Mets Walk It Off In The Eighth

After the rain-out yesterday, the New York Mets started Taijuan Walker, who was great for four innings. For the second straight start, Walker’s velocity was up, and he was throwing strikes.

Walker got into trouble three times. In the second, Alec Bohm led off the inning with a double, but Walker limited the Philadelphia Phillies to just one run. In the fourth, it was Bohm again who started a rally; this time drawing a one out walk. Didi Gregorius would follow with a single, but Walker got out of the inning by inducing Jean Segura to hit into an inning ending double play. The third time would happen in the fourth, but by that time, the Mets already had a lead.

Walker needed to get out of those jams too because the Mets reconfigured line-up still wasn’t scoring many runs or creating many opportunities. We were going to see it the other day, but we officially saw Michael Conforto dropped to sixth in the order with Dominic Smith and Jeff McNeil moving up to third and fifth respectively.

In the first, it looked like genius. As is usual, Brandon Nimmo would lead-off the game with a walk. He would then come home to score when Dominic Smith hit a one out two run homer against Phillies Chase Anderson.

That meant Walker and the Mets had a lead going into the top of the fifth. At that point, Home Plate Umpire Joe West, fresh off his defamation suit victory over Paul Lo Duca, stopped being able to tell the difference between balls and strikes. To be fair to West a bit, Walker got a bit wild, and he wound up walking back-to-back hitters after striking out Andrew Knapp to start the inning.

At that point, Luis Rojas went to Miguel Castro, who seems to be becoming the Mets go-to reliever in these big spots. Castro did come up big first striking out Andrew McCutchen. Then, Roman Quinn would commit a mortal baseball sin by making the last out at third. Quinn blew it two different ways.

To be fair, he was absolutely safe initially on what first seemed like a well executed double steal. James McCann‘s throw to third was high, and it took Luis Guillorme jumping to prevent the ball from going into left field. Quinn appeared to assume it went to left field, and it looked like he started to go head for home. While this happened, Guillorme landed on Quinn assuring he was off the bag leading to the easy inning ending tag out.

Walker’s final line was 4.1 IP, 3 H, R, ER, 3 BB, 8 K. Walker would not have qualified for the win. For some reason, you need to pitch five innings to earn a win in both a nine and seven inning game. You would think the rules would be re-calibrated for shortened seven inning double header games, but that makes too much sense. Then again, shortening games two innings makes zero sense in the first place.

That all became academic as Casto would lose the lead in the sixth. He did escape the fifth, but he got into trouble himself by issuing a lead-off walk to Rhys Hoskins in the sixth.

Bryce Harper followed with a single. Castro responded by striking out Bohm, and getting Gregorius to hit into a fielder’s choice. However, that was not enough as Segura hit one off the end of the bat. Guillorme charged in, but he couldn’t get it to first in time. That tied the score 2-2 and put more pressure on a feckless Mets lineup.

You could criticize Guillorme for fielding it with the glove costing him seconds. Of course, Segura was still safe by a pretty good margin. It’s also noteworthy Guillorme is a second baseman by trade, and he played that ball like the middle infielder he is. Of course, McNeil is much more experienced as third, but for some reason, the Mets want to go with the lesser defensive positioning.

Pete Alonso led off the sixth with a strikeout against Jose Alvarado dropping him to 0-fer his last 14, but unlike Conforto, he won’t be booed or dropped in the order. Speaking of Conforto, Alvarado threw at his head and missed and then later plunked him in the at-bat. Luis Rojas was irate and argued because for some reason Alvarado was not tossed from the game. The Mets would not make Alvarado and the Phillies pay for it as McCann would fly out to end the inning.

After a scoreless inning from Edwin Diaz, the Mets would have a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the seventh.

Guillorme, one of the few Mets doing anything offensively, led off the inning with a walk against Connor Brogdon. Jonathan Villar pinch ran, and then Kevin Pillar drew a walk.

The Mets offense would again falter. Nimmo stuck out. Francisco Lindor flew out, and then Smith struck out to end the inning.

