Friday wasn’t home plate umpire Bill Miller’s day.
Behind the plate for the Reds’ 10-8 win over the Cubs, Miller had a ridiculous eight ball-strike calls overturned by the Automated Ball-Strike System.
Miller, the crew chief, has 27 years of major league service, but like every umpire, he is still apparently adjusting to his first season working alongside the ABS challenges.
MLB introduced the system for the 2026 regular season after previously testing it in the minors and spring training.
It was far from the first time an MLB umpire has been embarrassed by the new technology this season.
On March 28, during the opening days of ABS at the big league level, umpire C.B. Bucknor had six of eight challenged calls overturned during a Reds-Red Sox game.
Days later, the Twins successfully overturned eight of their nine challenges against home plate umpire Andy Fletcher in an April 1 loss to the Royals.
Minnesota’s nine challenges set an early single-game record for one team, while the game featured 11 challenges overall.
The most extreme example of baseball’s newest innovation came June 8 in Las Vegas, when the Brewers and Athletics combined for an MLB-record 16 challenges, with 11 of home plate umpire Clint Vondrak’s calls overturned.
