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Veteran umpire CB Bucknor is certainly not thrilled with the presence of Major League Baseball’s new Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS), which is rapidly making its mark on the game.
During Saturday’s extra-inning face-off in Cincinnati where the Red Sox narrowly fell 6-5 to the Reds, Bucknor’s performance came under scrutiny. The seasoned umpire, who has been calling games since 1999, faced scrutiny as eight of his calls were challenged, with six ultimately being overturned.
Notably, two of these reversals occurred consecutively. Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez questioned two strike-three calls in quick succession during the sixth inning when Boston rookie pitcher Ryan Watson was on the mound. Both challenges were successful, spotlighting the efficacy of ABS.
The first questioned pitch was a sinker that hugged the inside corner at knee height, followed by a fastball that barely missed the outside edge of the plate. This sequence left Watson feeling the pressure.
“It felt like, ‘Oh man, that’s two in a row,’” Watson recounted to reporters after the game, as reported by The Athletic. “But yeah, just tried to take a deep breath and get back in the zone.”
In Bucknor’s defense, both pitches were close, but the ABS technology ultimately deemed both of them balls.
The Reds’ home crowd at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio, exploded at the two overturned calls.
“That’s probably the loudest I’ve heard a stadium while pitching,” Watson added. “So it was intense, for sure.”
Bucknor reached the spotlight again in the eighth inning after he called out Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story on a check swing, but the team was unable to ask for a review.
With the Red Sox down one and having a chance to break open the game, Story raged at Bucknor for the controversial call, having to be held back by Boston skipper Alex Cora and third base coach Jose Flores.
Bucknor wound up ejecting Cora after the two got into a shouting match.
“He has one job to do, it’s (to) call balls and strikes,” Cora said after Boston’s loss. “It wasn’t his best day. That’s what the system does. It’s out there, everybody sees it, and he’ll be the first one to accept it. I saw him putting his head down after one of the challenges.
“And we’re all human. It’s not easy, what we do and what he does.”
The Red Sox would tie the game in the ninth inning with a solo homer from Wilyer Abreu, but ultimately lost on a walk-off single by Reds center fielder Dane Myers in the 11th.