Tag: MLB

The Wildest Way to Win

Posted on by metbaseball

I didn’t intend on starting the Wild Pitches section with a headline-deserving event, but when it comes to baseball, sometimes the wildest moments—literally—are the most memorable.

You don’t often see a game end like the Phillies-Nationals matchup did on April 29, 2025. One moment it’s a nail-biter, fans holding their breath—and the next, without a bat touching the ball, it’s over. A wild pitch, a mad dash for home, and chaos. It’s not the cleanest way to win, but that’s baseball: unpredictable, sometimes messy, and occasionally, downright wild.

Here’s how one such game ended.

It was the bottom of the ninth at Citizens Bank Park, tied 6–6, with Bryson Stott standing on third, the potential winning run. Two outs, with a 2-0 count. Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan delivered a low, outside pitch that bounced away from the catcher. In a flash, Stott broke for home. He slid head-first into the plate, and just like that, the Phillies walked it off on a wild pitch. The dugout poured onto the field, the fans erupted, and the Nationals stood stunned.

Want to dig deeper into what happened?

You can watch the game-ending play and read the story about it in Paul Casella’s piece, “That was a crazy game’: Anatomy of a bonkers Phillies win.”

My favorite part of Casella’s article: “Stott came sprinting down the line and dived for home. His hand touched the plate, just as Nats reliever Kyle Finnegan’s foot came down directly on top of it, leading to a brief injury scare amid the jubilation.”

Stott was wearing gloves, but the one on his left hand came off during the slide.

Superstitious about 13? The Phillies won 7-6.

Idea generator: screwball.ai

Mets Pitching Will Be Tested Against Top-Hitting Cardinals

Posted on by metbaseball

After dropping two of three to the Twins—despite both teams scoring 11 runs in the series—the Mets now face the Cardinals. That near sweep got me wondering: how have the Mets fared against St. Louis lately?

Since 2020, the Mets are 15–12 against the Cardinals, including just 5–8 at home. And the last time the Mets swept the Cardinals at home was all the way back in 1988. It’s the only time it’s ever happened. That was before Citi Field, before Mike Piazza, and before most of today’s roster was even born.

That 1988 Mets team won 100 games. Darryl Strawberry led the league with 39 home runs, and Dwight Gooden went 18–9 with a 3.19 ERA. It’s been a while.

This season, the Cardinals are sitting at 9–9, right in the middle of the NL Central, while the Mets lead the NL East at 11–7. But here’s the twist: the Cardinals lead the majors with a team batting average of .280. The Mets? They rank 22nd at .219—a 61-point gap.

So how are the Mets winning? Pitching. Until the Twins series, their staff had been in lockdown mode, keeping runs off the board and covering for an offense that acted like it had to pay a silent penalty every time it reached base.

Seven Mets batters are barely treading water at the plate. Four haven’t even cracked .200—and one is barely visible:

  • José Siti: .050 (That’s not a typo.)
  • Mark Vientos: .145
  • Tyrone Taylor: .163
  • Starling Marte: .167
  • Brett Baty: .175
  • Jesse Winker: .200
  • Brandon Nimmo: .203

If I hit like that in Little League, I never would’ve made it off the bench.

And while batting average isn’t the most fashionable stat these days—on-base percentage is the current darling—it’s still hard for me, as an old-school fan, to ignore how poor these numbers are.

Where does that leave us for tonight’s game? Griffin Canning is starting for the Queens men. He faced the Cardinals once last season, throwing six innings for San Diego and notching the win. Before that, in two other starts—one in 2023 and one in 2019—he split the results, with one win and one loss. Given his win against the Cardinals last year as a Padre and the Mets’ adjustments to his pitching, I’m hoping Canning can keep them from outscoring the Mets tonight during his time on the mound.

Why Bat Speed Alone Doesn’t Make a Great Hitter

Posted on by metbaseball

When we see a home run crushed into the upper deck, it’s easy to think: “That guy swings so fast—no wonder he hit it so far.” And there’s some truth to that. Bat speed is a huge asset. A fast swing can launch the ball with serious power—if the hitter makes clean contact.

But that’s the key: contact.

Hitting a baseball—especially a fastball—takes more than raw bat speed. And if you ask some of the game’s best hitters, they’ll tell you the same.

Bat Speed = Power Potential

Bat speed gives hitters potential. Faster swings create more energy on contact, leading to higher exit velocities—the speed the ball leaves the bat. That’s what turns hard line drives into doubles and long fly balls into no-doubt home runs.

But all the bat speed in the world means nothing if the hitter misses.

The Real Challenge: Timing, Balance, and Adjustments

A 95-mph fastball can travel about 139 feet-per-second, so it will reach home plate in about 0.43 seconds. In that tiny window of time, a hitter must:

  • Recognize the pitch (fastball? slider? curve?)
  • Track its spin and speed
  • Decide whether to swing
  • And if yes—launch a swing that connects in exactly the right spot

That’s what makes hitting so difficult—and so impressive when it’s done well.

