Major League Baseball has announced that infielder Jose Iglesias has received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for his conduct towards umpires after Game Three of the Wild Card series against the Cubs last week. It does not say if Iglesias will appeal. If the suspension is either uncontested or upheld, Iglesias would serve the suspension next season. Fellow Padres infielder Xander Bogaerts has also received a fine for the same incident.
Bogaerts and the Padres were obviously upset by a strike call that was made as the club’s season was on the line. The best-of-three series was tied one game apiece and the Padres were trailing 3-0 going into the ninth inning. Jackson Merrill led off with a home run off Brad Keller to pull the Padres within two. Then Bogaerts worked a 3-2 count and took a pitch down and outside, as seen in this video from MLB.com. Had it been called ball four, Bogaerts would have drawn a walk, bringing the tying run to the plate for the Friars. Instead, home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn called it strike three.
The on-screen strike zone from the broadcast certainly made the pitch look like a ball. Some other pitch-tracking sources, such as Statcast, made it look like it clipped the bottom of the zone. Regardless, Bogaerts and the Padres certainly felt it was a ball. The Friars then got a couple of men on base via hit-by-pitches but fell 3-1, ending their season. Later, fan footage emerged of the umpires being berated as they left the field through the away dugout steps, per @padsfanatic.
With the Padres having been eliminated, Iglesias can’t serve his suspension now. He is an impending free agent. MLB’s announcement notes that, pending an appeal, he will serve his suspension “on his first day as an active player on a Major League roster during the 2026 regular season.”
It’s possible that becomes somewhat notable as Opening Day nears. Iglesias, 36 in January, has been a minor league deal guy for a while now. He’s had to settle for a minors pact in three straight winters. He didn’t get called up in 2023. Last year, he returned to the big leagues and had a phenomenal run with the Mets, hitting .337/.381/.448. Despite that excellent season, he still had to settle for a minor league deal with the Padres coming into 2025.
With the Friars this year, he wasn’t nearly as effective, finishing with a .229/.298/.294 line. He will likely be receiving minor league offers again this winter. If he is in the running for a job come March or at any point next year, the signing club would have to be willing to select his contract and play short-handed on Opening Day or whatever day they give him a 40-man spot.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
The bad umpiring will continue until morale improves
Players get one game and umpire gets….
exactly
i disagree as even above the machines dont agree with each other.
“The on-screen strike zone from the broadcast certainly made the pitch look like a ball. Some other pitch-tracking sources, such as Statcast, made it look like it clipped the bottom of the zone.”
Statcast called it a strike because the standard Statcast zone uses a static upper and lower height based on the average MLB height. An adjusted Statcast strike zone with Bogaerts’ height factored in shows the pitch missing the zone, and the pitch misses the zone even more using the ABS Challenge zone (which uses the midplane of HP instead of the front plane).
I just think its inconsistent balls/strike calls. All game its a ball, but the last inning its a strike. Makes no sense. I would have tapped my helmet to tell the ump my opinion.
Pads Fans is correct. ABS uses Trackman. Trackman is accurate to within 2.5 MM in 3D. Far more accurate than the umpires. The challenge system is ABS, it’s just limited to 2 wrong challenges per team per game. .In the minor leagues MLB has said that the ABS system did not miss a single call they were asked by the umpires union to review because of umpires being in essence relegated because of their ball and strike calling. .
MLB took polls of minor league fans. I answered that poll at two different minor league ballparks while I was there watching games. The minor league fans love ABS. They love the challenge system that uses ABS to prove the umpire or the player that challenged wrong even more. It provides a little drama and that has gone over really well with the fans. It’s why we will see a challenge system to start in the majors.
The players and coaches were also interviewed and they loved it too, but MLB players that were subject to it asked for some changes and MLB listened and is making those changes.
holy shiite. That’s a book Pads Fans.
Pads Fans and outinleftfield still using his mutiple accounts to have conversations with himself lmfao.
Will either or both appeal? If so it would be fun to hear that debate!
Bogaerts was fined the equivalent of 1 inning of play. I doubt he appeals. Probably matches that amount and gives it to charity. Maybe one for free eye exams for umpires.
