After a pair of Mets’ hitters were drilled in the Subway Series opener on Tuesday, Jeff McNeil was hit in the back by a Carlos Rodon pitch with one out in the fourth on Wednesday.
McNeil fired his helmet toward the mound while still on the ground, clearly in pain, and remained there for several minutes while being checked by the Mets’ medical staff.
He stayed in the game and took first base as several Yankees fielders approached an upset Rodon, but the benches didn’t empty.
The play came after Mark Vientos was hit in the wrist in the top of the ninth by Albert Abreu on Wednesday and then Francisco Alvarez was hit in the hand by another Abreu pitch, though Alvarez was ruled to have swung at the pitch and struck out on the play.
Nevertheless, two Mets took mid-90s pitches off their hand area before McNeil was hit by Rodon.
It continued a worrisome trend that dates back to last season, when the Mets set a record by getting hit by pitches 112 times.
As a point of reference, San Francisco was second at 95.
This season, the Mets are leading MLB in the category again, heading into Wednesday with 68, with Seattle at 66.
“I still wonder why we lead the league every year in hit by pitch,’’ Mets manager Buck Showalter said before Wednesday’s game.
Asked if he had any theories about his team’s knack for getting hit, Showalter said, “Yeah, it’s part of hitting. Guys’ approaches also have something to do with it. And how hard it is to grip a baseball.”
But neither Showalter nor anyone in the Mets’ clubhouse pointed to any intent or conspiracy against them.
Brandon Nimmo, second to Mark Canha on the team with 16 HBPs this year, believes it’s a combination of factors.
“A big way of getting [our] team out is to come up and in,” Nimmo said. “So you’re gonna have to get hit.”
And he said there’s not much they can do about it — from a hitting or pitching perspective.
“There’s not really a way to police it anymore,’’ Nimmo said. “We can get hit all we want and as soon as we hit the next guy, our guys might get tossed and we can’t afford that. There’s nothing we can do.
“I don’t know how you fix that.”
The Mets’ pitching staff has hit the fifth-most batters in the majors with 52.
As for Abreu on Tuesday, Nimmo didn’t think there was anything malicious going on.
“Sometimes it’s hard to differentiate if a guy’s just having a rough night or there is some intent behind it,’’ Nimmo said. “[Tuesday] night, it didn’t seem like he meant anything. It seemed like he was trying to run his sinkers in and the byproduct of that is if he loses it at 98 [mph], it could end a guy’s season. That’s why I wear as much stuff up there as I do. I don’t want to, but I do because every one of those pieces is a place I got hit.
“That’s pretty much our only defense now. There’s risk involved every time you get up there.”
Adam Ottavino already has tied his career-high by hitting seven batters and was aware Mets’ hitters were hit more than anyone else last year, but didn’t know that was the case this season.
“A lot of situations are different,’’ Ottavino said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything there or intent. I know last year we were annoyed with some teams and then we just kept getting hit and it didn’t seem intentional.”
Ottavino, like Showalter, noted the balls were difficult to grip last season and he noted his own penchant for hitting opposing batters.
“I’ve hit a bunch of guys this year the exact same way,’’ Ottavino said. “You try to throw something in and they kind of half-swing and dive in and that’s what happens.”
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