That led to a combination of the two dumbest rules in baseball. The eighth inning began with a runner on second because this was a m seven inning game. Pure idiocy.

Trevor May wound up giving up an “unearned run” putting the Mets down 3-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth on a Gregorius infield single.

The bright side is the feckless Mets offense was gifted a runner at second. Hector Neris would be the one who had the task of keeping the Mets offense incapable of hitting with RISP.

The speedy Lindor quickly scored as Alonso finally got a hit driving home Lindor. McNeil hit into a fielder’s choice, and Conforto walked. McCann singled to load the bases.

Villar, who came on to pinch run for Guillorme, had his first big moment as a member of the Mets driving home McNeil to win the game.

It wasn’t the prettiest win, and it’s dumb gimmick baseball. That said, you take the win and get ready for the second half of the doubleheader.

Game Notes: Guillorme went 1-for-1 with two walks while batting eighth. He is now hitting .571 with a 1.299 OPS on the season. This was Castro’s fourth appearance over the Mets first six games. May earned his first win as a Met.

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Marcus Stroman Is Pitching, What’s Your Complaint Now?

As has been the case with him over the past year (probably longer), Marcus Stroman has been a lightning rod for criticism. In terms of the New York Mets, it began when he opted out of the 2020 season, but there’s a possibility it began sooner than that.

In terms of that, Stroman was open and honest he was afraid of the outbreaks in Miami and St. Louis, and he had family members who were high risk. Rather than accept his explanation, people opted to read malice into his decision.

Since that point, Stroman signed the qualifying offer, has worked to develop a new pitch, and he has been just about as enthusiastic a Mets fan as there is. Yes, every action he has taken has indicated he is every bit the Mets fan he was like the day he was at Citi Field for Johan Santana‘s no-hitter.

This is a pitcher who not only believes in himself, but he believes in his teammates. He openly speaks about how Jacob deGrom is the best pitcher in baseball. He talks about the talent on the roster. He talk about how great the Mets are. Really, if you look at Stroman, he pushes positivity and belief in not just himself, but also his teammates.

Still, like we saw in 2020, Stroman is going to make decisions which are good for him and his career. After seeing how Matt Harvey‘s career has transpired, we should have learned by now that’s not being selfish, but also, smart. The best ability you can give your team is availability, and if you hit the IL because you unnecessarily pushed it, you’re no longer available.

After the ridiculous decision to start the game against the Miami Marlins which was then suspended due to rain, Stroman announced his frustration he was not available again for five more days. He put in all that work, and it was all for naught. Of course, people opted to take that as Stroman being selfish and not team-first.

As an aside, the reason the Mets did not go with a six man rotation this year was because deGrom voiced his objections. Like all starting pitchers, deGrom is a creature of routine, and he didn’t want anything messing with his routine. What’s interesting is when this was Harvey, he was vilified, and for Stroman, when he said he wanted to stick to his routine, he was criticized.

Well, now, Stroman threw a bullpen session, and he declared himself good to pitch in the doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies. Once again, Stroman is stepping up and helping the team. He is doing it when few pitchers would be willing to pitch on one day’s rest.

Now that he is doing that, the people who refuse to embrace him, need to find another reason to criticize him. Better yet, instead of going that route, they should probably embrace him and acknowledge they’re getting to see not just one of the best pitchers in baseball, but also a positive individual who only seeks to build up everyone around him.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Split Bizarre Shortened Series

Due to the rain-out yesterday, the New York Mets split a series against the Miami Marlins. There was a lot which happened in the span of those three days, which is just an indication of just how bizarre the start to this season has been:

1.  Not calling a game which had zero chance of ever getting played was a very Wilpon like decision. Hopefully, this is something that we will not see happen again.

2.  Whenever there is a threat of rain, teams should just use an opener. It is not worth wasting a pitcher’s turn through the rotation in the hopes of a game being played. Instead of getting someone like Robert Gsellman some work, the Mets are going to have to wait until Friday to see Marcus Stroman again.

