The Mets continued their recent regular-season domination of the Phillies on Wednesday night with a 4-1 victory. Mark Canha provided all the runs and Carlos Carrasco looked good on the mound again. But, the Philly broadcasters were mad at Francisco Lindor for no reason.
Well, they had a reason. It was just a crappy one.
Philadelphia tried to execute a hit-and-run with a runner on first base, which failed because Edmundo Sosa hit a line drive right at Lindor. It was an easy double play that was completed by lobbing the ball to Pete Alonso, making it there on a few hops.
No harm no foul, right? I mean, we literally see players do this all the time. It’s not a big deal. Tom McCarthy and Ben Davis were on the call for the Phillies broadcast on Wednesday and felt Lindor’s throw should’ve been more “professional”:
Philly broadcasters aren't fans of Francisco Lindor's lob to first pic.twitter.com/0ao3Tb4R9h
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 1, 2023
I’m sorry, what? People can literally find anything to get annoyed with these days. It’s ridiculous. Why exactly is this a problem? My guess is the booth would’ve also had a problem if Lindor threw an 85 mph seed over to Alonso. I wonder what speed would’ve been acceptable to them.
Maybe they’re just frustrated that the Mets keep beating the Phillies. After going 14-5 against them in 2022, New York has won two straight against them to begin 2023. They’ll be going for the sweep Thursday afternoon at Citi Field.
This instance is another reminder of a couple of things. One is that it doesn’t matter what Francisco Lindor does. Even if he breathes the wrong way, the man is going to get criticized. And while all professional athletes get unwarranted criticism at times, it seems like Lindor’s contract with the Mets brings a little more in his direction.
Also, hearing the Phillies booth whine about this just makes me feel that much better about the Mets having the best TV broadcast booth in baseball.
If you ask any Phillies player about this sequence of events, I’m just about 100% sure nobody would have a problem with it. And that’s really all that matters. But, I’ll take a page out of manager Buck Showalter’s book here. If you don’t like how an opponent does something, don’t whine about it – just play better.
What McCarthy and Davis should’ve been talking about was how Sosa completely botched the hit-and-run. The entire right side of the infield was open and he hit a liner at shortstop. Don’t get me wrong – hitting is hard. But don’t be mad at Lindor for doubling off the runner. Be mad that Philly’s attempt to start a rally was killed before it even started.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
