Major League Baseball has a problem with pitches getting away from pitchers and hitting batters. On Wednesday, that problem led to a bench-clearing scrum.
It all went down at Busch Stadium in St. Louis after the Mets ordered a retaliation pitch at Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado.
In all honesty, though the pitch was high, it wasn’t all that close to Arenado. However, the pitch that hit Mets third baseman, JD Davis, the pitch that started all the trouble, resulted in Davis being removed from the game.
MLB hitters have been repeatedly plunked by pitchers in the early going this year, many believe, due to the league’s banning of sticky, grip-enhancing substances meant to help pitchers better control the ball. The Mets, in particular, have found themselves on the receiving end of an excessive amount of errant throws. Heading into Wednesday’s action, Mets hitters had been hit a league-high 18 times.
A factor that presumably led to Mets manages Buck Showalter feeling as though he needed to send the Cardinals a message after yet another one of his hitters had been plunked.