3. Aside from David Peterson, the Mets starting pitching has been quite good this season. The best surprise might’ve been Taijuan Walker who looked like the pitcher many thought he would be when he was once a top 10 prospect in the game.

4. Why bother reading the Wilpon owned Mets website, when you can come here and read it done first and better?

5. Jeff McNeil was swinging a good bat and ran into some bad luck before hitting that clutch homer. That bat flip was reminiscent of the Asdrubal Cabrera one.

6. The umpires completely blew it when ruling Michael Conforto was hit by the pitch to force in the game winning run. The fact replay can’t fix that error is a failure of the system.

7. Just when you thought that was bad, on Sunday Night Baseball, Alec Bohm never touched home plate, was ruled safe, and the call was somehow upheld on replay. What is the point of the system when you can’t get obviously blown calls corrected?

8. By the way, Travis d’Arnaud did an amazing job receiving that throw and blocking the plate. There really is no one better in the game than him at doing that, and it is also notable the Mets have spent a ton of money on catchers who are no better than him.

9. These two plays are reminiscent of when Chase Utley went out of the baseline, tackled Ruben Tejada, never touched the bag, and was ruled safe on replay and awarded second base. By the way, the manager who asked for that review and wound up winning partially because of that absurdity was Don Mattingly, so he can save us from listening to his whining.

10. The booing of Conforto was ridiculous. Yes, he had a really bad four game stretch as all players are going to have during the course of the season. You would just think a player of his stature who has been a good Met for this long would have a longer leash than four games.

11. Dropping Conforto in the line-up was a pure panic decision. It’s not like he’s the only Mets player not hitting. For example, there was no booing of Pete Alonso despite his being hitless over his last 11 at-bats, and no one wants him dropped in the order. Remember, Conforto was great last year whereas Alonso comparatively struggled.

12. No, this is not a call to boo Alonso. It is also not a call to boo McNeil who has one hit this year. The same goes for James McCann and Francisco Lindor who have matching .176 batting averages with no extra base hits. It is was too soon to boo any of these players.

13. Conforto is eventually going to break out of his slump due to the ebbs and flows of the baseball season. His being dropped to fifth, sixth, or even seventh in the order will have nothing to do with hit.

14. If this was about rewarding the best hitters, Luis Guillorme would be playing everyday. That goes double when you consider J.D. Davis hit the IL. Guillorme is literally hitting .500 in his limited playing opportunities.

15. Brandon Nimmo has been phenomenal to start the season. He has flat out been the Mets best player with a 223 OPS+ and a 1 OAA in center. He’s been locked in to start the season. Yes, it is too soon to talk All-Star or even MVP consideration, but he looks like he’s poised to have a great year.

16. Of course, no one is better than Jacob deGrom. On the season, he has allowed one run over 14.0 innings while striking out 21. We are running out of words to describe how great he is.

17. We’re also running out of ways to describe just how terrible the lack of run support he receives is. It is beyond a joke deGrom is 0-1 to start the year. It’s really difficult to pinpoint the reason, but there is no rational explanation why this keeps happening.

18. Congrats to Joe Musgrove for throwing the first no-hitter in San Diego Padres history. Doing that for the team you grew up rooting for is like Mike Baxter making the no-hitter saving catch for Johan Santana‘s. On that topic, Anthony DiComo certainly showed his true colors.

19. People need to stop this over the top criticism of Luis Rojas. We are five games into a disjointed season with COVID cancellations and front office blown decisions on a rain delay. Like all managers, he is not the one setting the lineup or deciding whether or not to play the games. He is working with the front office on these decisions, including scripting out how long the starters go and which relievers pitch. He’s just the face and fall guy for many of these decisions.

20. The Mets already have four games to make up this season. The bright side will be those games will come when Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco have returned.

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Michael Conforto Singled Out For Mets Team Wide Slump

If the New York Mets were to have played in the game against the Miami Marlins, Michael Conforto was going to bat sixth. The reason why is Conforto is slumping.

