A few weeks ago, when the MLB decided to bring ABS full-time for the 2026 season, many fans and players were not happy with it. But guess what, this sport needs it more than anything, at least that is what the San Diego Padres feel right now. Bad calls in a regular-season game are on one side, but a strike 3 call in a Wild Card Game is not the place.
The Cubs and the Padres were in a do-or-die match in game 3 of the Wild Card series when the umpires decided that they were the kingmakers. Looking back at it now, home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn called a strike on a pitch that very well might have decided the game. One Padres fan went wild on X and posted, “That was atrocious. Bogarts should be able to attack that man.” Should the fans be angry? Yes. But should we really be surprised? Because this has been the case the whole season.
The Padres were hanging by three outs in Game 3 of the Wild Card when disaster struck. Xander Bogaerts, locked into a full count, watched a 97-mph fastball sail below the strike zone. Home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn rang him up, leaving Bogaerts frozen in disbelief and Mike Shildt storming angrily. That pitch wasn’t borderline but entirely missed, and a walk would’ve sparked a bases-loaded rally immediately after.
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Instead, the call ripped the fire out of the Padres, and it lost them a leadoff baserunner. What hurt more was that Keller later hit 2 more batters, meaning that the Padres would have had bases bases-loaded scene. This hit the Padres like a train, and that was really where the game ended. The sad fact is that this is not a rare occurrence. The umpires missed 26,567 calls this season, including 1,203 that ended in strikeouts. They missed around 1,014 calls in just a week in April.
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Numbers like this explain why the frustration feels more like resignation than a surprise, because fans come to games expecting bad calls at crucial moments. Forget studies, MLB’s own experiment in Spring Training showed that the ABS system overturned 52.2 percent of the challenges. The reviews only took an average of 13.8 seconds, showing that it will give justice to batters without disrupting the game’s flow.
Bogaerts and the Padres deserved better than Reyburn turning a simple ball into heartbreak. Fans have seen this story repeat all season, making outrage feel almost like a tradition. ABS technology won’t just fix calls; it might finally make umpires earn their paycheck.
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Padres fans are not happy after game game-altering call by the umpire
In a ninth-inning showdown, tension gripped the stadium. Xander Bogaerts stood frozen at the plate, perfectly disciplined, while Mike Shildt watched in disbelief. The Padres’ postseason hopes teetered on a razor-thin edge, only to be crushed by a single call. Fans were reminded that sometimes, the real drama comes not from players but from the man behind the plate.
Padres fans fumed online, insisting Bogaerts “woulda had bases loaded with no outs” if fair calls were made. Reyburn rang him up on a 97-mph fastball clearly below the zone, igniting outrage. Many felt the call was motivated by the umpire wanting “to be apart of something.” What could have been a rally instantly turned into deflation.
After the last pitch, one fan shouted, “Bogarts just got F***D by the umpire.” The pitch wasn’t even close to the strike zone, leaving Bogaerts furious and Shildt ready to erupt. A walk would have loaded the bases, giving San Diego a real shot at the NLDS. Instead, it ended in heartbreak.
One fan tweeted, “Umps just called Xander Bogarts out as he watched Ball Six lmfao.” The absurdity of a strike on a ball outside the zone perfectly captured fan disbelief. Bogaerts’ patience backfired, punishing him for doing everything right.
Another fan summed it up: “Oh wow, Bogarts got robbed.” Those four words captured collective disbelief. The Padres’ momentum evaporated in an instant, exposing once again how human error dominates the game’s biggest moments.
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“Xander Bogarts just got screwed on that strike 3 call,” another wrote. Close calls can be forgiven, but this one wasn’t close. Even Stevie Wonder could see it wasn’t a strike. In a season-defining moment, umpire D.J. Reyburn got it wrong, costing San Diego a possible Division title.
Bogaerts and the Padres deserved better. Instead, Reyburn turned a ball into heartbreak, adding to a season-long pattern of frustration. Fans are left with one thought: ABS technology can’t come soon enough to prevent mistakes like this.