The 2023 season has not gone according to plan for the New York Mets. One play in Friday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies seemed to sum up the team’s struggles.
Philadelphia was threatening in the bottom of the sixth inning when Brandon Marsh came up with one out and runners on the corners. Pitcher Josh Walker fell behind in the count but seemed to work through it, as Marsh popped Walker’s 3-1 pitch into shallow left field. Bryson Stott was going back to third base to tag up, but the ball did not seem to be deep enough for him to realistically score. The Mets, though, made it a moot point.
Shortstop Francisco Lindor went back on the ball and left fielder Tommy Pham came in on it. It seemed that either one had plenty of time to make the catch. Then, came an apparent lack of communication. Lindor and Pham both stopped, seemingly giving way to the other. And instead of getting the out, the ball fell between them. Stott sprinted home to score while Alec Bohm beat Pham’s throw to second.
This is about how things are going for the Mets.
It's the second popup with a catch probability of at least 95 percent that the Mets have not caught tonight.
Phillies 3, Mets 1, bottom six. pic.twitter.com/pgrTwSCDFe
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) June 24, 2023
Unsurprisingly, people were highly critical of this miscue.
Sometimes the Mets just dunk on themselves https://t.co/mWld7iQ4O5 pic.twitter.com/dnVezJSwYV
— Drew DeLuca (@DrewDeLaware) June 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/deejsmith724/status/1672430983277051904
https://twitter.com/mets_patriot/status/1672411986334736385
I don’t think there’s much stronger evidence that this season is finished than the Mets paying homage to the Three Stooges against a team they’ve owned for the past year and change https://t.co/8TNZfpgrVo
— Thomas Cavanagh (@YouFoundTJ) June 24, 2023
I’m so old I remember enjoying baseball https://t.co/uFCjzOC7fa
— Joe Seppi (@_JoeSeppi) June 24, 2023
As bad as the error was, things only got worse from there for the Mets. Edmundo Sosa lined out after Marsh. Kyle Schwarber then drew a two-out walk to load the bases. After that, Trea Turner singled to score both Bohm and Marsh. Philadelphia scored three runs in the inning. If either Lindor or Pham had caught the popup, it’s unlikely that any would have crossed the plate.
So, instead of heading into the final innings with a manageable 2-1 deficit, the Mets fell down 5-1 — which ended up being the final score.
[Anthony DiComo, Photo Credit: Apple TV]
