Controversial Ending at Citi Field
date
May 2, 2024
Files & media
slug
Controversy-at-citi
status
Published
tags
Mets
Baseball
summary
The Mets might have a bone to pick with the umpire replay center in New York.
type
Post
Last night the Mets played the third game of a four game set against the Chicago Cubs, the series tied at a game apiece coming into this Wednesday night matchup.
The entire game was relatively uneventful with very little scoring or offensive production from either team.
International signing, Shota Imanaga was on the mound for the Cubbies and looked very solid. Jose Butto toed the rubber for Flushing following his worst outing of the season against St. Louis last Friday where he allowed 4 earned runs through just 5.2 IP. Butto would bounce back with a modest 6.0 IP, giving up a lone run on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
The Mets offense couldn’t find a way to break through all game, that was until the ninth inning where they had men on second and third with one out. Jeff McNeil appeared to do his job in the situation and lifted a fly ball down the left field line, Pete Alonso preparing to tag up at third.
The ball was caught by Ian Happ and Alonso broke for the plate…
Carlos Mendoza immediately challenged the ruling on the field and thus the call that would decide the game was left to the MLB’s umpire replay center in New York.
The MLB rule enacted to prevent catchers from blocking the plate has been around for some time, but its interpretation is unclear more often than not.
As per the memo released by MLB prior to the season, an illegal setup is constituted by three factors; prior to receiving the ball, either foot of the catcher cannot be on the foul line or home plate, straddling the foul line, or in foul territory straddling home plate.
It’s as clear as day.
Before the ball had reached Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya, he was clearly standing with his left foot on home plate, which by rule is an illegal stance for a catcher to take without having possession of the ball. Despite the Cubs argument that the trajectory of the throw forced Amaya up the baseline, this had no bearing on the fact that his foot was squarely on home plate before Pete even began his slide.
It’s a murky situation and I can understand the Cubs side of the story here, but I believe Mendoza and the Mets have a strong case as well based on MLB’s description of the rule.
An incident like this usually can help sort out how this call can be determined in the future but I don’t see how either team can walk away from this with a greater sense of understanding on how the catcher’s obstruction rule should be interpreted.