Mets' Pete Alonso on HBPs: 'It’s dangerous and there are consequences whether it’s on purpose or not'
During Tuesday night's game between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals held at Busch Stadium, Mets slugger Pete Alonso was struck in the helmet with an errant pitch that left him enraged:
That was the second time this month Alonso was plunked above the shoulders, and he found himself a spectator on Wednesday afternoon when teammate J.D. Davis was beaned before New York's Yoan Lopez seemed to retaliate with a high-and-tight message that cleared both benches:
The Mets have now had a league-high 19 players hit by pitches this season coming off Wednesday's 10-5 loss in St. Louis, and Alonso understandably expressed frustrations over the matter shortly after the defeat.
"Getting domed up isn’t fun," Alonso explained, according to Alex Smith of SNY. "It’s obviously not safe, it’s dangerous and there are consequences whether it’s on purpose or not, and we’re going to stand up for ourselves."
Alonso also called out St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado for his reaction to Lopez's pitch:
"What happened today just didn’t make sense; the ball [to Arenado] wasn’t even close," Alonso said. "Something got started for no reason and it wasn’t even close. I know it’s a five-run ballgame, but we’re trying to come back. The whole thing didn’t make sense."
In a statement shared on Wednesday afternoon, MLB spokesman Michael Teevan said:
"MLB is always concerned about keeping hitters safe from dangerous pitches. We closely analyze trends in the game and have active conversations with our players and coaches to address concerns. Through April 26, leaguewide statistics show hit-by-pitch rates and wild pitch rates are down relative to previous seasons. However, one Club has been hit more than twice as often as the league average so far in 2022, which is something we will continue to monitor."
Alonso added during his postgame comments he's happy to go "into battle" with "some unbelievable teammates" who are clearly fed up.
"I mean, it happened but we don’t take this stuff lightly," Alonso remarked. "We don’t take getting hit in the head. Whether it’s on purpose or on accident, guys are still getting hit in the head, it doesn’t matter. Like if someone T-bones you, right? 'Oh, it was an accident.' You still flipped someone’s car over, right? So, it doesn’t matter where the intent is, the fact of the matter is that it’s still happening."
The Mets are off Thursday and then welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to Citi Field on Friday.
More must-reads: