Another bad strike call, another wave of outrage.
The Yankees may have escaped with a 1-0 win over the Angels last week, but it came with help from home plate umpire Ben May, whose final strike-three call was way off the mark. With the tying run on first, Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe watched a 2-2 pitch from Mark Leiter Jr. sail wide of the zone—only to be rung up anyway.
— 🤙🤙🤙 (@burnacity2025) May 29, 2025
Even Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra admitted afterward, “It was definitely a ball.”
O’Hoppe’s reaction said it all. So did Angels manager Ron Washington, who didn’t mince words: “It was bad. I didn’t know it was that far off the plate until I just saw it.”
The pitch missed by at least half a foot. And for fans already fed up with inconsistent umpiring, it’s just the latest example of why Major League Baseball may need to think about speeding up its move toward automated ball-strike (ABS) technology.
According to Umpire Auditor, over 27,000 calls were missed in 2024—including more than 1,600 third-strike calls. The numbers back up what many fans and players already feel: human error is deciding too many games.
Lmfao dude robo umps now we can’t keep trusting the human eye for calls like this pic.twitter.com/fgwjjHeTU7
— Troy (@hundredand1) May 31, 2025
Tech companies are jumping in too. Firms like Undetectable.AI say the same machine learning tools that power game-day stats and analysis can also be used to create a cleaner, more consistent, strike zone.
AI systems like ABS are already in use at the minor league level and in spring training. They’re not perfect—but neither are umpires with decades on the job.
One blown call may not typically ruin a season. But this one helped end a game. And if MLB wants to keep the focus on players, not umpires, it might be time to bring in the bots.
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