MLB Ejection 001 - CB Bucknor (1; Alex Cora)

[Lindsay]

HP Umpire CB Bucknor ejected Red Sox manager Alex Cora (check swing strike three call to Trevor Story) in the top of the 8th inning of the Red Sox-Reds game. With two out and two on, Red Sox batter Story attempted to check his swing on a 0-2 splitter from Reds pitcher Emilio Pagán, ruled a swinging strike by HP Umpire Bucknor. At the time of the ejection, the Reds were leading, 5-4. The Reds ultimately won the contest, 5-4.

This is CB Bucknor (54)'s 1st ejection of 2026.

This is the 1st ejection report of the 2026 MLB regular season.

This is the 1st manager ejection of 2026. Ejection Tally: 1 Managers, 0 Coaches, 0 Players.

This is Boston's 1st ejection of 2026, 1st in the AL East (BOS 1; BAL, NYY, TB, TOR 0).

This is Alex Cora's 1st ejection since August 13, 2025 (Ryan Blakney; QOC = Y [Balk]).

This is CB Bucknor's 1st ejection since April 6, 2025 (Kris Bryant; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: Boston Red Sox vs Cincinnati Reds, 3/28/26 | Video as follows:

Alternate Link: Bucknor runs Cora and an ABS vs px/pz data discrepancy that's kinda important

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[The Man in Blue]

It’s what the gamblers … err, fans … wanted.

[grayhawk]

I'm glad Lindsey is talking about the difference between px and ABS. ABS will undoubtedly overturn pitches that were called correctly. I'd be fine with ABS if it was truly accurate, but using a 2D slice and using average % of a batter's height for the top and bottom makes every close pitch overturned because of height suspect.

[WIUMP]

9 hours ago, grayhawk said:

I'm glad Lindsey is talking about the difference between px and ABS. ABS will undoubtedly overturn pitches that were called correctly. I'd be fine with ABS if it was truly accurate, but using a 2D slice and using average % of a batter's height for the top and bottom makes every close pitch overturned because of height suspect.

I would like to see how many correct strike calls are actually overturned. I would guess it will be far fewer than the number of egregious 2"+ misses that are overturned. Time will tell. Would a 3D ABS have been that difficult technically?

[The Man in Blue]

1 hour ago, Matthew Turner said:

I would like to see how many correct strike calls are actually overturned. I would guess it will be far fewer than the number of egregious 2"+ misses that are overturned. Time will tell. Would a 3D ABS have been that difficult technically?

I’ll take that bet!  Once hitters get a good feel for the buffer that is being cut out by the flat system, they will abuse the hell out of this system.

[dumbdumb]

mlb website is keeping some ABS stats, although they may not be doing the stats category that each individual person would like to see them keeps stats on.

see if anyone harps on both Bellino and Kulpa missing on 5 out 6 challenges last night which is right up there with the 6 out of 7 misses that Buckner had. 

lets get everyone who has a bad night, not just be calling out certain umpires in the papers. of course there are umpires who miss 4 to 5 pitches per hundred as well as those who miss 7 to 8 per hundred. just like batters who miss and pitchers who miss and catchers who miss. call them out too. make them have a 92 to 96  percent rate just like the umpires on their personal success since they are challenging the ones they personally 'know' the ump is missing on them, not the ones they 'think' the ump is missing on them. everyone calls the pitch as they 'know it is' not what they 'think' it is, until it isn't and then they find out they don't 'know' as much as they thought they 'know'.

and why do catchers only have a 52-53  (per article in the AP) percent overturn rate and they have the best view of anyone, even better than the ump.

so get those stats and start firing everyone so everyone on the planet gets to be a MLBU for at least one day of their life, or a player, or a coach or a manager, etc. 

and get that check swing technology that they already have and infrared that they know the person/company who has that tech and use it right now.

and then the game will be about the guy sitting  behind the plate having 10 beers and betting on what inning you 'know' he will have to go and water the grass.

[wolfe_man]

4 hours ago, dumbdumb said:

lets get everyone who has a bad night, not just be calling out certain umpires in the papers. of course there are umpires who miss 4 to 5 pitches per hundred as well as those who miss 7 to 8 per hundred. just like batters who miss and pitchers who miss and catchers who miss. call them out too. make them have a 92 to 96  percent rate just like the umpires on their personal success since they are challenging the ones they personally 'know' the ump is missing on them, not the ones they 'think' the ump is missing on them. everyone calls the pitch as they 'know it is' not what they 'think' it is, until it isn't and then they find out they don't 'know' as much as they thought they 'know'.

