The 2022 MLB season is about a month in, and there have been numerous badly umpired games. The automated strike zone appears to be coming to the major leagues soon, as several of the minor leagues have adopted it as a trial run.
This article will look at five MLB umpires who are on the hot seat for their performances and how quickly the MLB may move on from umpires calling balls and strikes.
5 MLB umpires in the hot seat
#5 Dan Bellino
Dan Bellino comes in at #5 on the list after his series of events with Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner. This was one of the most bizarre exchanges you will ever see on a baseball field. Umpire Dan Bellino escalated the entire situation. It became extremely weird when he started massaging Bumgarner's hand while staring into his eyes.
"Bizarre scene out of Miami. Bumgarner argues calls with home plate ump Ryan Willis during bottom 1. After the inning, 1B ump Dan Bellino goes over to do the hand check, doesn't look at his hand, baits a reaction out of Bumgarner, and ejects him." - @ Umpire Auditor
While Bellino has been known to be a fairly consistent umpire when it comes to calling balls and strikes, this baiting a player into an ejection is unacceptable, and MLB should discipline the veteran umpire for his actions. Bellino did issue an apology, but no further action has been made by Major League Baseball.
#4 Brian O'Nora
Brian O'Nora comes in at #4 on the list and has had a long history of horribly blown calls. Earlier this season, O'Nora called out Atlanta Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna on strikes on three straight balls that were clearly out of the strike zone.
Last season, O'Nora had a strike zone accuracy of just about 92% of calls behind home plate, which is awful to say the least. The general MLB umpire average is about 95%. Being 3% below is not acceptable for players competing at the highest level. O'Nora's lacking performance is one of the many reasons why an automated strike zone is in the works after this season.
#3 C.B. Bucknor
C.B. Bucknor is one of the worst umpires in all of baseball and has been for several seasons. Bucknor has had his fair share of poor performances, calling balls and strikes from behind the plate. Watch Bucknor make terrible calls in this YouTube compilation.
#2 Ron Kulpa
Ron Kulpa is easily one of the worst umpires in all of baseball. We all remember when Kulpa made an emberassment of himself by calling some of the worst pitches against Hall of Famer David Ortiz at Yankee Stadium. If you haven't seen this before, you will want to watch.
Absolutely awful umpiring and calls like these totally change the outlook of a game. Last season, Kulpa had a strike zone accuracy of just 92%, which was one of the worst among umpires.
#1 Angel Hernandez
At the top and #1 on the list is by far the worst umpire in baseball, Angel Hernandez. Hernandez has been notorious for having a horrible strike zone, and the stats prove it. Last season, Hernandez had an accuracy rate at 91%, which ranked at the bottom for umpires.
In one game last season, Hernandez had an accuracy rate of just 77%. There is no excuse for such a horrible performance. Hernandez is by far the worst umpire in baseball and it is a shame that MLB does not hold him accountable for his atrocious work.