers to strike out Challenge balls and strikes For the first time. Each team starts the match with two challenges. But they only lose a challenge if it doesn’t work, so players don’t tend to ask for a review unless they’re sure.

During Saturday’s game between the Red Sox and Reds, Eugenio Suarez challenged Bucknor Back to–behind Make three calls and successfully turn them over with robo ump.

It didn’t matter that Suarez walked off the pitch in the end. What matters is that in a game in which the Reds hit two home runs, the loudest cheers came for a pair of successful ABS challenges.

This wasn’t the only time Bucknor had calls overturned at the plate, it was a bad night for him overall. There were eight ABS challenges throughout the game, six of which were successful. The two calls that were not overturned were very close, within 0.1 inch of the edge of the strike zone. But his failures were more dramatic. Three-pointers called strikes Missed by 2.4 inches or more -One of them was a full 2.7 inches outside the area. And with the rule of Jumboy Media, Bucknor blew up 20 calls If you count the ones that were not challenged.

As the game progressed, you could see the anger growing on Bucknor’s face as the final five challenges were successful. The clear message from the robots was: You are bad at your job. The league average for ABS challenges is 55 percent flipsbut Bucknor rate It stands at 78 percent as of April 2.

There were two judges whose first brush with ABS went bad. Chad Whitson All seven challenges were overturned in a game between the Yankees and Giants on March 28. But although Whitson’s performance was poor, Bucknor’s career was difficult.

According to measurements by UmpScorecards Bucknor has been the least accurate umpire in Major League Baseball over the past five years by a wide margin. The site gives each ump a predicted accuracy score and then measures how many more or less correct calls they make. From 2020 through April 2, 2026, CB Bucknor rates 253.74 fewer than his expected number of correct calls — and his expected accuracy isn’t particularly high to begin with. Bucknor’s closest competitor is the even more ridiculous Laz Diaz, who rated 202.03 below the expected number of correct calls over an equal number of games.

Bucknor doesn’t need ABS to make him look bad either. On Tuesday, he presented the obvious Worst call From the 2026 youth season until now. He called out Milwaukee’s Jake Bowers for failing to touch first base on a ground ball. The call was quickly canceled upon review, but you didn’t need an immediate replay to know Bucknor was wrong. The only way it could have been clearer is for Powers to stop and jump up and down on the bag with two feet. The call was so terrible that both managers laughed from across the field.

Obviously, teams will have to adapt to the new challenge system and develop strategies on how best to deal with it. But its biggest impact will be on umpires who will have to adapt to a more consistent and athletic strike zone. Rulers Like CB Bucknor had, let’s say a more subjective view of the strike zone, he’ll have about 2026.