Pirates 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes calls out umpire, pleads for robot system

“Kill the umpire” is a time-honored plea among baseball fans who disagree with arbiters’ calls. On Sunday, Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes suggested replacing the ump -- with an automated ball-strike system.

>> Read more trending news

Hayes, 26, in his fourth season with the Pirates, was batting against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday and had a 3-1 count with two outs in the eighth inning. The next pitch by Braves reliever A.J. Minter appeared outside and Miller flipped his bat, believing he had drawn a walk, ESPN reported.

Plate umpire Bill Miller thought differently, calling the pitch a strike. He returned to the plate, had a brief chat with Miller, and then struck out on the next pitch.

After the game, Hayes posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, to express his frustrations with the call, USA Today reported.

“Some umpires really don’t care,” Hayes wrote. “3-1 call not even close. I hold him accountable after the game walking off the field and his response is “(shrug emoji) I gave you a chance to hit a homerun” that tells me you don’t care at all.

“No accountability. Bring the ABS please @MLB.”

The ABS refers to the automatic balls and strikes system, Sports Illustrated reported. It is being tested at minor league baseball’s Triple-A level this season, according to ESPN. A computer makes the calls for half of the games. In the other half of the contest, batters, pitchers and catchers can challenge a human umpire, the sports outlet reported.

The computer, like Miller on Sunday, gets the final say.

The Braves defeated the Pirates 5-2. Atlanta (94-49) owns the best record in the majors this season and has already clinched a playoff berth.

Hayes, the son of longtime major league third baseman Charlie Hayes, declined to discuss the incident before the Pirates game on Monday against the Washington Nationals, ESPN reported. Ke’Bryan Hayes said through a team spokesperson that his social media post covered his thoughts on the issue.

“It’s a very rare situation and he was frustrated, you know?” Pirates manager Derek Shelton told reporters. “Sometimes, I think today, we vent in different ways. Not speaking for him in any way, but the point of the matter is every at-bat is important, every at-bat is crucial. The fact that he has the passion for every single pitch I think is really important.”

MLB has not commented on Hayes’ comments, ESPN reported.