Umpire snaps at Boone after Yankees overturn five calls with ABS challenge

SEATTLE — Aaron Boone had seen enough. By the fourth inning at T-Mobile Park on Monday night, the Yankees manager stepped to the lip of the dugout and fired words at home plate umpire Mike Estabrook. Estabrook fired right back.

It was a tense exchange that turned heads around the ballpark. But the real story was not the argument. It was the scoreboard that said it all: five ABS challenges, five overturned calls, five times an umpire was proven wrong by technology in a single game.

The Yankees lost the game, 2-1, on Cal Raleigh’s walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. But in a broader sense, New York won something else entirely.

Caballero sets the tone early

It began in the second inning with shortstop Jose Caballero at the plate facing Mariners ace Luis Castillo. Estabrook called a pitch outside as a strike, putting the count at 1-1. Caballero tapped his helmet. Challenge accepted.

The Hawk-Eye tracking system confirmed what Caballero already knew. The pitch was a ball. Count reset to 2-0.

Jose Caballero correctly challenged two pitches in the same at-bat, with the second one reversing a strikeout to a walk pic.twitter.com/8cV5xVzhan

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 31, 2026

Later in that same at-bat, Estabrook rung up Caballero on a 3-2 pitch that clipped low. Caballero was already peeling off his left shin guard and batting gloves as the challenge was being reviewed. He knew. The call was overturned. Instead of walking back to the dugout, he jogged to first base.

Stanton, Chisholm add to the pile

The Yankees were not done. In the fourth inning, Giancarlo Stanton stepped in and was called out on a 1-2 slider from Castillo. Stanton challenged. The pitch was low. Gone. He then lined a single on the very next pitch.

One batter later, Jazz Chisholm Jr. challenged a first-pitch slider that Estabrook ruled a strike. Once again, the system sided with the hitter. Chisholm eventually struck out in the at-bat, but the Yankees had made their point. Then Ben Rice added the fifth challenge, also successful, completing a 5-for-5 night.

Yankees are chirping at home plate umpire Mike Estabrook as he keeps calling low strikes and the Yankees keep overturning them https://t.co/S9LZ6suzFz pic.twitter.com/d64yy04czx

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 31, 2026

That is when Boone could not stay silent any longer. He and Estabrook exchanged words from the dugout.

“I don’t want to hear another word,” Estabrook told Boone. “Not another word.”

Boone praises the team’s discipline

Despite the loss, Boone acknowledged the job his players did at the plate in spotting bad calls. The Yankees finished the night with a 5-for-5 ABS success rate, among the best single-game performances since the system launched at the start of the 2026 season.

“Really good job by the guys,” Boone said. “When you have that kind of success rate, it’s not going to be like that every night. But I thought every one was obviously warranted, and a couple in some key spots to give us a chance to build an inning. We just weren’t able to build much offensively tonight.”

Aaron Boone breaks down Ryan Weathers' first start as a Yankee with @M_Marakovits.

The skipper then says he never considered intentionally walking Cal Raleigh to get to Julio Rodríguez in the 9th inning.#YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/SwwXjn41NM

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 31, 2026

The Yankees dropped to 3-1 on the young season. Seattle improved to 3-2. Castillo was dominant throughout, spinning six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, including career punchout No. 1,500 against Aaron Judge in the sixth.

ABS system puts umpires under the spotlight

The Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System, which debuted on Opening Day, uses Hawk-Eye camera technology to measure the exact location of every pitch relative to the batter’s strike zone. Each team receives two challenges per game. A successful challenge preserves the challenge count. A failed one costs a team its remaining shot.

Since the system launched, 72% of surveyed fans said it had a positive impact on their experience, according to MLB data collected during Spring Training. The tables below show how teams and players have fared with the new system through March 30, 2026.

2026 ABS challenge totals (as of March 30, 2026)

Category	Total challenges	Successful	Success rate
Batters	95	~49	~52%
Catchers	110	~74	~67%
Pitchers	10	2	20%
All roles combined	215	97	45.1%

Data through games of Monday, March 30, 2026. Source: ESPN ABS Challenge Tracker.

