Another postseason, another game-deciding strike call that has everyone shaking their heads — and this time, it’s the San Diego Padres feeling the sting. If you’re a Padres fan, the words “automated strike zone” probably feel like a cruel joke arriving a year too late.
A Missed Call That Changed The Game
During Game 3 of the Wild Card round, the Padres are fighting for their season, down 3-0 to the Cubs. Jackson Merrill finally gives them a spark at the top of the ninth with a solo homer. Hope is flickering. Next up is Xander Bogaerts. He battles to a full count, and then boom — a pitch low and off the plate. Clear ball four, right?
Nope. Not according to home plate ump D.J. Reyburn, who rings him up with a called third strike that practically sent Padres fans into orbit. Bogaerts even started walking to first — that’s how obvious it was. You didn’t need a K-zone graphic or a statcast overlay to know he got hosed.
The What-If Scenario Padres Fans Can’t Ignore
But here’s where it gets even more gut-wrenching: the very next two batters get plunked. That missed call, could’ve loaded the bases with nobody out. Instead, it snuffed out a rally before it could even breathe. Jake Cronenworth grounded out, Freddy Fermin flew out deep, and just like that — season over.
Now, in a world with the Automated Balls-Strikes (ABS) challenge system — which MLB has already tested and will implement in 2026 — the Padres absolutely would’ve challenged that call. And it likely would’ve been overturned. Imagine the alternative timeline where Bogaerts walks, the rally builds, and San Diego, maybe, just maybe, ties it up or pulls ahead.
Technology Is Coming — But Not Soon Enough
But no. The current system failed them. And it’s not just the Padres. This kind of thing happens frequently. It’s why the ABS system is arriving — because technology has exposed what’s always been there: human error. And when it happens in a critical moment like this? It stings. Bad.
Look, we all love the human side of baseball — the quirks, the drama, the character. But no one wants a playoff game (or an entire season) decided by a pitch three inches off the plate. The ABS system won’t fix everything, but it’ll finally give teams a lifeline when the stakes are sky-high and the calls are flat-out wrong.
For San Diego, though, that lifeline is a year too late.
