MLB’s ABS system embarrassed umpire CB Bucknor for terrible calls all week
MLB umpire CB Bucknor keeps getting overturned by ABS, and the examples are hilarious
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - MARCH 30: Umpire CB Bucknor #54 during the game between the Milwaukee Brewers vs Tampa Bay Rays at American Family Field on March 30, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) | Getty Images C. B.
Bucknor has endured a brutal start to the 2026 MLB season. The umpire was behind the plate on Saturday for a game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox, and Bucknor had eight of his ball/strike calls challenged under MLB’s new ABS Challenge System . Six of those calls were overturned, including this incredible sequence in the bottom of the sixth where he called a strike three that could have ended the inning, but after a challenge from Cincinnati’s Eugenio Suárez, the pitch was ruled a ball.
Then on the very next pitch, Bucknor called another third strike, only to have Suárez challenge that pitch as well. An exasperated Bucknor waited for the ruling, which again went against his initial call. Two pitches, two calls overturned: Eugenio Suarez was punched out on two consecutive pitches by C.
B. Bucknor….. ABS overturned both calls.