It’s been a rough year for the boys in blue working Major League Baseball games this season. Way too many of MLB’s umps have had embarrassing moments that have led to fans begging commissioner Rob Manfred to finally bring in robot umps and put an end to all of this madness.
If you needed any more convincing that robot umps should be the way then let me show you a pitch from the ninth inning of last night’s Mariners-Angels game that was basically right down the middle but called a ball.
Home plate ump Jeff Nelson just sat there and didn’t move his arm to call a strike. Instead, this was a ball:
To be fair it wasn't right down the middle@Angels | #GoHalos pic.twitter.com/aIl29auncN
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) August 17, 2022
Not great!
That was just as bad as this one from June:
— Welcome to the Ump Show (@umpjob) June 9, 2022
Twitter had reactions:
How the hell is this not a strike? It’s literally in the strike zone clear as day…. https://t.co/88nHOTlyPD
— Lydia Shanen (@lydia_shanen) August 17, 2022
This actually was an important strike. @MLB it was a game changer and there is no excuse for a call this bad. https://t.co/YP1Lq8N2yz
— igloosunday (@igloosunday) August 17, 2022
umps are canceled https://t.co/YUAj5o1yzB
— good guy T (@taylor_hickman) August 17, 2022
I reallllyyyyy dont want an automated strike zone but good lord… these umpires are making it VERY easy for MLB to make that change. https://t.co/Gbd6heNx1c
— J (@j_fairchild3) August 17, 2022
Ah hell no. @mlbua is wrong for this. I will still defend World Champion Jesse Chavez. https://t.co/Ypf2DHOUN6
— Jonathan Brimer (@Jonathan_Brimer) August 17, 2022
Jesse Chavez deserves better. We all do. https://t.co/AvEhg1EqIQ
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) August 17, 2022
MLB has to fix this https://t.co/vOYpGGu7fu
— Scott (🌻) (@scottbails13) August 17, 2022
The sigh by the manager is priceless. https://t.co/oAtuAc7xKh
— Jason Gudim 🦆 (@GudimJason) August 17, 2022
Unreal https://t.co/4Xr8FLIGjF
— Dalton (@nettlesdalton21) August 17, 2022
