Xander Bogaerts Rips 'Terrible' Call in Padres' Loss to Cubs, 'Messed Up' Whole Game
San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts made his feelings known regarding a controversial strike call during the ninth inning of the Padres' season-ending, 3-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series on Thursday.
Speaking to Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune (h/t ESPN), Bogaerts took issue with a low pitch from Cubs pitcher Brad Keller on a 3-2 count being called a strike by home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn, saying:
"Talk about it now: What do you want me to do? It's a ball. Messed up the whole game, you know? I mean, can't go back in time, and talking about it now won't change anything. So it was bad, and thank God for ABS next year because this is terrible."
Bogaerts was punched out on the pitch, and the next two batters were hit by pitches, putting the tying runners on base with one out. However, reliever Andrew Kittredge entered the game and recorded two consecutive outs to win the game and end the Padres' season.
Had Bogaerts walked, the Padres would have begun the ninth inning with a runner on, and the bases would have been loaded with no outs had Keller still hit the two batters after him.
Instead, the inaccurate strike call put the Padres in a hole, and they weren't able to dig out of it.
As Bogaerts alluded to, a challenge system for balls and strikes is coming to Major League Baseball regular-season and playoff games for the first time ever in 2026.
The concept, which has been tested in the minor leagues, spring training games and the All-Star Game, will allow every team two challenges of ball and strike calls per game.
A successful challenge means the team retains their challenge and can use it again, but once a team has two unsuccessful challenges, they cannot challenge again during the game.
There is no guarantee that the Padres would have had a challenge remaining in the ninth inning Thursday had the ABS system already been in place, but it is fair to assume teams will want to save their challenges for clutch moments like the one Bogaerts found himself in.
None of that matters for this year's version of the Padres, who made the postseason for the fourth time in the past six years.
A Wild Card Series loss marked their earliest exit during that time period, as they had reached at least the National League Division Series in 2020, 2022 and 2024.
With the Padres eliminated, the Cubs move on to the NLDS for the first time since 2017 when they made it all the way to the National League Championship Series.
Chicago will take on the NL Central rival Milwaukee Brewers, who had the best record in baseball during the regular season at 97-65.
