“What an absolute mess, 69%?”; “Get this ump out of the league” - MLB fans react to umpire Marvin Hudson’s strike accuracy during O’s vs Mets game

It has been a season full of challenges for MLB umpires as fans, players, and analysts have been more critical than ever of missed calls. Given the potential of robotic umpires coming into the league at some point in the future, the large number of mistakes has increased the scrutiny faced by human umps.

Enter Marvin Hudson, who's MLB career started back in 1998. The 60-year-old umpire found himself at the forefront of frustration from a number of fans after an stunningly poor showing during Wednesday's matchup between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets.

According to the popular social media account Umpire Scorecards, Marvin Hudson had an overall pitch call accuracy of 86%. While that number is not bad, it's the fact that he reportedly had a called strike accuracy of 69% that has sent fans to X, formerly known as Twitter, to condemn the dismal performance.

"What an absolute mess, 69%?!"

"69% Accuracy??? Come on Bring on the Robots" - Another shared

"Worst umpired game I’ve seen all year" - One more fan posted

The New York Mets would ultimately go on to win the matchup 4-3 over the Baltimore Orioles; however, it's unclear if they still would have won if Hudson's calls were correct. At this point of the season, one inadequately called game could be the difference between a postseason berth or not.

"Get this ump out of the league"

"Many expletives were yelled at that 8th inning ball called" - Another shared

"69% called strike accuracy? This is your job! Be better!" - a fan posted

It remains to be seen if the league will take action against Hudson; however, when fans call out an umpire by name, it's clear that there are significant issues.

Robot umpires have been a topic of discussion for several years now

As notoriously inconsistent umpires such as Angel Hernandez continue to find themselves in hot water, the call for robotic assistance has grown stronger. Robotic umpiring could be on the horizon sooner than expected, as comissioner Rob Manfred has stated that MLB could begin testing as soon as spring training 2025.

ABS, or automatic ball-strike systems, have been in use in the minors for a few years now, including in Triple-A as of 2023. The accuracy improvements with the use of ABS have reportedly been dramatic, something that could one day eliminate bad calls like Marvin Hudson had on Wednesday night for the Mets and Orioles.