Umpire CB Bucknor is not a popular guy around Major League Baseball, and Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon is the latest to publicly criticize him.
The Cubs did not like Bucknor’s strike zone in a 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. After the game, Maddon took a direct shot at the umpire, saying “everyone expects” a sub-par performance from him at this point.
Joe Maddon when asked about umpire CB Bucknor and the strike zone during a 5-3 loss at Dodger Stadium: “Unfortunately, whenever that fellow works, everybody expects that in advance. And it’s hard to argue because it’s equally offensive to both sides. That’s as kind as I can be.”
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) June 15, 2019
It was easy to see why the Cubs were up in arms over Bucknor’s zone.
C.B. Bucknor is abhorrent. pic.twitter.com/m4QLsPq7RI
— ZAN (@ZAN_4PM) June 15, 2019
In fact, Bucknor was consistently calling outside strikes against right-handed hitters, with Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill using his curveball to exploit it repeatedly.
Cubs RHH hitters are going to have to adjust to Rich Hill's backdoor curve. CB Bucknor is giving some calls off the edge. The latest rung up Almora to end the third inning. Here's called strikes to Cubs RHH through three innings… pic.twitter.com/mPyJPfACg7
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) June 15, 2019
Bucknor is, unfortunately, known around baseball for blowing his share of calls and has a reputation as one of the worst active umpires. The Cubs are only the latest in a long line of teams to have a huge problem with the way he calls games, and it’s not hard to see why.
