Paul Articulates – A hymnbook full of chin music

The New York Mets lead Major League Baseball in being hit by pitches with 76 “plunks” so far this year.  That’s more than two for every three games.  It’s not a nightly occurrence, but it sure feels like it.  New York TV has made a habit of recording the number of times Buck Showalter grimaces, and SNY has shown that he seems to have a different face for every occurrence.  

Before all Mets fans start claiming to be the victim of a bruising conspiracy by some evil empire, let’s look at some facts for perspective.

1. The 1898 Baltimore Orioles were hit 160 times in a 149 game season, led by shortstop Hughie Jennings who wore one for the team 46 times by himself.  That was not even his most black & blue summer – Hughie was hit 51 times in the 1896 season.  The 1898 Orioles were bruised in 2.67% of their plate appearances compared to this year’s Mets who have felt the sting in only 1.79% of their plate appearances.
2. The American League record was set by the Cleveland Indians (can we still say that?) in 2008.  They failed to avoid the baseball 103 times in 6299 plate appearances (1.63%).
3. Craig Biggio was hit in a “modern era” record 285 times.  Ouch!
4. The 2022 Mets (76 HBP in 111 games) are only 8 plunks ahead of the Cincinnati Reds and 10 ahead of the Orioles & Giants.  So it is far from a run-away.
5. The player most hit by pitches this year is Willson Contreras from the Cubs with 23.  The closest Met on the list is Mark Canha in fourth place with 14.  So there is no one on the team with a bulls-eye on their jersey.

They are not close to a record pace, but it seems like the Mets are being hit an inordinate amount of times.  Maybe it is the current state of pitching, where young arms are focused more on velocity than location.  Maybe it is the ban on “sticky substance” that has these guys struggling to “get a grip”.  Whatever the reason, it is always entertaining to watch the expressions on Buck Showalter’s face when another Met gets hit by pitch.

Several memorable instances of the hit by pitch come to mind, and I’m sure the readers have more.

1. David Wright being struck in the helmet back in August 2009 by a 94mph fastball delivered by Matt Cain.  That affected his hitting for months after his return.
2. Michael Conforto “leaning into one” that plated the game winning run with bases loaded against the Marlins in April, 2021. video
3. Randy Johnson hitting a bird with a pitch during a 2001 spring training game video
4. Tony Conigliaro of the Boston Red Sox had his jaw broken by a pitch in 1967 that some say affected the rest of his career.
5. Asdrubal Cabrera feeling chin music from Phillies pitcher Edubray Ramos 200 days after his famous 11th inning bat-flipping walk-off homer in 2016 against the same pitcher.

There is some danger in being struck by a baseball thrown at today’s velocities.  Both Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor have been hit in the head in some very scary scenes.  The velocity of a fastball travelling up and in is very much different in today’s game than it was back in the 1890’s or even in the 1970’s when Ron Hunt was leaning into pitches pretty frequently.  I don’t think this is an issue that can be legislated by MLB.  

The cure is for hitting coaches throughout baseball’s development pipeline to focus more on control than velocity.  That certainly hasn’t been the priority over the last decade as the analytics wing of baseball has emphasized the power strike-out.  Batters of this era have adjusted in the best way they can – wearing an array of armor that has to be removed before running the bases.  

I think that baseball fans of the 60’s and 70’s would get a chuckle out of watching the modern baseball player get hit or walked and then dropping a pile of protective gear on the plate before proceeding to first.

I’ll conclude by saying that this year’s New York Mets are doing a good job getting on base with their .331 OBP (2nd in MLB) but it would feel a little safer if they could exchange some HBPs for some hits.