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What they’re saying about C.B. Bucknor’s nightmare Red Sox-Reds game
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- What they’re saying about C.B. Bucknor’s nightmare Red Sox-Reds game
To say C.B. Bucknor had a bad game behind the plate Saturday would be an understatement.
The home plate umpire had six total pitches overturned by the ABS challenge system in the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds , including consecutive called third strikes. According to the umpire scorecards , Bucknor called 72% of strikes accurately.
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One of Bucknor’s calls also led to Red Sox manager Alex Cora getting ejected after Trevor Story checked his swing but the umpire called him out in the top of the eighth inning with two on and Boston down, 5-4.
Check swings cannot be reviewed, but it was just another mark on Bucknor’s putrid day.
The Red Sox went on to tie the game, but eventually lost in the 11th inning.
Here’s what’s being said about Bucknor’s day at the plate.
“On Saturday, the system was a factor again, though not in a good way for the Red Sox. And poor work from home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor merely compounded things.
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“Unwisely, the Red Sox used their two challenges up early: one by catcher Carlos Narvaez and another by Roman Anthony , using two challenges on successive pitches.
“That meant that, from the third inning on, the Sox were working without a net — and worse, at the mercy ofBucknor. With no way to challenge Bucknor’s many missed balls and strikes — there were, at minimum, a handful — the Sox were on their own."
“Home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor didn’t have his best showing in a game that saw the Cincinnati Reds defeat the Boston Red Sox 6-5 after 11 innings on Saturday, March 28.
“Bucknor, 63, has served as an umpire in the major leagues since 1996. He is one of the two longest-tenured active umpires, along with Phil Cuzzi, who has been active since 1991.
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“Despite Bucknor’s years of experience, he had six calls overturned as a result of MLB’s new Automated Ball-Strike challenge system.”
“The Red Sox and Reds challenged on ball-strike calls eight different times, and six of them were overturned. The Reds went 5-for-5 on their challenges, including two straight called strike threes that third baseman Eugenio Suárez successfully challenged and got overturned to balls in the bottom of the sixth inning.”
“The story of the game was, unfortunately, home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor, who had a rough afternoon calling balls and strikes. He had six -- six! -- calls overturned via the ABS challenge system, including back-to-back pitches by Eugenio Suárez in the sixth inning. There were eight challenges in the game overall, five by the Reds (5 for 5) and three by the Red Sox (1 for 3).”
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“Throughout the game, the Red Sox and Reds took issue with home-plate umpire CB Bucknor’s strike zone. The longtime umpire had eight calls challenged under the new Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System with six of them overturned. There likely would have been at least two more if the Red Sox hadn’t lost their two challenges by the third inning.”
“There are moments that offer a pretty good sense that something new is going to work. This feels like one for ABS. The Cincinnati crowd’s reaction was thunderous. And the situation itself — twice it salvaged a bases-loaded opportunity. This system plays."
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“C.B. Bucknor has wasted no time establishing himself as the No. 1 villain of the ABS era. If not in all of baseball, at least in Boston. On Saturday, Bucknor made a number of bad calls and eight of them were challenged. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, who fell to the Reds 6-5 on Saturday, they challenged two calls that were upheld early in the game which left them powerless as Bucknor continued to blow calls throughout the game.”
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