There’s no doubt Conforto is slumping. After going 2-for-5 in the first game of the season, he’s slumped mightily.

Since that first game, he’s 1-for-16 with a double, a walk, and two HBP. Alarmingly, he’s struck out in seven of 19 plate appearances (36.8%). That would be eight times if the home plate umpire didn’t blow the call.

Certainly, you can understand why the Mets would consider dropping him in the order. However, taking that position ignores the fact Brandon Nimmo is the only player in the Mets lineup who is hitting. Here are the numbers:

No, this isn’t just Conforto slumping. It’s nearly everyone in the Mets lineup. Again, Nimmo is the only one performing well.

Dominic Smith hasn’t been bad per se, but still, he only has a .250 OBP. Of course, part of that is hitting a sacrifice fly.

To that end, it would make sense to move him up in the lineup. He’s one of the few who has performed respectably.

Then again, when we see Luis Guillorme hitting .500 with a 1.125 OPS unable to crack the lineup, we get a sense these decisions aren’t entirely performance driven. What the impetus is for these decisions is anyone’s guess.

Right now, we only know Nimmo and Guillorme are hitting, Smith is treading water, and frankly, everyone else is struggling mightily.

Despite that, Conforto is the only one criticized and dropped in the lineup. It makes zero to no sense, and it’s difficult to ascertain what the Mets endgame is. The only thing that’s known is Conforto is the only player penalized for struggling.

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With Rain Forecast, Mets Should’ve Used An Opener

The rain forecast wasn’t promising, but for some reason the New York Mets thought they had a window of time to get in the series finale against the Miami Marlins.

They didn’t.

Marcus Stroman went through his pre-game routine. He warmed up fully. Despite Francisco Lindor standing in a puddle at shortstop, he would take the mound. After two batters, the tarp came on the field, and eventually, the game was officially suspended.

Stroman was correct in saying the game should have never even been attempted to be played. The playing conditions were not safe. It should also be noted Stroman will not be available to pitch for another five days.

This is just an unforced error for the Mets. First, they attempted to play in a game they should’ve just called. Second, they effectively get one Stroman start through two turns of the rotation.

Obviously, the first thing the Mets should’ve done was just postpone the game. Putting that aside, the Mets should’ve gone with an opener to start this game.

With the weather, the likely scenarios were it eventually getting rained out or there being another rain delay. In either situation, the Mets were getting a truncated Stroman start. That’s not ideal for a team built on starting pitching with a suspect back end of the bullpen.

If the Mets opted to go with the opener, they instead could’ve held Stroman back pending the weather. If things looked bleak, he stays rested, and he’s available to pitch tomorrow.

If things improved, Stroman could’ve started his routine and entered the game in a later inning.

If there was a delay, but things improved where they could reasonably fit the game in, Stroman could’ve started preparing then.

Instead, the Mets completely botched it. They got two batters work out of Stroman, and they won’t see him pitch again for five days. It’s completely inexcusable on their part.

Keep in mind, this is a team with two good opener options. Joey Lucchesi is the fifth starter, but he’s only pitched 2.0 innings so far this year. That’s a function of the schedule.

There’s also Robert Gsellman. Gsellman has starting experience, and he’s yet to enter a game this year. This would’ve been a good opportunity to get him work.

For whatever which reason, the Mets didn’t proceed in that fashion, and they will pay the price. The only hope right now is the Mets can withstand not having Stroman pitch this turn through the rotation.

Better yet, the hope is the Mets learned from this mistake. Next time, when the weather looks this dire, they should look to use an opener to save the starting pitcher until it’s clear he can enter the game and pitch without delays.

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Mets Fans Embarrassed Themselves Booing Michael Conforto

All offseason, New York Mets fans were pushing to extend Michael Conforto. Honestly, how could you blame them?

Conforto is a homegrown player who is true captain material. He has an opportunity to rewrite the Mets record books. From his World Series homers to his walk-offs, he’s become adored by many Mets fans.

