The Seattle Mariners are one of the lowest-ranked teams to have used the ABS as hitters. But when Rob Refsnyder used it against the Cardinals, it turned out to be one of the best decisions. However, looking back at it has now put umpire John Bacon directly in the crosshairs, with fans turning furious.

Umpire Auditor on X reported saying, “In a tie game in the 9th, umpire John Bacon called a strike to Rob Refsnyder that missed outside by 2.71 inches. Then, he tried to call him out on a pitch that missed by 5.97 inches. This was the largest miss on a called strikeout this season.”

The Mariners edged the St. Louis Cardinals in a close 3-2 game on Sunday. The teams made nine challenges during the game, and eight were successful, indicating that both teams did a good job with their challenges.

But this raises questions about plate umpire John Bacon, who had multiple calls overturned during the game. And with Bacon missing 7 calls in the last 2 games, fans were always going to keep a close eye on the umpire. But what made the fans really unhappy was the call he made in the 9 inning.

In the 9th inning, the umpire called Rob Refsnyder‘s first pitch a strike and reportedly measured it 2.71 inches off the zone. Later in the same at-bat, he challenged a 0-2 strike call, but the call turned out to have missed the zone by 5.97 inches. After the overturn, the batter worked the count, then launched a 412-foot homer off JoJo Romero.

That swing gave the Mariners the lead for the first time, turning a potential strikeout into a game-winning homer. Without the ABS challenge system, the at-bat would have ended on a blown call, costing them an important win.

Refsnyder said after the game that it felt outside. But more moments in the game showed why the ABS is important.

Ivan Herrera flipped four balls into strikes. JP Crawford also saw one strike overturned, then ball four reversed into strike three. These moments show both teams handled the system well, even as the Home Plate umpire struggled.

And with so many overturned calls, umpire John Bacon’s place in MLB is being questioned. He has an accuracy of 91.96%, well below the expected 93%-94% range. In this game alone, eight of nine challenges succeeded, exposing repeated missed calls.

He also had seven calls overturned in the previous two games, showing ongoing struggles in adapting to the zone. And this is what makes the argument from former umpires questionable.

Some former umpires argued that ABS demands perfection and is putting too much pressure on umpires, but wide misses like these weaken that claim. Human errors will occur, and everyone understands that, but when a call misses the zone by such a large margin in a serious situation, people will question the umpires and praise ABS.

MLB fans call out umpires after almost costing the Mariners

And if you look at how the fans are reacting to this call, you will understand why ABS is impacting the game to do better.

“Why is he still employed by MLB???” came after John Bacon missed multiple calls during the Mariners-Cardinals game. In the 2025 game between the Orioles and the Blue Jays, Jordan Westburg struck out twice on pitches clearly below the zone. Brandon Hyde, the former Orioles manager, argued and ejected himself. This showed the frustration came not just from the fans, and this isn’t the first time his calls have impacted a game.

“This is why they brought ABS to the league. LITERALLY almost cost them the game,” followed a missed strike call extending an at-bat that turned into a home run. In a game between the Rays and the Brewers, veteran umpire CB Bucknor made a bad call at first base, not even at the plate. He ruled Jake Bauers out for missing the bag, even though the replay showed his foot clearly touched it. With such bad calls happening in the game, ABS looks like the way forward for teams and the future of the sport.

“John Bacon has always been a terrible ball-strike umpire,” reflects frustration from repeated missed calls in the Yankees-Orioles game. In that game, he called a low pitch strike three before ejecting Jazz Chisholm Jr. during a heated argument. Earlier, the umpire tossed Orioles manager Brandon Hyde after he argued similar low strike calls against his hitters in a previous game. Moments like these explain why fans want ABS and why they are happy that officials hold umpires accountable.

“I’m still waiting to hear a logical argument against using ABS for every pitch” came after a clear missed strike call. In that moment, the hitter survived only because someone left a challenge. The fan compared this to Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where the system delivers automated calls on every pitch in real time, removing delays and doubt. That example shows MLB could adopt full ABS without slowing games while preventing situations where teams lose because they don’t have a challenge left.

“I hope the @MLB uses these stats at the end of the season,” reflects growing frustration with inconsistent umpiring decisions. Fans see these moments and believe performance data should guide decisions just like player evaluations. MLB already reviews umpires and determines their future in the MLB.

Hence, MLB can ignore the noise now, but ABS is quietly rewriting how accountability works.