...

and why do catchers only have a 52-53  (per article in the AP) percent overturn rate and they have the best view of anyone, even better than the ump.

...

and then the game will be about the guy sitting  behind the plate having 10 beers and betting on what inning you 'know' he will have to go and water the grass.

So many good points here, well said.  If we are going to point fingers, let's be fair and accountable to all.  Otherwise, it's just political... and we all hate that stuff.

And yes, the betting and gambling is having far more of an effect than any of us would truly care to know.

[umpstu]

23 hours ago, grayhawk said:

I'm glad Lindsey is talking about the difference between px and ABS. ABS will undoubtedly overturn pitches that were called correctly. I'd be fine with ABS if it was truly accurate, but using a 2D slice and using average % of a batter's height for the top and bottom makes every close pitch overturned because of height suspect.

Judge got a strike 3 overturned the other day that was 1/10 of an inch low. He then crushed a HR. 

[WIUMP]

The ninja is on it.

[dumbdumb]

9 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

So many good points here, well said.  If we are going to point fingers, let's be fair and accountable to all.  Otherwise, it's just political... and we all hate that stuff.

And yes, the betting and gambling is having far more of an effect than any of us would truly care to know.

and oops, i am calling my no can count self out here. Bellino missed on 5 out of 6, but Kulpan missed on 4 out of 5. and since it was a late game, Estabrook missed on all 5 of his challenges last night. gonna happen. hopefully play off assignments at the end of the year are based on all pitches missed percentage, not just challenges missed. some people live with the angels so to speak. and if a game quickly gets out of hand like 10 runs, i would imagine that kind of game might tamp down some challenges, just like players may only go one base at a time with a large lead on a hit rather than try for extra bases in a runaway game.

[orangebird]

No idea if there's a correlation, but I've found it interesting CB has a pretty negative reputation while being seemingly the only guy still using the scissors stance

[The Man in Blue]

14 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

And yes, the betting and gambling is having far more of an effect than any of us would truly care to know.

 

No comment on everything else because . . . just yes.

Anyway, watched a couple innings of the Cardinals game tonight.  If I never watch another game again, I will be OK with that.  Every damned thing was popping up probability odds and statistics on over/under lines.  No thanks.

Add to that the announcers losing their SH*# over the pitcher challenge that led to MLB ejection #2 of the season . . . no thanks.  This is quickly going to become "not baseball."

[dumbdumb]

4 hours ago, orangebird said:

No idea if there's a correlation, but I've found it interesting CB has a pretty negative reputation while being seemingly the only guy still using the scissors stance

well the non scissors is not helping the other 4 either and buckner was not the worst. and yes, there are 2 systems --umpire auditor and ump scorecards

the scissors came up as showing more correlation from an injury aspect??

https://athlonsports.com/mlb/final-grades-are-in-here-are-the-5-worst-mlb-umpires-for-2025

[dumbdumb]

On 3/31/2026 at 7:54 AM, wolfe_man said:

So many good points here, well said.  If we are going to point fingers, let's be fair and accountable to all.  Otherwise, it's just political... and we all hate that stuff.

And yes, the betting and gambling is having far more of an effect than any of us would truly care to know.

so, nobody has mentioned Fletchers 9 for 11 (7 in a row) overturned challenges without an ejection yet. sure seems like some unfairness going on, and picking on, like Boone does on new umpires rather than veterans.

[wolfe_man]

On 3/31/2026 at 10:33 PM, dumbdumb said:

the scissors came up as showing more correlation from an injury aspect??

Yes, the scissors stance causes the impact to be more immediately directed to the neck and spine, resulting in more frequent injuries and/or concussions. It's a big part of the reason they encouraged umpires to move into the slot with the "box stance".  The idea is to be out of the "kill zone" over the middle of the plate, plus to stand more upright and heel-to-toe (box-like) resulting in less stress on your spine and neck (which is part of the spine of course) when impacts do happen.

Due to two spinal fusions (one lumbar, one cervical) I am re-learning how to stand so not to strain my neck or back. I find being more upright helps and probably going to use HOK (hands-on-knees) this year to steady me and keep everything still.  It makes my neck feel more secured and doesn't hurt, whereas even the normal box stance is causing me neck pain if I dip too low into a crouch (sitting on a chair height let's say).  I'm going to start JV and do some lower-level stuff (where it's less critical if my zone needs a little cleaning up due to adjustments) before going back to Varsity so I don't mess up any games or playoff chances.