In some ways, Conforto seems like the logical person to take up the mantle from David Wright. Of course for that to happen, he will have to stay with the Mets.

For some players, the extension talks in-season is time consuming. The walk year is too much pressure and/or a distraction. Some thrive; others don’t.

There’s also the COVID factor. Conforto had it right before Spring Training. It prevented him from working out right before reporting.

As an aside, we saw it with Mika Zibanejad with the New York Rangers. He had COVID before training camp. It took him months before returning to form.

Whether it’s the contract situation or the COVID, Conforto is struggling to start the season. Through five games, he’s only hitting .143/.250/.190. It seems like the only way he can get hit is by throwing his elbow into the strike zone.

After struggling for five games, Mets fans in Citi Field began booing Conforto.

Think about that. People who were unable to ever a ballpark for well over a year due to the pandemic were so grateful to be back they booed a homegrown star who had the audacity to struggle for four games.

If we wanted to, we could look at Mets fans cheering Jose Reyes after he returned to the Mets after his domestic violence arrest. Bartolo Colon not paying child support and joking about it was just part of his “charm.”

J.D. Davis and Jake Marisnick were caught up in one of the biggest MLB cheating scandals, and it was met with a collective yawn.

And yet, Conforto has a poor stretch, and he’s vilified. He’s booed by fans who really should be happy just to be there. Moreover, he’s booed by a fan base who is supposed urging him to be a Met for life.

Conforto doesn’t deserve that garbage. He’s been too good of a Met for that. In the end, he’ll make those fans who booed him look all the more ridiculous.

Mets fans, at least those who booed, embarrassed themselves. They’ll look worse when Conforto is Conforto again.

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Jacob deGrom Again Gets No Run Support

At this point, it’s a sick joke. Really, you have to wonder if someone is doing it on purpose. It just has to be a prank or a gag.

Jacob deGrom allowed one run on five hits. The one run coming on a Jazz Chisholm solo homer in the second. Other than that, the Miami Marlins had zero chance against him.

deGrom’s final line was 8.0 IP, 5 H, R, ER, 0 BB, 14 K. The 14 strikeouts tied a career high for deGrom.

His reward for this effort? A loss.

It’s not even like deGrom didn’t help himself. In fact, he had one of the Mets three hits.

That’s right. The Mets only had three hits. Yes, Trevor Rogers was nasty, but it just seems no matter how the opposing pitcher is, he’ll look like Cy Young when deGrom is on the mound.

After Edwin Diaz allowed two in the ninth, the Mets would go on to lose 3-0.

Michael Conforto would be booed, and we would see J.D. Davis put on the IL before the day was over. We’d also see Jonathan Villar start over Luis Guillorme due to his offense only to go 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

This was a complete disaster which seems to be the case when deGrom takes the mound. Put it this way. On the season, deGrom has allowed just one run over 14.0 innings. He’s allowed eight hits and walked two while striking out 21.

For all that, he’s 0-2.

Game Notes: Jed Lowrie claimed he sought to have knee surgery while with the Mets only to be told if he went through with it the team would file a grievance. This is similar to the Carlos Beltran situation only he called the Mets bluff.

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Neon Moment of the Week: Jeff McNeil Bat Flip

The New York Mets did not get off to the best of starts to the 2021 season. Their first series was canceled due to the Washington Nationals being infected with COVID. They blew Jacob deGrom‘s first start, and they could never recover from David Peterson getting blitzed.

The team returned to Citi Field with a 1-2 record, and the team had a number of issues. There were a number of players scuffling, and that included Jeff McNeil. With McNeil, things were very different than they had been in past seasons.

Through no fault of his own, McNeil was dropped from the top to the bottom of the lineup. After starting the season 0-for-7, he was given the day off in the series finale. On his birthday, he was dropped to seventh in the lineup hitting behind Jonathan Villar. After starting the day 0-for-2, McNeil was due to lead-off the ninth with the Mets on verge of losing their home opener in very frustrating fashion.

