In short: Meh, probably not.
In slightly longer: The Miami Marlins will likely not need much help losing baseball games in 2019. Maybe that’s why Mets manager Mickey Callaway threw them a bone with his baffling decision to leave a bunt call on for Juan Lagares with two strikes, no outs, and a runner on first in the top of the ninth inning of a tie game Monday night in Miami.
Lagares, a position player who had literally homered in his prior at-bat and should probably never be asked to sacrifice an out in the hopes of moving a baserunner ahead one measly base — especially in a road game, when one run does not guarantee a victory — squared to bunt on a 2-2 pitch from Marlins reliever Drew Steckenrider. Steckenrider’s 95-mph fastball ran inside and appeared bound for Lagares’ face, but Lagares lifted his hands while still holding the bat and deflected the ball into foul territory.
Here’s the play:
The ball made contact with Lagares’ finger, but if umpires ruled that he was swinging at the pitch, it wouldn’t have mattered. If you get hit by a pitch you swing at, it still counts as a strike, and since fouling off a bunt with two strikes is a strikeout, Lagares would have been out if umpires decided he offered at the ball.
It’s hard to tell if Lagares was lifting his hands toward his face in self defense or to lay down an ill-advised bunt, so it’s a tough call to make on the field in real time. Home-plate umpire Sam Holbrook appealed to first-base ump Dan Iassogna for help, then called it a hit by pitch.
Teams can’t request replay reviews to determine whether or not a hitter swung at a pitch — that would be ridiculous, given the vagaries of checked swings and how often they happen — so Marlins manager Don Mattingly asked to check if the ball actually hit Lagares and not his bat. It did, so Lagares stayed at first base, and the Mets went on to rally for four runs in the inning and win the game, 7-3.