[dumbdumb]

12 minutes ago, wolfe_man said:

Yes, the scissors stance causes the impact to be more immediately directed to the neck and spine, resulting in more frequent injuries and/or concussions. It's a big part of the reason they encouraged umpires to move into the slot with the "box stance".  The idea is to be out of the "kill zone" over the middle of the plate, plus to stand more upright and heel-to-toe (box-like) resulting in less stress on your spine and neck (which is part of the spine of course) when impacts do happen.

Due to two spinal fusions (one lumbar, one cervical) I am re-learning how to stand so not to strain my neck or back. I find being more upright helps and probably going to use HOK (hands-on-knees) this year to steady me and keep everything still.  It makes my neck feel more secured and doesn't hurt, whereas even the normal box stance is causing me neck pain if I dip too low into a crouch (sitting on a chair height let's say).  I'm going to start JV and do some lower-level stuff (where it's less critical if my zone needs a little cleaning up due to adjustments) before going back to Varsity so I don't mess up any games or playoff chances.

good luck and that is why i put that in there without doing a dissertation. for the other young guys that might be thinking of using it. hohn and tschida probably had to retire early because of it too, so you are in good company.

[Jonump]

What I don't see mentioned much is the adaptation period expected and how long it took to equal out in the minors when they were experimenting...I mean, at this point many of the players have more experience with ABS in the minors or on rehabs than the major league umps do. 

And some of these "misses" may be perfectly accurate pitches under the old rules of "any stich of the basebal over any part of the plate is a srike" as opposed to the new middle of the plate standard and a height formula that  DOESN'T HAVE A VISUAL REFERENCE POINT. Some guys leg proportions are different than others, for instance so bottom/top of knee (for instance) may have diffferent results for different guys even though the umpire is calling the same reference point accurately.

[wolfe_man]

I found a video on YT that explained that ABS is two-dimensional and only has the strike zone over the middle of the plate, so a pitch could actually be in the strike zone over the front of the plate and then drop an inch before hitting the ABS indicator and be shown as a ball instead.  

An umpire could be right on their scorecard - and wrong on ABS - on the same pitch!  For an example, they showed a pitch that Mike Estabrook correctly ruled as strike three on G. Stanton at Seattle, but then was 0.1" below the ABS line so it was over-turned to a ball upon a batter challenge and review - and the Yankees were giving Estabrook flak over it!

The MLB umpire scorecard is three-dimensional and is from the front of the plate to the point (entire plate), so if a pitch is over the plate at any point and within the height requirements at any point in flight, then it would be called a strike.

Yet again, nothing is as it seems and the average fan is going to think the PU stinks, when he was actually graded as calling the pitch correctly - even though ABS said he was wrong.   SMH, welcome to modern day baseball where nothing is as it seems.

On another note, do you think this threat of constant challenge will make umpires change their strike-three calls to a less-enthusiastic manner in fear of being overturned?   I mean, let's say you come up big with your loud mechanic and then get overturned by a challenge three times in the same game.  Would that maybe cause some umpires to take a more dialed-down approach to ringing guys up with fervor?  Or will it have the opposite effect maybe, where guys come up louder and larger trying to sell it?  Human behavior is very fun to observe and it will be interesting to see what happens.

[dumbdumb]

4 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

I found a video on YT that explained that ABS is two-dimensional and only has the strike zone over the middle of the plate, so a pitch could actually be in the strike zone over the front of the plate and then drop an inch before hitting the ABS indicator and be shown as a ball instead.  

An umpire could be right on their scorecard - and wrong on ABS - on the same pitch!  For an example, they showed a pitch that Mike Estabrook correctly ruled as strike three on G. Stanton at Seattle, but then was 0.1" below the ABS line so it was over-turned to a ball upon a batter challenge and review - and the Yankees were giving Estabrook flak over it!

The MLB umpire scorecard is three-dimensional and is from the front of the plate to the point (entire plate), so if a pitch is over the plate at any point and within the height requirements at any point in flight, then it would be called a strike.

Yet again, nothing is as it seems and the average fan is going to think the PU stinks, when he was actually graded as calling the pitch correctly - even though ABS said he was wrong.   SMH, welcome to modern day baseball where nothing is as it seems.

