The New York Mets are 90-55: the 2022 campaign has been one of their best in recent memory.
It was somewhat expected given the efforts they made over the offseason to improve their roster.
They brought in Max Scherzer to shore up the rotation, and Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar for the lineup.
They also made a couple of bullpen additions.
Success, however, has been painful for the Mets: for some reason that it’s really hard to explain, they have been hit by pitches from opposing hurlers a whopping 96 times.
That’s a new franchise record, at least since the stat is tracked.
Most HBPs by a Mets team in franchise history:
96, 2022 Mets
95, 2019 Mets
94, 2021 Mets
73, 2018 Mets
68, 2015 Mets
65, 2001 Mets pic.twitter.com/8QKZqb1jqC— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 16, 2022
A New Franchise Record In HBP
It’s noteworthy that they broke their own franchise record when there are still more than two weeks to play.
They will surpass 100 HBP, probably with ease.
With their 96 hit-by-pitches, the Mets comfortably lead the major leagues.
The San Francisco Giants, MLB’s second-ranked team in the stat, have been hit by 85 pitches, 11 fewer than the Mets.
The only silver lining is that such a high number of HBPs usually means the Mets have had lots of “free” runners on base.
However, go tell a batter that he should get hit by a pitch in order to go to first: not only he will refuse to accept that, but he will also call you crazy.
Nobody likes pain!
Particularly not MLB hitters.
They are get paid to hit, not to get hit: besides, there could be injuries resulting from a HBP.
The Mets’ lead MLB in a sad category, and there is no way around it.
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