Mets’ Carlos Mendoza vocal on Rhys Hoskins-Yohan Ramirez drama

Ramirez got ejected Saturday for throwing a fastball behind Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins. Citi Field erupted in cheers, as the home faithful was happy to see their team’s arch-nemesis get rattled.

This isn’t the first time that a Mets pitcher has thrown at Hoskins. In 2019, New York hurler Zack Wheeler threw a 97-mile-per-hour heater behind the slugger when he was a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. That one also resulted in a near-brawl, via Kevin Davidoff of the New York Post.

On top of that, Hoskins upset Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil on Friday’s Opening Day game, sliding into him late while McNeil was covering second base. This also resulted in a benches-clearing near-brawl.

While Mendoza can’t be faulted for his team’s history with Hoskins, he’ll need to put his foot down in the locker room to avoid more incidents like this in the future.

“You hate to see it,” Mendoza said post-game on Saturday. “Obviously when it first happened, I couldn’t tell what was the pitch. Definitely not trying to hit him. You know, I understand their frustration with everything that’s been going on, what happened yesterday and things like that.”

Given the history, Mendoza’s comments seem like a stretch at first glance. However, he did later give legitimate reasons for his claims.

“Ramirez is a guy that historically has control issues…He’s trying to pitch up and in, trying to get a ground ball with the sinker, and you know, that happens,” Mendoza continued. “But when you see his reaction, he’s going after the ball…I know it looks really, really bad, but we’re not trying to hit anybody.”

Ramirez’ control issues aside, nothing will change the fact that the timing of the pitch was suspicious, given the context. At the end of the day, the only thing that really matters is that the Mets now find themselves under .500 once again to start the season.

Since its pennant-winning campaign in 2015, the club hasn’t even gotten back to the National League Division Series. In order to end this troubling trend, Carlos Mendoza must right the ship and keep the Mets focused on what really matters: winning games.