Add It To The List: Taijuan Walker has CB Bucknor move Brett Baty back towards on-deck circle

Taijuan Walker – The Phillies went into Queens this week and got swept out of Citi Field. Along the way, they managed to rack up a laundry list of complaints about literally everything the Mets were doing.

The latest came Wednesday night when Taijuan Walker stopped mid-game to complain that Starling Marte was standing too far away from the on-deck circle and distracting him from the mound.

A few pitches later, Brett Baty did the same thing and CB Bucknor actually paused play to tell him to move back.

The MLB rulebook doesn’t really say anything about a guy being too far from the on-deck circle unless he’s blatantly obstructing play. So this was basically Bucknor making a judgment call to keep the peace.

Taijuan Walker has CB Bucknor move Brett Baty back towards on-deck

Home plate umpire CB Bucknor moved Brett Baty back towards the on-deck circle.

Starling Marte had stood closer to home plate when he was on-deck pic.twitter.com/i2RYe1qlMZ

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 27, 2025

Taijuan Walker got lit up by his former team for 10 hits and four runs in five innings, and the Mets never looked back.

Mets sweep Phillies behind rookie Nolan McLean

The Running Tally of Complaints

This wasn’t even the first gripe of the series:

• Monday: Alec Bohm complained that the cameras and microphones in center were messing with his line of sight.
• Tuesday: Jesús Luzardo got ejected after barking about balls and strikes while leaving the game.
• Wednesday: Now it’s on-deck circles and distracted pitchers.

It felt like the Phillies had more complaints than runs in this series.

The Mets batted an absurd .568 (21-for-37) with runners in scoring position during the series. Twenty-one hits with runners on. The Phillies? Nowhere close.

New York has now beaten Philly 10 straight times at Citi Field and has taken 24 of the last 30 there, counting last year’s playoffs. They also clinched the season series and the postseason tiebreaker.

The Phillies’ lead in the NL East is down to four games

Look, maybe the Mets were pushing the envelope, maybe they weren’t. The real distraction is the scoreboard. The Phillies just got swept, scored five runs in three games, and watched rookie Nolan McLean carve them up for eight shutout innings.

If the Mets being a few feet outside the on-deck circle is throwing you off your game, that’s not a Mets problem, that’s a Phillies problem.

Bottom Line

Between cameras, microphones, umpires, and now Taijuan Walker worried about on-deck batters, the Phillies sound like a team looking for excuses instead of answers. And when you’re 0-for-Queens yet again, those complaints ring about as hollow as the bats did all series.

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