Batter ABS challenge leaders (min. 2 challenges)

#	Player	Team	Succ/Chal	Success rate
1	Teoscar Hernandez	LAD	2/2	100%
2	Eugenio Suarez	CIN	2/2	100%
3	Will Benson	CIN	2/2	100%
4	Heliot Ramos	SF	2/2	100%
5	Nick Kurtz	ATH	2/2	100%
6	Mike Trout	LAA	3/4	75%
7	Kyle Schwarber	PHI	2/3	66.7%
8	Jose Caballero	NYY	2/3	66.7%
9	Roman Anthony	BOS	2/3	66.7%
10	Jose Altuve	HOU	1/2	50%

*Jose Caballero (NYY) ranks No. 8 at 66.7%, going 2-for-3 including two reversals in Monday’s game vs. Seattle.

Catcher ABS challenge leaders (min. 2 challenges)

#	Catcher	Team	Succ/Chal	Success rate
1	J.T. Realmuto	PHI	3/3	100%
2	Dillon Dingler	DET	3/3	100%
3	Austin Wells	NYY	3/3	100%
4	Victor Caratini	MIN	2/2	100%
5	Alejandro Kirk	TOR	2/2	100%
6	Francisco Alvarez	NYM	2/2	100%
7	Adley Rutschman	BAL	2/2	100%
8	Salvador Perez	KC	4/5	80%
9	Nick Fortes	TB	3/5	60%
10	Patrick Bailey	SF	3/5	60%

*Austin Wells (NYY) is perfect at 3-for-3 on the season, among the most accurate catchers in baseball.

MLB team ABS challenge rankings

Rank	Team	Batters	Pitchers	Catchers	Overall
1	Cleveland Guardians	100%	—	100%	100%
2	Washington Nationals	87.5%	—	100%	90.9%
3	San Francisco Giants	100%	—	50%	88.9%
4	St. Louis Cardinals	100%	—	80%	83.3%
5	Cincinnati Reds	100%	—	66.7%	80%
5	Milwaukee Brewers	75%	100%	80%	80%
7	Atlanta Braves	60%	100%	100%	75%
8	Detroit Tigers	66.7%	—	60%	62.5%
8	Minnesota Twins	66.7%	—	60%	62.5%
10	Texas Rangers	66.7%	—	57.1%	61.5%
11	Los Angeles Dodgers	0%	—	100%	60%
12	Baltimore Orioles	25%	—	100%	57.1%
12	Chicago Cubs	33.3%	—	75%	57.1%
12	Colorado Rockies	100%	0%	50%	57.1%
12	Tampa Bay Rays	25%	—	100%	57.1%
16	Arizona Diamondbacks	42.9%	—	100%	55.6%
16	New York Mets	40%	0%	100%	55.6%
18	Kansas City Royals	50%	—	50%	50%
18	New York Yankees	0%	—	66.7%	50%
18	Pittsburgh Pirates	33.3%	—	60%	50%
21	San Diego Padres	50%	—	40%	44.4%
22	Miami Marlins	33.3%	—	50%	42.9%
23	Toronto Blue Jays	33.3%	—	44.4%	41.7%
24	Philadelphia Phillies	50%	—	0%	40%
25	Los Angeles Angels	0%	—	42.9%	33.3%
25	Seattle Mariners	—	0%	50%	33.3%
27	Boston Red Sox	0%	—	50%	30%
28	Houston Astros	16.7%	—	25%	20%
29	Athletics	25%	0%	0%	12.5%
30	Chicago White Sox	—	—	0%	0%

*New York Yankees highlighted. Yankees sit at 50% overall, with catchers (66.7%) outperforming batters (0%) significantly.

Umpire overturn leaderboard

Umpire	Pitches called	Challenged	Overturned	Overturn rate
Chad Whitson	295	7	7	100%
Mike Estabrook	291	5	5	100%
Dan Bellino	263	6	5	83.3%
CB Bucknor	383	8	6	75%
Carlos Torres	348	7	4	57.1%
Chris Segal	321	10	7	70%
Lance Barksdale	569	6	2	33.3%
Will Little	278	4	0	0% (most accurate)
Bruce Dreckman	335	4	0	0% (most accurate)

Higher overturn rate = more calls reversed by ABS. Mike Estabrook had all five of his Monday calls overturned by the Yankees.

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