On another note, do you think this threat of constant challenge will make umpires change their strike-three calls to a less-enthusiastic manner in fear of being overturned?   I mean, let's say you come up big with your loud mechanic and then get overturned by a challenge three times in the same game.  Would that maybe cause some umpires to take a more dialed-down approach to ringing guys up with fervor?  Or will it have the opposite effect maybe, where guys come up louder and larger trying to sell it?  Human behavior is very fun to observe and it will be interesting to see what happens.

nice. thanks for the above. and i believe Buckner got drilled by a pitch within the last 2 days and might be on/in concussion protocol.

[The Man in Blue]

I probably read it somewhere and do not remember . . . why did they knowingly choose the mid-point instead of putting the flattened pane at the front?

[dumbdumb]

8 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

I probably read it somewhere and do not remember . . . why did they knowingly choose the mid-point instead of putting the flattened pane at the front?

you asketh, you receiveth

pitches bouncing in dirt called strikes under original experimentation probably back in the Atlantic League in the beginning.

look for it in this article. it is in the QA section.

https://www.mlb.com/news/abs-challenge-system-mlb-2026?stream=top&msockid=0ba2521bcf8465a5185d452bceec649f

[The Man in Blue]

Thank you, @beerguy55.  I did find that last night, and that was what I had read.  
 

That still doesn’t explain why they are claiming this is about accurately calling a game while blatantly choosing to ignore their own rulebook AND using it to attack umpires.  (It does if you read between the lines: gambling.)

[wolfe_man]

Korea has ABS full-time I’m told. I’ve seen some crazy pitches called strikes there!  ABS alone is not the answer.

[beerguy55]

On 4/3/2026 at 9:45 AM, The Man in Blue said:

Thank you, @beerguy55.  I did find that last night, and that was what I had read.  
 

That still doesn’t explain why they are claiming this is about accurately calling a game while blatantly choosing to ignore their own rulebook AND using it to attack umpires.  (It does if you read between the lines: gambling.)

Wasn't me, but that was my understanding too...by letter of the rule there are pitches that hit the strike zone that could also hit the plate...I don't think MLB has ever wanted those called strikes, and I don't think any reasonable umpire has ever wanted to call those a strike.  I think most players, even pitchers, don't want those called strike.

Conversely, it would be easy to correct it by rule - almost every softball ruleset specifically says this, or something like it:

EXCEPTION: It is not a strike if the pitched ball touches home plate and is not swung at.

That doesn't explicitly address a sweeper that catches the very front corner of the plate and hits the ground beside the plate...but that's a far less common occurrence in softball.

[beerguy55]

On 3/30/2026 at 7:53 PM, The Man in Blue said:

I’ll take that bet!  Once hitters get a good feel for the buffer that is being cut out by the flat system, they will abuse the hell out of this system.

Maybe maybe not...it's all fine and dandy to worry about the accuracy of high/low...those inaccuracies will even out...the ones that are overturned, or confirmed by 0.1 inches, will even out, whether balls and strikes, or top of zone and bottom of zone.  

You can't argue much about the left/right, and that's where there's less wiggle room.  Sure, on occasion it's going to miss a pitch that was a strike at the front of the plate, but off the plate by the middle...but that's going to be extremely rare.  A pitch that curves around the plate will be a ball, regardless, by nature of where the 2D plane is located.

Up and down I'm not really concerned about the ones that are in or out of the zone by 0.2 inches...it's the ones that are so high or low that it doesn't even register a measurement...the ones that are a ball plus high or low will tell the tale, and that is where umpire quality should be focused. Same goes for the ones that are completely within the strike zone but called balls.

Likewise, left/right it's going to be really evident really quickly which umpires are falling short, and nobody will be able to argue the player's height.

No one's attacking Will Little or Erich Bacchus, who are 5/5 and 10/11 respectively on challenges.

I'd like to see how the season pans out, after everyone has 30-40 games under their belt...but early on, when I look at Chad Whitson...he's only called 295 pitches, has had 7 challenged, and all 7 overturned...I want to see what that looks like later.  Some umps are challenged a lot, some others not so much.  A dozen umpires have had three or fewer challenges....18 have had ten or more challenges.

What I wonder if it will highlight "holes"...maybe some umpires suck at low pitches, where others suck at outside...and then their "success" rate with challenges will be impacted by how often pitchers throw to their weak areas.

 

Conversely, when I see Logan O'Hoppe has already challenged 12 pitches, and ten of them were overturned, that just tells me he's not very good at framing...he's causing umpires to call strikes as balls.