Which umpires are getting exposed by ABS? CB Bucknor is far from alone

The Yankees swept the Giants, Mike Trout looks like himself again and the Guardians and Mariners, of all teams, played a nationally televised Sunday night game. Yet, it feels like all that we can talk about from MLB’s opening weekend is the umpires and the automated ball-strike challenge system.

Not that I’m complaining, because I love the ABS system, and I think it has the potential to be among the most significant — and positive — rule changes in modern league history. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m not frustrated by some of the umpire performances this past weekend, most notably CB Bucknor’s atrocious showing in Saturday’s Red Sox–Reds game. The two teams went 6-of-8 against Bucknor behind the plate, with Cincinnati designated hitter Eugenio Suárez winning challenges on consecutive sixth-inning pitches to avoid striking out.

Bucknor is among the six umpires who had at least six pitches challenged in their first game behind the plate. Although you might not be extremely familiar with the other five, you’ll want to commit their names to memory if they’re working your favorite team’s game. For this list, we’ve decided to rank the umpires by overturn rate, for reasons that you’ll immediately understand.

Chad Whitson: 7 calls challenged, 7 overturned (100%)

Game: Yankees 3, Giants 1 (March 28)

This should not be possible. How is this possible? Whitson only validates the fact that we need ABS to determine every single pitch, even if it means taking the so-called human element out of umpiring. There is no excuse for an umpire having seven calls overturned in one game.

Perhaps most impressively, TapToChallenge found that Whitson’s overall accuracy on Saturday afternoon was 91.8 percent, and we wouldn’t blame you for thinking that his final score would be in the mid-to-high 80s. However, neither Whitson nor Major League Baseball should be too pleased, because 91.8 perecnt is still well below last year’s league average of roughly 94.2.

CB Bucknor: 8 calls challenged, 6 overturned (75%)

Game: Reds 6, Red Sox 5 (March 28)

Bucknor has an extensive history ranking among the league’s most inaccurate umpires, so let’s not be too shocked he found his way onto this list. It’s only fitting that Bucknor works in the same crew as Dan Iassogna, whose 87.5 percent accuracy rating was the worst of any umpire this past week. Second worst, of course, was Bucknor at 87.7.

Of the four challenges against Iassogna last Thursday, three calls were overturned. In no world should these numbers be considered acceptable, and Iassogna deserves part of the blame as the crew chief. We’ll see whether these two can turn it around, though the early results have me extremely skeptical.

Chris Segal: 10 calls challenged, 7 overturned (70%)

Game: Orioles 8, Twins 6 (March 29) 

If you have 10 challenges called against you as an umpire, you’d better hope that the overturn rate is 20 percent or lower. Segal will also go down in the history books as the first umpire to eject a manager after an ABS challenge, with Twins manager Derek Shelton arguing that Orioles reliever Ryan Helsley didn’t dispute a pitch quickly enough in the top of the ninth inning on Sunday. Helsley requested a review of a 3-2 pitch that Segal called a ball to Minnesota’s Josh Bell, and the call was immediately overturned. 

Segal finished the day with an 88.2 percent accuracy rate, the third-worst behind Iassogna and Bucknor. I’m just surprised that Laz Díaz, Segal’s always-controversial crew chief, wasn’t directly involved in that first ejection. (By the way, the Orioles and Twins went 3-of-5 against Díaz during last Thursday’s 2–1 Baltimore win, and he finished with a 92.4 percent accuracy rate.)

Tripp Gibson: 6 calls challenged, 4 overturned (66.7%)

Game: Blue Jays 8, Athletics 7 (March 28) 

Was there something in the umpires’ water bottles on Saturday afternoon? Did managers and catchers leaguewide conspire in group chats to challenge as many pitches as possible on the same day?

Either way, Gibson’s 89.8 percent accuracy rate ranked fifth-worst over Opening Weekend, with Iassogna, Bucknor and Segal unsurprisingly leading the way. Incredibly, despite his 89.7 percent accuracy rate in last Friday’s 3–2 Blue Jays win, Marvin Hudson only had one pitch challenged.

Carlos Torres: 7 calls challenged, 4 overturned (57.1%)

Game: Brewers 9, White Sox 7 (March 29) 

Wow, a game that didn’t take place on Saturday! Torres deserves credit because his 93.8 percent accuracy rate was above average (22nd of 47) this past weekend, though he still had 12 incorrect calls. Considering some of the other performances on this list, though, we’ll take what Torres gave us.

Ryan Additon: 6 calls challenged, 2 overturned (33.3%)

Game: Guardians 6, Mariners 5 (March 28) 

Maybe I’m the only one who finds this interesting, but Additon’s 94.9 percent accuracy rate tied for 11th-best this past weekend. And, although the Guardians and Mariners challenged six pitches, only two were overturned. So, everything considered, everything worked out for Additon on Saturday afternoon. For their sakes, we can only hope that most of the other umpires on this list can right the ships and follow in Additon’s footsteps.

We say “most” because there is no saving Bucknor, not at this point.

More MLB news and analysis:

• How Joe West, Angel Hernández would’ve compared to CB Bucknor in ABS era
• Beyond roboumps: MLB rule changes we want to see next now that ABS has arrived
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and more players who should already be banned from ABS challenges
• Tony Vitello has been a disaster and Buster Posey must consider these replacements