In uncharacteristic fashion, McNeil did not swing at the first pitch. Of course, the pitch being out of the zone by a good margin does that. McNeil would work the count in his favor, and then Miami Marlins closer Anthony Bass would throw one inside, and McNeil would tie the game with his first hit of the season:

After connecting, McNeil would have a bat flip reminiscent of the one Asdrubal Cabrera had roughly five years ago. No, this was not a game of the same magnitude, but this was a special game. It was the Mets home opener, and it was the first home game with fans in the stands since the end of the 2019 season.

Lost in that hit was the fact McNeil had actually been hitting the ball extremely hard to start the season. Going to Baseball Savant, McNeil was hitting the ball hard and was barreling it up. It really was only a matter of time before we start to see McNeil hitting the ball like we knew he could. McNeil chose the best time to do it. He would not only tie the game, but he started a rally which ended with the Mets winning the game.

With McNeil busting out of his early season slump and his getting the Mets first real big hit of the season, his homer and bat flip is our first Neon Moment of the Week for the 2021 season!

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I am very appreciative Athlete Logos has agreed to participate in this feature. If you like his work as much as I do, please visit his website to enjoy his work, buy some of his merchandise, or to contract him to do some personal work for yourself (like I have).

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Taijuan Walker Looked Like The Top Of The Rotation Pitcher He Was Once Thought To Be

When the Mets signed Taijuan Walker, the expectation was when everyone was healthy, he was going to be the team’s fifth starter. If his first start of the season was any indication, Walker is going to be much more than that.

Before delving into his first start as a member of the New York Mets, it is important to start with Walker the prospect. Before Walker was called up by the Seattle Mariners in 2013, he was a rated as a top 10 prospect in all of baseball.

John Sickels, then of Minor League Baseball, wrote Walker was in the conversation for “Best Pitching Prospect in Baseball honors.” Fangraphs said Walker “has the ceiling of a No. 2 starter.” Bleacher Report said “If you were to build a prototype for what you want in a potential No. 1 starter, Taijuan Walker would hit all the marks.” Baseball Prospectus said:

He produces seemingly effortless 92-98 mph velocity from his strong frame, presenting it to hitters on a steep downward plane. His cutter––which can touch 93 mph––is another potential plus-plus pitch; it has hard, short break with some late tilt, and he’ll use it as a weapon against both left- and right-handed hitters.

All told, the expectation was Walker was going to be a top of the rotation pitcher. It didn’t happen due to a combination of his being rushed to the majors and his dealing with injuries. In many ways, that made his 2020 season very important in that he had to prove he could stay healthy and that he could stick as a starter. By and large, he did that and more.

In 2020, Walker looked lack a solid middle to back end of the rotation starter. For a Mets team loaded with top of the rotation talent, this made New York a perfect landing spot for Walker. What no one really considered was what if Walker could be more than he has shown in recent years.

Notably, Walker has been about a five inning pitcher, but that was partially a function of the injuries. The same could also be said about his velocity dipping to the low 90s. On that point, Walker is a 28 year old pitcher reaching his prime, and he is a player who is another year away from injuries. It is very possible he is finally healthy again, and he is ready to pick up where his career left off before his first major injury.

Yesterday, Walker was throwing consistently in the mid to upper 90s. His average velocity was 95.4 MPH which is over 2 MPH faster than he threw last year. In fact, Walker hasn’t averaged 95 with his fastball since 2014. As noted by Michael Mayer of MMO, Walker hit 97 MPH with his fastball, a mark Walker had not hit in four years.

We also saw Walker was tighter with his release points. More than that, we saw Walker was able to get more spin on all of his breaking pitches. The end result was a pitcher who was more difficult to pick up. With him pitching like that, the Marlins went hitless through the first 4.1 innings, and when the Marlins did make contact, Walker generated weaker contact.