Too similar.
What punishment does the umpire get for being incompetent at his job? Or just another Rich Garcia look the other way by MLB?
It’s unfortunate that the umps aren’t disciplined for consistent bad calls or escalating confrontations, but they are protected by the union. I know that their “Performance” is evaluated (which influences the games of relevance that they are assigned by MLB), but when you have long time employed umps who are just awful at their job (like CB Bucknor who has had his position since 1996) that’s the bigger problem.
What I saw made it appear the umpire said something first that Iglesias and Bogaerts reacted to.
Iglesias got that dog. Good man for going in on them. His presence was missed this season in Queens.
I loved the mentality, too.
With that slash line he couldn’t have been missed very much.
That call was bad but the Padres had plenty of chances to score in that game, and they couldn’t do it.
Everyone keeps saying that as if a bad call doesn’t matter. Let’s say it was a strike and the umpire called it a ball – and that leads to the Cubs losing the game. Does everyone say it doesn’t matter because the Cubs had more chances to score earlier in the game? A bad call is a bad call.
You’re right, a bad call is a bad call. But what some people are doing is acting like it was the direct cause of the Padres losing. The most flawed example is assuming that eventually the Padres would’ve loaded the bases with no outs. But it never would’ve played out the same way. If Bogaerts had been walked and standing on first, that would’ve changed how Keller delivered to the plate, working out of the stretch, which makes it very unlikely he’d display the same wildness as he did hitting the next two batters. Not to mention, the pitch selection would’ve been different, and Keller’s focus would’ve been different with a runner on first. It’s much more likely that he would’ve struck out O’Hearn or induced a ground ball double play. Or maybe given up a hit. The only thing we can be sure of is the next two batters were unlikely to reach base by HBP.
That’s why people are saying it ultimately doesn’t matter. If it had been two outs bases loaded and the difference between game tied and game over, then, yes, but not when there’s still so much that can happen during the inning.
Also, that wasn’t the first time the ump had made a bad call on that outside corner; he’d been making bad calls in that spot all game long. Batters gotta be aware of that, especially late in the game.
Keller has a higher walk rate from the stretch. The call was not on pitch that was outside, it was low. Watch the video. Nothing else you said is factual either.
Lol websoulsurfer of course none of it was factual. THAT WAS MY WHOLE POINT, that all of the talk about how the game “would’ve” played out is conjecture… no different than I did in my post. It’s like you were too busy trying to stat-nerd some number about walk rates than actually think about what I was saying.
Also, you go back and watch yourself. Happ got called out earlier in the game for a pitch right in the same spot, and he wasn’t the only Cub. The ump had a bad day behind the plate, and both teams fell victim to it.
Can you see into the future? How can you “for sure” know that the next two batters won’t make to base by HBP.
If they did get on base by HBP then it would have been bases loaded with 0 outs. No one knows what would have happened if that scenario took place because of a bad call greatly favoring the Cubs.
That goes both ways. Sure Keller pitches from the stretch but now has to deal with a runner on first and the tying run at the plate with no outs. Maybe he doesn’t hit O’Hearn or maybe he gives up a HR like he just did to Merrill. Or maybe he get O’Hearn and the next guy goes yard to tie it. The bottom line is there is a big difference between no one out, runner on first and tying run at the plate vs. 1 out and no one on.
Well since Keller hit 2 guys, meaning he was out of the stretch for the 2nd, your argument in that regard seems thin. Had Bogaerts walked and the results proceeded as they did the If tapper for the 2nd out would have scored him and put a runner on 3B that would have scored on the deep fly that ended the game, instead tying it.
Can’t say that would have happened but it is what happened.
@judgementday We can know because that’s how things work… if you change one thing at the beginning of a series of events, then all of the variables that react to it will change. And you concede that point by stating “no one knows what would have happened.” You’re right. It’s why it’s ludicrous for people to be stating definitively that the bad call would’ve led to Walk/HBP/HBP and bases loaded no outs. It could’ve led to Walk/DP/out.
