Put the Bat on your Goddamn Shoulders, Guys!

The New York Mets entered the bottom of the ninth in today's baseball game against the Washington Nationals trailing by a run. They had the top of the order due up, namely (today) Justin Turner, Daniel Murphy, and David Wright. Now, Turner in particular is no power hitter, and neither really is Murphy although he's been hitting for more power than usual so far this year. But still, what you want out of them, and especially out of Turner, is just to reach base somehow. And Turner got to a 3-1 count against Rafael Soriano. And then he swung at the next pitch, a fastball that I'm pretty sure was up and out of the strike zone, fouling it back. He also swung at the next pitch, which in fairness probably was a strike, and lined out to right field. Murphy then also got into a 3-1 count, whereupon he swung at a good slider on the outside corner of the plate and hit a weak ground ball to first base. David Wright, then, got behind 1-2 and then worked out a walk. How'd he manage that? Well, he didn't swing at the various pitches Soriano threw that weren't in the strike zone. Then up came cleanup hitter John Buck, who swung at a first-pitch slider that was either perfectly placed on the corner or outside, and hit a weak ground ball to the shortstop, ending the game.

Is it that hard for a guy in that spot where they're just trying to get on base to just not swing 3-1? The pitcher's been demonstrating some wildness, you're not going to hit a home run, and if he misses the plate, you're on first base. An out has not been made. Everything's good. Even if he does throw the ball over the strike zone, you're not out yet, it's just a full count. At the very least, Turner and Murphy should've been extremely selective, yeah? As in, like, don't swing at a shoulder-level fastball or a slider, anywhere? Gah, it's so infuriating when hitters swing themselves out of an inning like that: Soriano was trying to walk Turner, and Turner just said, no thanks. And then Buck, of course, after Soriano fell behind two batters and walked a third, swung at a first-pitch slider and made the last out of the ballgame. Geez.