Things got testy in a game between the Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres over the weekend. Home plate umpire Jen Pawol ruled that Padres hitter Sung-Mun Song didn’t make his ABS challenge in time, resulting in Padres hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. being ejected after he took exception with the ruling.
Later in the game, the Blue Jays were heated with Pawol over a controversial balk ruling brought home a run for the Blue Jays.
Padres and Blue Jays were both upset with umpire Jen Pawol
First she ejected Padres hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. after ruling that Sung-Mun Song didn’t challenge in time, then Kevin Gausman and John Schneider were mad after she called a balk to force in a run pic.twitter.com/Chzg9hv4F7
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 12, 2026
After the game, MLB writer Dan Clark noted how much Pawol has struggled throughout the year with Grok, X’s AI assistant for premium users, which, statistically, has her worse than controversial former umpire Angel Hernandez.
“Unfair to umps who actually deserve to be there.”
Fans on social media were just as upset as the Blue Jays and Padres with Pawol’s performance, and some even attributed her struggles to her gender.
“No woman should ever be an official or umpire in men’s sports,” one fan posted on X.
“If her name was Jack Pawol, she’d be calling little league games. All of sports media is scared of being labeled a sexist and won’t dare even mention her,” someone else added.
“Guaranteed there are far more qualified male umpires who got passed over by this woman. Meritocracy be damned,” one fan wrote.
Other criticism had less to do with her gender and was more fairly focused on her ability.
“Unfair to umps who actually deserve to be there. Doubt she’s even a top 1000 umpire in the world,” another fan added.
“Can we have a single discussion about her abilities as an umpire without including her gender? Apparently not,” wrote another.
There’s still plenty of time for Pawol to improve. Besides, as MLB leans further and further into new technology and ABS, umpires’ impact on games will continue to diminish. Even if she’s not the best ump in the big leagues right now, she’ll continue to improve, and fans should allow her to do so.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.