I’m not saying it was a bad call. I’m not saying it didn’t benefit the Cubs. What I am saying is that it wouldn’t necessarily have changed the outcome, and I’m saying the outcome almost certainly wouldn’t have been Walk/HBP/HBP.
And what I’ve also alluded to is that we could do the same thing for when the Cubs were on the wrong side of that ump’s bad calls earlier in the game. If the calls had gone the Cubs way, then maybe they too would’ve scored some extra runs and had a greater lead going into the 9th inning.
The conjecture on “what would’ve happened” is endless.
I’m looking forward to the automated system. Hopefully that’s an improvement. I agree with @69/420’s comment in a different post that “fans don’t want a bad call to impact the game.” You watch two teams battle it out and you want the victor to be the team who is better in that moment. Having some third party like the umps have an impact on the game is pretty lame.
I had a typo in my response that changed its meaning. I typed “was” instead of “wasn’t.”
To be clear, I completely agree that Bogaerts got hosed on that strike-three call.
Players and umpires, both human, both professionals, and both capable of making a mistake. I just hope my players don’t put the game in the umpires hands.
The game is always in the umpires’ hands.
As the post points out, those supposedly blown ball-and-strike calls sometimes depend on which box you look at. When ABS comes in next year, expect a lot of kvetching over which box is used. That’s because the strike zone is inherently hard to define up-and-down, unlike the court lines in tennis.
Replying to myself? Anyway, Reyburn ranked almost exactly in the middle for umpire accuracy in 2025, according to Umpire Scorecards. He’s far from terrible and that call was at least close, not a godawful howler. Also, I don’t know what kind of box Umpire Scorecards is using for their rankings. A different box could produce completely different rankings.
Well, Laz Diaz will always stink no matter what.
The box is consistent per MLB definition though: 27% of the batter’s height to 53.5% of the batter’s height, with challenges using the mid-plane of home plate. baseballamerica.com/stories/would-xander-bogaerts-…
As your own source points out, the ABS box next year will not take into account the fact that many batters crouch slightly (or more) at the plate, and the crouch changes from pitch to pitch and sometimes in the middle of a pitch. We’re gonna hear a lot about the box next year when ABS comes in.
MLB will catch hell for not adjusting the box to the batter’s actual stance and no doubt long articles like your link will be written to show how some borderline call was really wrong or right or SOMETHING. Let the fun begin.
By design, ABS doesn’t consider the batter’s crouch; there are too many variables. I agree that the mismatch between the ABS strike zone and the rulebook’s definition of the strike zone should probably be amended.
It really doesn’t seem outlandish that an artificial vision system could adjust the box to a batter’s actual stance. I’m not asking for a crewed Mars landing here. AI can already track human body movements quite well.
No matter what kind of box is used next year, we’ll get lots of yelps when the ABS system makes an excruciatingly borderline call in a key situation. I’m also looking forward to plenty of snickers when the Diazes and Bucknors of the world get challenged twenty times a game (maybe a slight exaggeration).
OTOH if you look up and a guy like Ripperger is behind the plate, you better be damn sure before you challenge anything. That guy’s been known to call a perfect game.
I’ve exceedingly little experience (and amateur, at that) with computer vision, so I can’t discuss it on those merits. It seems straightforward to me that hitters are getting in the same depth of their crouch the vast majority of the time.. maybe that changes slightly over the course of the season due to tinkering. It seems easier to tell players during measurements, “Hey, make this stance count, because it’s going to be your strike zone measurements for the rest of the season.” Anecdotally, I only see a batter leave a normal crouch when they’re going up the ladder or avoiding a HBP (i.e., a clear swing or take decision).
Regardless, I agree it’s a weird wrinkle of the ABS that we’ll now have two official strike zone definitions, and yeah, lots of griping, what ifs, and bellyaching.
Casey, if they can track how many times a ball spins every pitch they can track a dude in a batting stance
I have no problems at all with ABS on inside-outside calls. Of course those calls are defined exactly by the width of the plate, and ABS can make those calls just about perfectly. It’s the high-low calls that are gonna produce the yelps.
