Mets' 3B Brett Baty misplays a popup. Jul 15, 2023; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty (22) mis-plays a pop fly by Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy (not pictured) during the ninth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
FoxMLBBy Andrew Bucholtz on

Things are not going particularly well for the New York Mets. Despite a record $353 million Opening Day payroll, $76 million clear of the second-place New York Yankees, the team is just 42-50 on the year as of Sunday. That puts them fourth in the NL East, 19.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves (whose Opening Day payroll was only $203 million). And that 50th loss came in especially embarrassing fashion Saturday night, with the Mets falling 5-1 at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

What made Saturday’s loss so bad? Well, the Mets were only down 2-1 heading into the top of the ninth, and they had the top of their order coming up in the bottom of the inning. But they produced a horrid half inning where they gave up three runs, with the first one scoring on a humiliating misjudged pop fly that hit the ground, then bounced and hit third baseman Brett Baty in the face. And that came on a national MLB on Fox broadcast, where announcers Joe Davis and A.J. Pierzynski had thoughts:

Davis’ line at the end there, “The 2023 Mets in one clip,” did seem rather appropriate for all the blunders this team has made to date. And that got noticed.

It’s remarkable when it’s a play-by-play voice like Davis offering even a stronger indictment of the team than an opinionated analyst like Pierzynski. But Davis is not alone there.  The Mets’ local TV announcer, SNY’s Gary Cohen, has also blasted the team in harsh terms, including with last month’s 42nd loss that saw another bullpen meltdown:

And the talk show hosts have been even harsher, with WFAN’s Evan Roberts calling Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer “mercenary pieces of crap.” So everything is going just great for this team. And there was definitely something here to Davis’ remark on this particular loss summing up the Mets’ season to date.

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About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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