Chances are that May 4, 2022 will not be remembered as a particularly good day for Major League Baseball umpires.
In Miami, umpire Dan Bellino ejected Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner after one inning. Bellino was checking Bumgarner’s hand for sticky stuff but wasn’t looking at his hand. Bumgarner eventually said something to Bellino and was tossed. The Atlanta Braves also had an issue with an umpire in their game against the New York Mets. Only, this was more performance-based.
Ozuna came to the plate in the fourth inning and struck out against Tylor Megill. He not only stuck out on three pitches but didn’t swing once. That’s notable enough. Ozuna is normally an aggressive swinger. It’s hard to imagine him taking one strike, let alone two and certainly three. But there’s the rub.
Home plate umpire Brian O’Nora missed all three calls. None of the called strikes were actually in the strike zone.
Marcell Ozuna strikes out on three straight balls
The ump show festival this year is unreal pic.twitter.com/HaknbkZVXf
— Welcome to the Ump Show (@umpjob) May 4, 2022
Strike 3 was particularly bad, as it was not only well outside but barely hit the bottom part of the strike zone.
Baseball fans were in no hurry to defend O’Nora here.
My eyes are BLEEDING https://t.co/cCcVVhIpvQ
— Lorenzo Gannon (@lorenzogannon) May 5, 2022
This ump is awful. https://t.co/3QlPb0LsHA
— Margaret Gasperson (@TarheelMarg) May 5, 2022
Insanity https://t.co/fw7nD4YkaH
— Turkey🦃 (@BigTurkeyonWhea) May 5, 2022
My God the umps are just horrible. Completely incompetent. 🤖 https://t.co/SbmXavum3i
— Freshly Relaced (@BrandonMerchant) May 5, 2022
Robot umpires now. https://t.co/3DIuY9N9yr
— Banshees of Atlantic City (@Notgiamatti) May 5, 2022
In fact, some fans made it known that — if they weren’t already — they’re now ready for robots to call balls and strikes.
Robot umpires now. https://t.co/3DIuY9N9yr
— Banshees of Atlantic City (@Notgiamatti) May 5, 2022
@MLB can you please fire these bums and go to robots please it’s becoming embarrassing https://t.co/TMV7GpcliT
— Andrew (@bally1378) May 5, 2022
Just give us the robot umps already. This is ridiculous https://t.co/TetvgjZG9l
— Ryan Adams (@Radams825) May 5, 2022
Send robots 🤖 #mlb #joke https://t.co/1uMjqjj9bt
— Craig W. (@CLDUB66) May 5, 2022
The calls for robot umpires are only going to get more pressing as things like this happen. With the possible exception of the third strike, none of the calls were that bad and we have to give credit to New York catcher James McCann for excellently framing the pitches. But you simply can’t make three mistakes in a row.
This series had some interesting interactions between players and the umpires. On Monday, umpire Chad Fairchild apologized to New York pitcher Chris Bassitt, acknowledging a missed call. On Tuesday, Mets ace Max Scherzer was ejected from a game he wasn’t even playing in after arguing a call from the dugout.
Given how often these NL East rivals play, we can only imagine what will happen next if these trends continue.
[Photo Credit: Bally Sports South]