Batters who crouch at the plate will soon start whining that ABS is forcing them to cover high fastballs that were hardly ever called strikes before. And they will have a point. Sure, pitchers will grouse about the Glavine strike going away and how they have to catch too much of the plate to get an ABS call. But the width of the plate is lockdown no-doubt stuff. The high end of the strike zone will be a lot trickier.
Overall, I expect that ABS will favor the hitters because the Glavine strike will tend to go away as umps tighten up the outside corner. But impacts will vary from batter to batter. A stand-up-straight guy like Bellinger will probably get a nice bonus from the system. A crouchier guy like Arraez might get punished on high pitches.
As data starts to roll in from challenges, we’ll see who really has a good knowledge of the strike zone or at least the ABS zone. This does affect the heart of the game. Before he went off the rails with Pete Rose and Joe Paterno, Bill James made the valid point that baseball revolves around control of the strike zone. Yes it does and now the machines will be scrutinized as they affect the essence of the game.
Trackman can measure up and down better than umpires can. The MLB rule book says exactly when that is to be measured and Trackman captures is exactly down to within just a couple of millimeters in real time. It is more accurate than the umpires at that part of the strike zone.
The rulebook version of the strike zone is 3D. ABS is too perfect and many pitches that only touched the strike zone at the very back of the 3D strike zone were being called strikes, so they changed it to only measure at the front of the plate to make the players happier. That is the only mismatch. There is no vertical mismatch.
The MLB rulebook also states the exact moment that the umpire is supposed to take into account the stance of the batter in determining his strike zone. That is not when the ball crosses the plate. Trackman has shown it can do that in real time far better than any umpire.
Trackman does adjust the strike zone to each individual batters stance and does so in real time. It does it better than any umpire can.
Start suspending umpires.
This is stupid. It was a blantly missed call that cost the Padres the tying run. The league should give some leaway.
Blatantly*
Werent the Padres down by 2.
At least there will be a chance to correct the worst calls but batters in particular have poor zone judgment and will repeatedly challenge calls incorrectly and cost their teams later in games by blowing the two chances. Teams should focus on only allowing their catcher to challenge until at least 7th inning.
The only part I don’t like about the rule is that catchers and pitchers can challenge on defense, but only batters can challenge on offense. Should be only pitchers and batters.
Why do you say no to catchers?
Seems to overly favor the pitching team, with the C having the best view. IMO, it tilts the successful usage more toward the pitching team than the hitting team, and I expect that’s how the majority of the challenges will shake out over time. Plus, the pitching team gets two sets of eyes to make the decision. I’d like it more as a snap decision between pitcher and batter. You could also leave the pitcher out of the equation, I guess.
Catchers know when its a strike better than the pitcher
Classy classy Padres. If only they were this concerned about their own performance.
Statcast tracked it as a strike. There’s a link in the article.
In stadium Trackman showed it was a ball. That is the system that ABS will use next season.
Baseball America has a great article on that call and StatCast had it as a ball too.
baseballamerica.com/stories/would-xander-bogaerts-…
That was a ball even using the Eric Gregg strike zone reserved for Greg Maddox.
Umpires also have sensitive egos. How many times have we seen where a player shows even a little pushback and the umpire will immediately throw out the player. I’m tired of these snowflake umpires…
Sure, but ABS is still going to make fans upset once the strikezone changes and it’s independent of the inaccurate little box the broadcasters put up.
Helmet taps incoming…
I don’t recall the Iglesias call, but XBo got hosed. He rarely protests so you knew the call was bogus.
Screw helmet taps. Every pitch should be called by technology. Not to mention check swings. Most judgement calls can be transferred to technology. Think what might have happened if Alex Call had been correctly called out on strikes last night. Even in 1998 WS, home plate umpire Rich Garcia said he did not call obvious strike 3 on Tino Martinez bc catcher Carlos Hernandez moved his glove and he though he framed the pitch. Said it could have been a strike from Langston, wasn’t sure. Technology is in place now use it.
The umpiring is.
Horrible stuff. Call was bad but thems the breaks. I’m sure they benefited from plenty of bad ones as well.
It was a missed call. I liked Iglesias getting in the umps’ face about it, I’d welcome him back for that alone. Was shocked Shildt didn’t let himself get tossed there.
