This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Charles Curtis is filling in for Andy Nesbitt.
A true fact: The New York Mets have been hit by the most baseballs thus far in the 2022 MLB season.
And, as far as I can tell, it’s not for retaliatory reasons, although it has infuriated the Mets every time they’ve seen a teammates get hit in the helmet, as Pete Alonso was on Tuesday night, the second time he’s gotten a baseball to the head this season.
He was OK. But after the Mets’ win over the Cardinals, pitcher Chris Bassitt spoke out about the real problem: “The MLB has a very big problem with the baseballs. They’re bad. Everyone knows it. Every pitcher in the league knows it. They’re bad. They don’t care. The MLB doesn’t give a damn about it. They don’t care. We’ve told them there are problems with them. They don’t care.”
The baseballs, he went on to say, are different in every game depending on a variety of factors. And let’s all remember that Major League Baseball cracked down on using substances to help with grip.
Could it also be due to the humidors installed in every park this season (that were meant to proved more consistency by storing all balls in the same condition)? Players don’t seem to know what, exactly, is different about the balls this season — but they’re sure something is going on.
There’s also another trend we’ve seen early on — and I know, it’s a small sample size — that could be alarming for a game that’s already taken so many hits in the past few months thanks to a work stoppage.
There are fewer home runs and runs in general this month, and balls in general aren’t flying as far.
Both of these trends are a real problem. Obviously, player safety comes first, second and third. If pitchers can’t get a good grip on the ball and that means wild pitches ending up near the heads of batters, something needs to be done immediately.
Beyond that, long-term, if home runs are down, that’s not good for a game that’s already seen pitchers gain a bigger advantage thanks to a parade of relievers coming in to throw 97 MPH or more in late innings.
Do something, and do something soon, Rob Manfred.
Quick hits: Mark Emmert will step down … Is there a KAT curse? … Usher at Grizzlies Game 5 … and more.
— Mark Emmert will step down in 2023 as NCAA president and college sports fans were thrilled.
— Is Karl-Anthony Towns cursing the T-Wolves due to his trash talk?
— Usher was at Game 5 of the Grizzlies-Timberwolves series to sit with his doppelganger, Tee Morant.
— Here’s Charles Barkley’s response to Kevin Durant on Inside the NBA.
