The Mets batting out of order is a very Mets thing to do

The New York Mets got 2018 off to a roaring start, winning 11 of their first 12 games.

One could imagine they were about to regress to the mean.

They did. And the Mets’ mean is relatively worse than most other MLB teams’ mean.

New York has lost seven of eight since the calendar flipped to May before Wednesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds happened.

Apparently, the Mets had turned in a lineup card in the wrong order. It read that the top of the lineup would be, in order, Brandon Nimmo, Asdrubal Cabrera and then Wilmer Flores. But after Nimmo, New York sent up Flores before Cabrera.

Purposely or not, the Reds didn’t alert the umpires of the issue until, with two outs, Cabrera had doubled.

At that point, the problem caused a bit of chaos. Cabrera’s hit was first rescinded and recorded as a putout, but ultimately, the fourth batter in the order, Jay Bruce, didn’t get his first at-bat because, well, rules.

Official scoring stages of Asdrubal Cabrera's first-inning plate appearances:

Double
Putout to the catcher
Double
Nothing

Cabrera is 0-for-0 with no official at-bat today.

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) May 9, 2018

For what it’s worth, the Mets have been giving each of Cabrera and Flores at-bats in the second and third spots all year long. So, one could argue the lineup card mishap wasn’t a complete and utter brain fart on the part of manager Mickey Callaway.

Except it kind of was.

The result was bad. And as bad as that was for the Mets, it only got worse when baseball Twitter found out.

It's actually his third child, it's just being delivered out of order.

— Chris (@tpgMets) May 9, 2018

Can someone send this down to the third base dugout? https://t.co/htjvJss5k1

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 9, 2018

BREAKING: #Mets agree to trade LHP Jason Vargas and a revised lineup card to the #Reds in exchange for RHP Matt Harvey

— Dyllmonger (@HornikGSN) May 9, 2018

Here's a look at today's Mets batting order. pic.twitter.com/aq0Uou1kZ9

— Joe Wilkins (@wilkins63) May 9, 2018

I thought it was your turn to hit? pic.twitter.com/XN06VOW4xS

— Mike DeSorbo (@mike47725919) May 9, 2018

With so many institutions in our country under attack, it’s good to know that no matter what, the Mets will always be the Mets pic.twitter.com/So8BdewSuC

— John Gallagher (@jgallagher810) May 9, 2018

This is what the Mets lineup card must look like today pic.twitter.com/01OSYKvRif

— Dyllmonger (@HornikGSN) May 9, 2018

This is the most Mets thing I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/BF0iZrVg7T

— Nick Simmons (@nicksimmons_3) May 9, 2018

pic.twitter.com/irbOp2cZqF

— Nick Silva (@nicksilva1) May 9, 2018

I will say if you are going to hit out of order, you might as well do it against the Reds to make it fair.

— Amazin Mets (@los_mets) May 9, 2018

The Mets are in mid season form https://t.co/15RLCR20Pc

— Jakob Brown (@jakebrown4568) May 9, 2018

The Reds playing the Mets is like watching the Reds playing an inter squad game!

— Mr. Redlegs (@Redleg_Nation) May 9, 2018

The Mets trying to find the right batting order 😂 pic.twitter.com/PB5BZDmxau

— SB Nation (@SBNation) May 9, 2018

The @Mets batted out of order in the top of the first.

It's ok, we hate Wednesdays too. pic.twitter.com/yoRedKx2G1

— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 9, 2018

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