Where is the suspension or fine for the umpire who escalated this?
It was reported that Xander and Iglesias were reacting to something the umpire said to Xander and that’s what the video looks like as well. It’s not even about whether the call was right or wrong (it was 100% wrong). The issue is the umpire provoked this and then only the players got punished. Totally wrong for the umpire to instigate and then only the players suffer the consequences, either they all get punished or no one should.
Really. The umpire was the first to say something as he was walking off ? Walking off and just decided to attack Xander unprovoked ?
Sounds a little unlikely. Common sense says Xander went first, the umpire responded with some heavy artillery and Xander couldn’t deal with the audacity of return fire. Wanted to go the fisticuffs.
A lot of arrogant impa out there that escalate instead of bringing down the temperature as they are supposed to do.
100%. Blight on the game. Zero respect for spotlight chasing umps. They make me cringe. However, I still can’t believe ump threw the first insult in that situation.
The great thing about this being on video is we don’t have to make assumptions and speculate like you are doing. We can watch it and see that the umpire did in fact say something.
It’s also not “unlikely” that this umpire would be mad at Xander for critiquing his call just moments before. I’ve seen many umpires instigate, it’s not like it never happens.
I’m not disputing he said something. I’m disputing he said something unprovoked.
It’s possible, but the smart money would be on him responding to something said to him as he headed for the safety of the umps room. If Jomboy breaks it down and shows ump making the first insult, I’ll believe it and apologise.
What did the umpire say?
The video looked like Iglesias said something to the umpires and then instead of deescalating it, one of the umpires barked something back. Then Xander came in to yell after that.
If you watch the video, Xander seemed to be just watching the Cubs celebration on the railing and then joined the yelling after the umpire said something back to Iglesias.
The ball/strike calling has been atrocious this playoff season. The new rule for next year barely touches the problem, only 2 challenges? That can occur easily by the 2nd inning.
In the video I saw the umpires were giving as much as they were receiving the hate. Seems kind of lopsided for MLB to handle it this way
Bad calls are a part baseball until they’re not. Stop whining.
Umps should be accountable. I am glad they are losing their jobs to technology. They have been effing up for decades protected by unions.
No umpires will lose their job even if full ABS is implemented. There will still be an umpire behind home plate to relay the correct call to the players.
Definitely, NOT A Strike, a Huge mistake by the Chief Umpire, especially at that crucial point in the game… On the other hand, the one -year suspension is a very abusive, out-of proportion determination by MLB, as they are almost ending this player’s career.
Uh, it’s a one DAY suspension.
That umpire who blatantly missed the call and then said some junk to Xander and Iglesias ought to be banned from MLB. That call was so bad and series-altering that it’s impossible to ignore. The Padres definitely would’ve tied the game or taken the lead, pulling off an incredible accomplishment if not for that atrocious call. And then they wonder why MLB loses fans…
If the challenge is successful the challenging team doesn’t lose any of their remaining challenges. Just don’t challenge something that is borderline.
The umpire should be fined for that outrageous call.
Just replace umpires with AI already. AI should determine balls and strikes, and umpires should simply relay the calls. No more BS.
Reyburn ought to be banned from MLB for ruining the Padres’ season.
How many times did the Padres have to challenge a play that got overturned in that series?
“…fan footage emerged of the umpires being berated …”
By whom? Players? Fans? Iglesias?
What did Iglesias to to warrant a suspension? Nothing in the article or linked video tells us anything about what he did. Bogaerts’ argued the call in the video, for a moment, but that hardly warrants a fine. Was he tossed from the game? That’s the usual penalty for arguing balls & strikes.
Pretty light IMO. Bad calls are a part of the game. Doesn’t give you the right to act like a spoiled 8 year old.
Adding insult to injury….
Never happened.
When is MLB going to start disciplining umpires?
Technology supports what you say, no reason not to do this.
Punish the player for reacting to a horrible call by the dumpire? So you’re allowed to have a temper tantrum when you swing and miss strike out but if you yip at the dumpire you’re in big trouble buddy. Ok.
I’ll take machines for four hundred Alex.
Anyone still object to the ABS challenge system?