Excitement is running high. Let’s take it from the top. Through two games, the Mets are undefeated. Nice start, albeit with a lot of pavement ahead.
As a team, New York is hitting .347. The Mets are 9-for-25 with five strikeouts and 11 RBIs in 32 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, and their pitching staff owns a 2.00 earned run average with 1.5 walks per nine innings.
All good things, and music to Billy Eppler’s ears, no doubt. The longtime front office executive was brought in to construct a winning ball club out of what was left in the cupboard and whatever Steve Cohen’s billions would allow him to add to the recipe.
So far, so good.
Though, no journey to greatness escapes any and all adversity along the way. In the boxscore, these Metropolitans haven’t encountered so much of a challenge yet. Between the chalk lines, it’s been a different story altogether.
On Thursday in D.C., James McCann was hit by two Nationals pitches — once on the foot and once at the top of his shoulder, dangerously close to his head — and Pete Alonso caught a high-and-tight one off the protective C-flap extending from his batting helmet. Scary stuff.
Cold night, limited grip, blah blah blah. You’re professional pitchers. If you can’t command a pitch inside without putting someone’s life in danger, don’t pitch inside.
The Mets were none too pleased with Washington’s lack of control on Thursday, with Starling Marte’s animated show of disapproval from the dugout leading the way. On Friday night in the nation’s capitol, things got even uglier.
With the Mets up 4-3 in the fifth, Nats sidearmer Steve Cishek came up and in again, this time as Francisco Lindor was squaring to bunt, and caught the Mets star shortstop directly in the face.
Inexcusable. To repeat the point above, if you can’t command inside, stick to the [gosh darn] plate.
If your fate is to get your tits lit by a superior ball club, take it on the chin as a journeyman reliever should. Sure, playing for one of the worst teams in baseball can’t be fun, but that doesn’t give you a pass to throw at guys’ heads.
And considering this was the third time Washington had blatantly crossed that line, the Mets did a bit more than bark from the top step. Good for them. I’d have expressed my unhappiness a bit more vociferously, to be honest.
After the game, Lindor embraced his teammates’ support instead of the boiling-over tensions. Rise above the basement-dwellers. We dig that wholeheartedly.
“I feel good. I’m glad I’m here answering questions,” he told the Mets press corps, before expanding on his account of the events. “I got hit, I was on the ground, I hear scuffles, I look up, my whole entire team is out there. The whole entire coaching staff is out there. Buck, Eric Chavez, [Robinson Cano], [Pete Alonso], everybody. I even see the bullpen sprinting in. That’s a lot.”
“I’m super proud to be a New York Met and to be with this group of guys here,” Lindor added. “I respect them a lot. I admire them. I’m glad I’m sharing the field with them every day.”
Perfectly said. Now go finish taking care of business, leave D.C. on a rail with a handful of wins in your pocket, and check back in through the year to see how last-place is treating them.
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