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It’s a sight we have seen quite often this season. A New York Mets batter is drilled by a pitch, the camera immediately pans to an irritated Buck Showalter, who is often mumbling something better left uninterpreted. While these situations can be scary (recall Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor in Washington), the Mets have found a way to capitalize on them.

In an article in the Wall Street Journal by Joshua Robinson and Andrew Beaton, the authors note that the 88 HBPs the Mets have endured in 2022 have led to an additional 2.4 win probability, according to Baseball Reference. The Mets are on a pace to be hit by pitches more than any team in baseball since 1900.

If the Mets feel that they are being targeted, the numbers would suggest that this is not the case. The cited article points out that MLB in on a trajectory to see more than 2,000 batters plunked this season, which would be a record, surpassing the previous record set in 2021. In fact, according to Baseball Reference, the past five seasons have seen the most hit batsmen.

When it comes to the Mets in specific, they’ve earned the base they get for being drilled. In the article referenced above, Robinson and Beaton indicate that of the 88 times the Mets have been hit by pitches this year, 52 have come on four-seam or two-seam fastballs, with 17 of them coming in at 95 mph or greater, and one registering 101 on the stadium scoreboard.

Why have we seen too many incidents such as the one below?

Mets’ television analyst Ron Darling suggests that many pitchers are throwing harder than ever before. From the article:

“Velocity is held pretty sacred right now,” Darling said. “So you have a lot of guys throwing the ball a lot harder than anyone’s ever thrown it and the control is not always there.”

Showalter agrees. It does not benefit the game in general if players are facing injury because of errant pitches, and the radar gun plays a big role in determining a pitcher’s value.

“It’s a problem we have in MLB in general,” Showalter said earlier this year, before watching his Mets get hit several dozen more times. “It’s just not good.”

Young, hard-throwing pitchers are coming up to the major leagues regularly, throwing at velocities that were rare as recently as 20 years ago. Consider the Mets’ Bryce Montes de Oca, who pitched in his first game on September 3. Over six minor league seasons, he has pitched 251 innings, walking 181 batters. Montes de Oca throws very hard (over 100 mph), but his lack of control makes his drilling an opposing hitter with a high-speed pitch a real possibility.

The Mets’ team leaders in getting hit by pitches are Mark Canha (17), Brandon Nimmo (15), Starling Marte (12), and Alonso (10). Mets’ pitchers are tied for fifth in MLB in HBP, having hit 62 batters, which knots them with the Boston Red Sox. The Cincinnati Reds have plunked the most batters, having heard the umpire say, “take your base” 88 times this season. The Chicago White Sox have hit the fewest batters, having done so only 38 times in 2022.

At least the Mets are making the most of a bad situation, turning HBP into wins. However, as the saying goes, there has to be a better (and less painful) way.