Chris Bassitt of the Mets criticizes MLB after three more Mets get plunked by pitches on Tuesday night. Bassitt blames the balls:

“It’s extremely annoying to see your teammates constantly get hit, and if you get hit by certain pitches it is what it is, but to get hit in the head the amount that we’re getting hit is unbelievable,” Bassitt said. “I had some close calls tonight, and I’ve been hit in the face [by a line drive] and I don’t want to do that to anybody ever, but MLB has a very big problem with the baseballs. They’re bad. Everyone in the league knows it. Every pitcher knows it. They’re bad.

“They don’t care. MLB doesn’t give a damn about it. They don’t care. We’ve told them our problems with them, and they don’t care.”

ESPN.com

First, I suspect MLB actually does care, but their options are limited.

Second, Bassitt may be wrong. At this point in time last year pitchers were able to use substances to grip the ball better. MLB averaged 1.04 hit batsmen per game. This season, with the “bad balls”, MLB averages 0.84 HBP per game.

Maybe the problem is the Mets played the Phillies and Nationals, who are 1-2 in the league in hit by pitches. Or even more likely, the northeast had a cold spring. It’s the end of April and leaves are just starting to appear on the trees. Maybe these balls don’t work well in the cold weather, and that is a problem. League wide, however, it’s really not a problem.