Mets Players Frustrated After Being Hit by Numerous Pitches: “The MLB Has a Very Big Problem”
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The Mets have been hit by a lot of pitches this season. The team is performing well: they’ve secured a record six series wins at the start of the season, and they’re on track to become a dominant force in the NL East. Unfortunately, countless close-calls with pitches high and up have their players frustrated.
Across only 19 games this season, the Mets have been hit 18 times. That’s an unacceptable number for any team, and, even if it’s all accidental, it’s enough to make New York’s players angry.
Pete Alonso has barely escaped injury after being hit in the head with a wild pitch – twice. Steve Cishek threw a ball at Francisco Lindor that cracked his tooth. The Cardinals’ pitching staff walloped both Dominic Smith and Starling Marte on Tuesday. It’s starting to wear thin with the team, which has started to clear the bench whenever any player gets grazed by a ball.
“You care about your players and getting into right and wrong and intent and what have you,” Buck Showalter, the Mets’ manager, told reporters. “You reach a point where it’s about safety of your players. We’re lucky. You talk about a pitch that broke his helmet. It’s not good. I’m not happy.”
“It’s really uncomfortable at the end of the day,” Sterling Marte explained. “It’s one of those things where, whether it’s intentional or not, it has to stop. We’re tired of it and we’re going to do something about it if it continues to happen. It is uncomfortable every single time you go out there and you’re getting hit.”
Fans on social media have started to lash out at opposing teams whenever Mets batters are struck by errant pitches. Some players speculate that the massive uptick in hit batsmen is a result of the MLB’s recent clampdown on substances pitchers use to increase their grip on the ball.
“The MLB has a very big problem with the baseballs. They’re bad,” pitcher Chris Bassitt insisted after Tuesday’s game. “Everyone knows it. Every pitcher in the league knows it. They’re bad. They don’t care. The MLB doesn’t give a damn about it. They don’t care. We’ve told them there are problems with them. They don’t care.”
Now, some players are calling on the MLB to allow pitchers to all use a universal substance to exert better control over their pitches. Otherwise, they warn that these hit batsmen incidents are going to lead to injuries.