Giancarlo Stanton had another field day against the Mets on Wednesday as the Marlins beat the Mets by a score of 7-3.
In addition to a pair of spectacular catches in right field robbing the Mets of two potential extra-base hits, Stanton had two more hits including a two-run home run and three runs driven in.
It led to some heated debate on our game thread and also on Twitter with many fans outraged that Collins pitched to him as he represented the tying run with Martin Prado at first base.
“Stanton has burned the Mets so many times in similar situations” said one reader. And he’s right, there’s no denying it.
But it was the first inning and do you want to put the tying run on base to pitch to Marcell Ozuna? I say Collins made the right call. This time…
The fifth inning however was a different story. With the Mets ahead 3-2 and the tying run on third base, Collins should have walked Stanton.
The Marlins star has made a habit of killing the Mets, owning an .865 OPS against them with 12 doubles, 18 home runs, 44 RBIs and a .565 slugging percentage in 255 at-bats.
“He’s a good hitter,” Collins said. “The thing that scares you is the power. I mean, he’s a good hitter but he’s not a .350 hitter. You make pitches, you get him out.”
“You can’t walk to this guy every time up. You gotta be able to pitch to him and make pitches. You start doing that with the guys behind him, and you’ve got huge innings on your hands.”
I’m trying to think back and I can’t recall if Collins has ever intentionally walked Stanton before. But what are your thoughts on this?
