One MLB Ump Is So Perfect Right Now, He Might Actually Be the GOAT Behind the Plate

We're tracking the best (and worst) umpires in baseball this week, and one guy is making everyone else look bad. Erich Baccus called another game and was so dominant he had zero challenges added whatsoever. That's right: zero. Out of 1,191 pitches he called, only 1 was overturned. We're talking 0.08% in total. This might be our modern day Scottie Schefter, and if you know anything about precision, you know that's the ultimate compliment.

The Leaderboard Is Taking Shape, and Some Guys Are Tanking

Welcome to the ABS Invitational, where I'm tracking umpire performance week by week all summer long. Think of it like a golf tournament, except there's no weekend cut and no escape hatch. You live with your mistakes for all 16 weeks.

Here's what jumped out this week: Andy Fletcher is struggling. He's been challenged 25 times, and the player got it overturned on only 4 of those occasions. If I'm an eyeglasses company, I'm calling this guy and offering him a free vision check and specs for the rest of the season. But here's the thing: 25 pitches close enough to be challenged is a reliable sample size. There has to be some positive regression to the mean eventually.

CB Bucknor dropped seven spots despite not even getting behind the plate for a week. The ranking dropped because new umpires with better precision are moving up the board. Bucknor needs to get back out there and change the narrative.

The Collapses Are Real

Stu Scheurwater is in freefall. He dropped 45 spots after eight missed calls this week. Nester Ceja isn't far behind, dropping 35 spots with seven misses. Austin Jones somehow moved up a few notches despite missing six close calls just in the past week. Go figure.

Then there's D.J. Reyborn, who might be a data glitch. He supposedly umpired 1,559 pitches in his first week. That's like five games worth. I'll keep an eye on that next week because something got screwy on the backend.

We're only on the 12th tee right now. Lot of knees still to bend this summer. Stick around to see which umps tighten up and which ones fold when the dog days hit.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.