Lucas Duda has experienced an up-tick in hit-by-pitches as of late.
Duda was struck on the right leg in the eighth inning by Brandon Maurer during Wednesday’s 7-3 loss to the Padres, the second time he’s been hit in four days and the third time since May 25.
Duda glared at Maurer briefly as he trotted to first base.
The hit-by-pitch on Sunday forced Duda to miss Monday’s game – he was hit in the knee and it stiffened up on him afterwards.
In total, Duda has been hit eight times this season, the second most in the National League.
“I’ve had other guys,” Collins explained on Wednesday. “Craig Biggio got hit 30 times a year. You know what? They stay in there. They stay on the plate. They don’t back up. They don’t give in. It’s quite obvious if you’re going to throw the ball out over the plate, Lucas is going to do damage to you.
“But we’ve answered a few of them. And we’ll have to answer a few more,” Collins continued.
It makes sense. Duda is the most imposing hitter in the Mets lineup, and has proven he can do damage now against left-handed pitching as well. The opposition is clearly working Duda inside more so to not allow him to extend his arms. They probably would much rather put him on base than allow him to plate multiple runs with one swing of the bat, something he has done a lot of over the last couple of weeks.
But as Collins said, it wouldn’t hurt to send a message back to the opposition, either. Especially when Duda got hit late in a blowout.
Not that they should seek to hurt anyone, but sending a message is ok, too.
Just Mets 