This should come as no surprise for two reasons. First, as noted, he’s healthy. Second, as noted in an interview with Fangraphs, Walker has been working at Driveline to see how analytics could help make him a better pitcher. He used the analytics to hone his pitching and get the most out of his talent.

In terms of his first start with the Mets, we saw what health and increased work on his craft could do for him. The Walker we saw yesterday did not look like the back end of the rotation starter we all thought the Mets were getting when he signed a free agent contract. Rather, Walker looked like the top of the rotation pitcher many expected him to be when he was first called up to the majors.

This is a very exciting development for Walker and the New York Mets. With more games like this under his belt, the sky is the limit for both Walker and the Mets chances of winning the World Series in 2021.

 

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Michael Conforto HBP Was An Accepted Baseball Play

With the reaction to Michael Conforto sticking out his elbow, you would’ve thought he committed treason. For some reason, just this once, trying to get hit by a pitch, is now the worst thing a player has even done.

Before getting into it, let’s take a look at the play again:

Lets call it what it is. Conforto got fooled by a pitch he thought would be more in than it was. You could see that by a function of his taking all the way (with two strikes) and his turning his back.

Because of that, a scuffling player booed earlier in the game, stuck his elbow out. He got hit with the pitch, and he fooled the home plate umpire. As a result, he took his base, and the Mets won.

With respect to the play, Conforto said, “Obviously not the way I wanted to win the ballgame. I wanted to go up there and put the ball in play, drive the ball somewhere.” (Mike Puma, New York Post).

For what is worth, Conforto claimed he wasn’t trying to get hit. In fact, he said, “With two strikes I just went into battle mode and I tend to lean over the plate when I get into battle mode.”

You can choose to believe him or not. Fact is, he did it, and he won the game. Really, he is no alone in what he did.

Craig Biggio is partially in the Hall of Fame because of his leaning into pitches. Miami Marlins owner Derek Jeter was caught faking getting hit by a pitch, and he offered no apologies.

This is a part of the game. Batters get up there trying to get on base any way they can. They’ll lean into pitches, and yes, they’ll purposefully flinch at pitches to try to get it called a ball.

We see catcher after catcher try to get better at framing pitches. Framing is designed not just to make sure a strike is a strike but also to attempt to get the borderline pitch, which should’ve been a ball, called a strike.

Here’s a hypothetical. Instead of that pitch being in the strike zone, it’s just off the plate and inside. Conforto gets out of the way, but the way Chad Wallach frames it, the umpire calls it a strike.

Is anyone vilifying Wallach? No, of course not. Will people be calling for him to be run over first chance a runner gets? That would be seen as absurd.

And yet, when Conforto did what many did before him, he’s chastised, mocked, and there are calls to drill him.

Now, no one wanted to see the game end that way. It did take some shine off the win. However, every single player in that Mets clubhouse and every single fan would rather winning on that play than losing.

That goes double for the Miami Marlins.

Let’s not forget, this is the same team who unapologetically took the field while infected with COVID. They put the season, and more importantly, lives in complete jeopardy.

Their screwing up the schedule was a factor in their making the postseason. Did they offer to forfeit the games? No. Did Don Mattingly refuse the NL Manager of the Year Award? Of course not.

Keep in mind, this is the same Mattingly who was chasing down the umpires for a replay review while Ruben Tejada was getting carted off the field because his player, Chase Utley, broke Tejada’s leg on a dirty play. Mattingly had ZERO issue winning because of that play.

Of course, he had one yesterday.

The 1986 Mets had a problem with Mike Scott scuffing balks. None of the right teams Gaylord Perry played for had an issue with his spitter. The Reds and Dodgers didn’t have an issue with Trevor Bauer‘s use of pine tar. People tip their caps to Yadier Molina and his framing.

As we know, there are certain things in baseball which are just accepted. Catchers steal strikes. Pitchers doctor balls. Batters lean into pitches. That’s the way it is.

The only time people are aggrieved is when it doesn’t benefit them. The only time the world notices is when it’s a game winning run. In the end, that’s all there is to take away from Conforto leaning into a pitch.

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