Gary Cohen wasn’t in the booth Thursday as the Mets’ offense sputtered through a 7-1 loss to the Diamondbacks at Citi Field. But even if he had been, New York’s longtime television voice wouldn’t have pinned the night on Brett Baty.
If you read any of the game stories from the Mets’ beat following Thursday’s game, you’d have thought that multiple, countless errors for a team that focused so heavily on “run prevention” in the offseason did them in. But, really, it was their offense — or lack thereof —as New York failed to score a run after Luis Robert Jr.’s first-inning home run. That scoreless streak extended to 17 innings after Friday’s 4-0 loss to the Athletics, and yet the conversation has remained stubbornly fixed on the defense and on David Stearns, who spent enough of the offseason publicly preaching run prevention that he essentially invited this kind of scrutiny every time a ball drops in.
“I was very surprised to read the game stories and see the focus that was put on Brett Baty not making an impossible catch,” Cohen opined.
Gary Cohen was very surprised by the game stories from the Mets beat after their loss on Thursday… pic.twitter.com/cFfYBkvek6
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 11, 2026
The Mets moved on from Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso, and Jeff McNeil in large part to improve their defense, and it’s worked thus far. New York entered Friday second in defensive runs saved, having gone from a below-average unit to an above-average one by shoring up the middle of the field. They are not going to be confused for the 2001 Seattle Mariners anytime soon, but the defense has been marginally better, even if that wasn’t the narrative coming out of Thursday’s loss.
With Juan Soto nursing a calf injury and Jorge Polanco dealing with Achilles tendinitis, the Mets have had two of their most important position players watching from the trainer’s room for much of the early going, leaving Carlos Mendoza to cobble together a lineup with a third baseman in right field and a designated hitter at first base.
As for the play in question, Gabriel Moreno hit a deep drive to right field off Luke Weaver in the seventh inning that was carrying toward the line from the moment it left the bat. Baty gave chase, angling back toward the wall, and got there, but the ball caught the base of the fence before he could, ricocheting onto the warning track while Moreno pulled into second.
One batter later, Alek Thomas hit a sharp grounder to first with the infield drawn in, and Vientos bounced the throw home.
Nolan McLean was magnificent tonight, but he’s not going to come away with a win. After McLean departed, Gabriel Moreno hit an RBI double over Brett Baty’s head, and Alek Thomas knocked in the go-ahead run on an RBI fielder’s choice — both off Luke Weaver.
The Mets now trail. pic.twitter.com/SKuTRPuw8U
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 10, 2026
Arizona sent ten men to the plate before the inning was over, turning a 1-0 Mets lead into a 5-1 deficit.
Neither play was routine, but context matters in both. Moreno’s double carried a Statcast hit probability of 45 percent, according to The Athletic, meaning it was caught roughly half the time by outfielders who play the position for a living, which Baty does not. Whether Baty should have caught that ball is a matter of opinion, but Mendoza didn’t think so, and neither did the three men calling the game on Friday night. More to the point, it wasn’t why the Mets lost, even if you’d have a hard time knowing that from reading the coverage.
“I think that is one of the narratives that’s really easy, but that’s not why the Mets lost the game last night,” Cohen continued. “They lost because they scored one run and had two relievers get hit very hard.
“It’s a tough play,” Keith Hernandez added, as he and Ron Darling noted that only Dwight “Dewey” Evans, Dave Winfield, Dave Parker, and George Hendrick are the outfielders from their era making that play.
Cohen made the same point about Friday night, noting that the Mets hadn’t hit and that the only run they surrendered — at that point — came courtesy of Francisco Lindor failing to turn a double play that he should have turned.
“I don’t know if that will get written up the same way,” Cohen said.
