One umpire’s night ended with a trip to the medical room and a storm of controversy over his calls in the Yankees-Marlins game. MLB introduced the Automated Ball Strike system with one goal in mind: to correct errors made by human umpires. But when the missed calls get tallied so high that it almost becomes enough to alter the game result, the umpire understandably falls under fire. And after the New York Yankees vs. the Miami Marlins game, allegations of bias are piling up against the plate umpire.
The Marlins lost their second match-up against the Yankees, the host team, in a close 9-7 game. However, the scorecard does not tell the story of the calls home plate umpire Ron Kulpa missed in the game. Umpire Auditor reported on X that among the 23 calls Kulpa missed in the game, 15 went against the Marlins.
Posting a video of a wrong strike three call against the Marlins’ Owen Caissie, later overturned by the ABS, Umpire Auditor wrote, “Umpire Ron Kulpa missed 23 calls in the Yankees Marlins game, and 15 went against the Marlins. The Marlins were able to overturn 6 of those calls via ABS challenge. Marlins lost 9-7.”
Kulpa made his umpiring debut in the major league on July 23, 1998, and has been a full-time umpire since 1999. Kulpa was also responsible for umpiring duties in the 2011 and 2021 World Series.
According to UmpScorecards, Kulpa ended the last season with 93.1% accuracy rate. But this year, with the ABS in play, the numbers don’t look as good for Kulpa so far. As of Saturday, ESPN reported that out of the 14 pitches challenged, the ABS overturned 11 of his calls. It accounts for a 78.6% overturn rate.
Those 15 wrong calls he made on Saturday, when compared, sum up to almost double the 8 calls that went against the Yankees. The Marlins must have felt fortunate for the ABS yesterday, as they overturned 6 of those wrong calls. UmpScorecards noted that he called a total of 232 pitches in the game with an accuracy rate of 90.09%.
Umpire Ron Kulpa missed 23 calls in the Yankees Marlins game and 15 went against the Marlins.
The Marlins were able to overturn 6 of those calls via ABS challenge.
Marlins lost 9-7. pic.twitter.com/51l7DjCWQb
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) April 5, 2026
While he was in the game, the ABS overturned 7 out of his 9 challenged calls. However, Kulpa exited the match in the fourth inning after suffering from a blow to the face.
With two outs in the fourth, a foul ball hit Kulpa in the mask. He initially continued as the Marlins took a 4-0 lead with Jakob Marsee’s RBI single. However, after Augustin Ramirez scored, the veteran umpire motioned to the Yankees’ dugout, and two trainers checked him. A few minutes later, he exited under his own power for further examination.
The Marlins are on the verge of getting swept, having lost the first one on an 8-2 margin as well. But with such a high number of wrong calls against the visiting team, fans have called out Kulpa over alleged Yankees bias.
Fans not pleased with umpiring errors
The ABS has put the MLB umpires and their calls under the microscope. With fans watching closely, the umpires can’t get away with wrong calls easily anymore.
“Each team should get 4 challenges each at this miss rate by the umps,” wrote one fan, clearly displeased with the misses. Under the current system, each team only gets two challenges per game. A team can challenge as long as they don’t lose those two.
Another fan expressed his desire not to want any more of Ron Kulpa and C.B. Bucknor’s umpiring. He wrote, “Ron Kulpa and C.B. Bucknor need to be cut a check and put out to pasture.”
One user commented, “Again, this is proof of what some of us have been saying all along about how bad some of these umpires are and manipulating the outcome of games.” Agreeing, another wrote, “There is zero reason not to call balls and strikes electronically. This poor umpiring costs teams games.”
While the ABS was initially met with skepticism, fans are in favor of the automation. They feel that the ABS helps to avoid any bias that the umpires might have.
Another user took a dig at Kulpa, writing, “His new nickname: Mea Kulpa.” ‘Mea culpa’, phonetically the same as ‘Mea Kulpa’, is a Latin phrase that translates to ‘through my fault.’
While most put Kulpa under fire, one fan remarked, “To be fair with Kulpa, he only umpired half the game cuz he got injured and had to leave midway through.” After a foul ball hit his face mask in the fourth inning, Kulpa left the game due to possible concussion symptoms and earned some sympathy, it appears. Kulpa had exited a Red Sox-White Sox game in 2022 as well under similar circumstances.
However, umpires will continue to fall under the fans’ ire if they don’t become more accurate as the season progresses.
