This Brutally Bad Called Strike on Opening Day Is Proof MLB Still Has an Ump Problem

Major League Baseball is back and the new rules have games moving along at rapid rates, which is great for fans.

You know what isn’t great for fans? Bad umpires. And those are still very much around.

MLB has had issues with bad umps since basically the beginning of time. But it feels like they’ve only gotten worse in recent years (I’m looking at you, Ángel Hernández).

The umps in Thursday’s Mets-Marlins game made a very questionable pitch clock violation call, which had MLB fans rightfully irate.

Then there was this called strike in the Blue Jays-Cardinals game that had everyone wondering how in the world Dan Iassogna could think this was inside the zone:

Umpire Dan Iassogna with a strong entry for worst call of opening day.

This pitch to Brendan Donovan missed outside by 6.24 inches#Cardinals #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/Ttq73XcqLv
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) March 30, 2023

That's more than a half a foot outside!

MLB fans were not happy:

Change all the pitch clocks you want, end the shift. Stop throwing to first and allow runners to steal at will. Do whatever you want @MLB. But your Umpires are your problem, and you refuse to address it. @CleGuardians game also had them miss a foul ball, that led to a walk. https://t.co/xhf8u4E9L3
— Don Fowler (@donf0615) March 31, 2023

You can & will miss calls throughout the course of the game. Where it gets messed up is when pitches don’t start as strikes and never touch the zone. These types of calls shouldn’t be happening in an @MLB game 🤧 https://t.co/0ZOSYDLBAr
— Alex (@AlexanderCoan06) March 31, 2023

Is it the game that needed revamping or is it actually the umpires in the system? Horrible call https://t.co/p7SLsPtpfU
— Janelle Dunn (@JanelleSue0912) March 31, 2023

Bro what?! 😂😂 https://t.co/b1Ti4qtbRs
— Jay Holz (@JayHolz410) March 31, 2023

What in the world is this call.... https://t.co/hRzCI39KfM
— Brian Pereyra (@OBrianPereyra) March 31, 2023

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