MILWAUKEE — Buck Showalter retrieved the ball and later joked that he had nefarious plans for it.
Luis Guillorme had just been hit by a pitch in the ninth inning Wednesday, giving the Mets a record they had hoped to avoid. Guillorme was the third hit batsman of the day and 106th overall for the Mets this season to break the post-1900 record set by the 2021 Reds.
Mark Canha was drilled twice in the Mets’ 6-0 loss to the Brewers and broke Brandon Nimmo’s single-season team record. Canha has been hit by a pitch 24 times this season, two more than Nimmo in 2018.
Last season, Canha tied for the MLB lead with 27 hit-by-pitches. Canha was asked why he is such a pitch magnet.
“I never know how to answer that question when I get asked it,” Canha said. “I am closer to the plate and I don’t move and pitchers pitch in a lot now. It just kind of works out that way.”
Showalter mentioned Canha’s hit-by-pitches as contributing to his on-base percentage that made him an attractive option for the Mets last offseason.
Canha was at a loss when asked about the team’s penchant for getting hit by pitches.
“I can’t explain it,” he said. “We have a lot of good hitters, dangerous hitters and you have to pitch good hitters in and we tend to get hit a lot. It’s hard to explain. I am not sure why that is.”
And what will happen to the ball that struck Guillorme and pushed the Mets past the 2021 Reds?
“I gave it to the hitting coaches,” Showalter said. “They can do what they want with it.”
Starling Marte remained absent from baseball activities — he had hoped to throw and swing a bat before the game — as he waits for the pain to subside in his broken right middle finger.
“I think I will have the opportunity to see action in some games,” Marte said, later adding that he’s hopeful to play against the Braves next weekend, if not sooner. “There’s still pain there, but I am feeling a lot better.”
Chris Bassitt, Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer are aligned to face the Athletics this weekend. The Mets’ tentative plan is to start that trio (in some order) in Atlanta the following weekend. Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker would be the Mets’ starters in their two-game series against Miami that begins Tuesday at Citi Field.