Tony Gwynn, one of the best contact hitters in baseball history, wasn’t known for explosive bat speed. But his pitch recognition, timing, and ability to adjust his swing to where the ball was going was unmatched.

Adjustments Are Everything

Modern hitters like Juan Soto or Freddie Freeman show what it means to combine bat speed with elite control. Soto has excellent bat speed, but what really sets him apart is his ability to track pitches deep into the zone and adjust at the last moment.

Freeman is known for his smooth, controlled swing. He’s not just trying to hit the ball hard—he’s trying to hit it well. And he adjusts to pitch location better than almost anyone in the league.

In contrast, some young players come up with massive bat speed but struggle at first in the majors because they’re out of control or can’t read pitches. Bat speed doesn’t help when you’re swinging at the wrong pitch.

For example, this season, the Mets’ Brett Baty has the second-fastest bat speed at 75.8 mph, per Baseball Savant, just behind Pete Alonso’s 76.6. However, Baty is hitting just .111—the lowest batting average on the team.

Why is Baty still starting at second base? Mets manager Carlos “Mendoza said, Baty is going to continue to receive chances because ‘we believe in the player … there’s tools, there’s a lot to like there.’”

So, What Makes a Great Hitter?

Bat speed is important—but it’s not enough on its own. Great hitters:

  • Time the pitch perfectly
  • Stay balanced so they can swing with control
  • Adjust mid-swing to the pitch’s location

That’s why someone with average bat speed but who’s shown elite timing and pitch recognition—like a Jeff McNeil—can consistently produce, while others with top-tier bat speed might flame out.

The Bottom Line

Bat speed gives you power potential. But hitting ability turns that potential into results.

It’s not just about swinging fast—it’s about swinging smart.

For more related to this topic, check out Enos Sarris’s article, “What Can Hitters Actually See Out of a Pitchers Hand?”

Mets Shock Brewers

Posted on by metbaseball

My game story, “October 3, 2024: Mets shock Brewers, win NL Wild Card Series on Pete Alonso’s home run,” was just published on the SABR website. Before that four-bagger, Alonso’s biggest homer in his five-year career were his four walk-offs, one hit in each of his first four seasons. Last season was the first in which he did not hit a game-ending home run.

The first was on September 3, 2020 against the Yankees on a day that the Mets honored Tom Seaver. It was hit in the bottom of the 10th with the game tied 7-7 and two runners on base. It was the season’s last Subway Series game and enabled the Mets to even the six-game series. Alonso blasted the ball into the left-field stands in a heavy rain.

After the game, Luis Rojas said this about Alonso’s homer: “We’re always expecting something special from his at-bats. . . . It was an emotional day for us, a special day honoring and paying tribute to the greatest Met of all-time.”1 Seaver had passed away the previous Monday from dementia and the coronavirus.

Alonso’s second walk-off homer ended the second game of a twin bill on August 12, 2021 against the Nationals in the bottom of the seventh. No runners were on base. The Mets had won the first game, 5-4.

Anthony Bieber wrote, “Alonso’s 25th home run was a high drive to left that seemed to take an hour and a half to come down. When it did, [it fell] just over the reach of the leaping Andrew Stevenson.”2

The hit enabled the Mets to sweep the twin bill.

The third game-ending blast occurred on May 19, 2022 in Queens. In the bottom of the 10th with the Mets down 6-5, Alonso led off against new reliever Giovanny Gallegos and lofted the second pitch into deep left field, scoring Francisco Lindor, who had started the inning on second base.

He swatted his fourth four-bag game-ender against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 17, 2023 in CitiField in the bottom of the 10th with Jeff McNeil on first and the Mets behind 7-5. Despite playing while sick, launched his game-winner into “leftfield’s second deck.”

David Lennon wrote, “when Pete Fairbanks threw him a 98-mph four-seamer, Alonso treated it like batting practice, muscling the game-winner for what the Mets hope is a season-turning victory.”3

After the game, Alonso shared his in-game philosophy:

“There’s never a doubt in our minds,” Alonso said, his nose red and eyes watery. “We keep fighting, we keep doing the best we can, every single day, every pitch, every out. And that’s all we can do. Do the best we can, and see how it plays out.”4

Notes

  1. Jerry Beach, “Alonso homer in 10th lifts Mets over Yankees,” The Post Standard, September 4, 2020: B1. ↩︎
  2. Anthony Rieber, “Walk-off’s the walk, talk’s talk,” Newsday, August 13, 2021: A45.
    ↩︎
  3. David Lennon, “Kids may be better than alright,” Newsday, May 8, 2023: A59. ↩︎
  4. Lennon. ↩︎