What’s Going On? Umpire Controversies Defining Early 2026 MLB Season

It's certainly been an interesting season so far across Major League Baseball.

Aug 25, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Home plate umpire CB Bucknor takes the field before a game between the Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The 2026 Major League Baseball season is going to very interesting from an unpire point of view.

Major League Baseball implemented the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System for the 2026 season, which has already been heavily praised. One thing that is true about the Major League Baseball season is that you're always going to find stories like this early on to kick off a season. The ABS System is new at the big league level, so it is in the spotlight. In recent memory, this was the case as well with the pitch clock and even the "Torpedo" bats at one point. Right now, the ABS System, and specifically umpires, are under a microscope.

While the vast majority of the calls an umpire makes in a given game are the right ones, there have been some big misses this season already and with umpires already under a microscope, it has only added to the noise.

Umpire Controversies Are Popping Up Left And Right

Aug 20, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais (9) talks with home plate umpire CB Bucknor (54) during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

One example was with the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros on Tuesday night. Home plate umpire Mark Wegner lost track of a count that would've given Boston a strikeout, but instead the Astros ended up getting a walk instead. Wegner acknowledged that he missed the call.

"It was actually strike three," Wegner said, as transcribed by Yahoo Sports. "Had anybody caught it, we can always go and call replay and check the count. I’ve never done that before. I’m not happy about it. Just made a mistake.”

HP Ump Mark Wegner lost track of the count and it seems like everyone else did too.

This should've been a strikeout for Brayan Bello. Instead Cam Smith walked. pic.twitter.com/32w4VXiRWZ

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) April 1, 2026

This isn't even the only viral umpiring mishap that has involved the Red Sox this season. The Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds faced off in the first series of the season and umpire C.B. Bucknor got two straight calls wrong with Reds slugger Eugenio Suárez up at bat, which he challenged and won.

C.B. Bucknor tried to ring up Eugenio Suárez on back-to-back pitches.

Suárez challenged both and won both challenges.

(H/T: @tylermilliken_) pic.twitter.com/erzchAXPw0

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) March 28, 2026

Bucknor went viral again on Tuesday night, like Wegner, by ruling that Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers didn't touch first, which he obviously did. The call was overturned.

CB Bucknor ruled that Jake Bauers did not touch 1st base on this play…

The call was very quickly overturned. pic.twitter.com/m2bLQsclCe

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) April 1, 2026

The Athletic's Johnny Flores Jr. shared a column breaking down all of the umpiring news around the league. Bucknor hasn't even had the most calls overturned, at least as of March 30. There were eight challenges against him as of March 30 with six successful overturns. Fellow umpire Chad Whitson was challenged seven times and all were successful. Chris Segal was challenged 10 times with seven successes.

Soon enough, the ABS System will just be the norm and won't be under the spotlight that it is right now. But, that isn't the case yet. Umpires are being watched closely and there have been some viral missteps.