No one likes ump shows, but they're still an unfortunate reality of Major League Baseball in 2025.
Home plate umpiring in particular has the possibility to impact games, and that was on full display on Monday night. Umpire Phil Cuzzi's strike zone in the late innings heavily favored the San Francisco Giants in their 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
In the top of the eighth inning, Cuzzi called two pitches strikes to Bryce Harper that missed the Hawk-Eye-automated strike zone. Then, in the bottom of the inning, Cuzzi somehow called three straight pitches that should have been strike three balls to Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, enabling the single that put the eventual winning run in scoring position.
The Phillies were incredulous, both in the moment and after the game, when they'd all had a chance to look at the calls Cuzzi botched.
"I feel like anytime I complain it's pretty obvious," Harper said, per Bob Cooney of NBC Sports Philadelphia. "He knows he missed them. Sometimes that happens. Umpire took over the game.
"I couldn't say much more, I didn't want to. I barely said anything to him when I walked off the first time on the strike three that was up. I respect Phil, I like Phil a lot. But obviously that doesn't help us in that situation. He's got to do better."
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It's only one loss, and the Phillies would be naive to think the bad calls were the only thing that caused it. They were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and even one hit could have swung the outcome.
But it's hard to stomach an obvious miss from an ump in a balls and strikes capacity when we know the technology is coming that can eliminate those mistakes.
The automated ball-strike system will be a positive change for the league in 2026, if Monday night's display was any indication.
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