For the first time this season, the Chicago Cubs were swept in a three-game series. The Cubs fell to the San Francisco Giants 4-3 on Thursday, and it felt like a game where the Cubs couldn't catch a break. Making things even worse was that home plate umpire David Rackley had a bad day at the office.
Umpire David Rackley called the worst game of the day.
He missed 16 calls in the Giants Cubs game for a correct call rate of only 86.4%. pic.twitter.com/YBsUZv9pPI— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) August 29, 2025We're not saying that Rackley being terrible at his job is the reason why the Cubs lost on Thursday, but it just speaks to the reason why the automatic ball-strike challenge needs to arrive in Major League Baseball next season.