The Braves may have had their own frustrations this season, but they’re still in a far better place than the Mets, and Tuesday night only made that gap feel wider.
New York’s latest headache came after fans at Citi Field cheered Pete Alonso during a game in which he launched a backbreaking home run against his former team. That reaction clearly bothered some Mets players, with Sean Manaea speaking out afterward.
"I love him to death, but as the 2026 Mets - I know we've definitely underperformed - the guys in here work their ass off every single day. To have that reaction to an opposing player is crazy to me"
- Sean Manaea on the Citi Field reception for Pete Alonso's 300th home run pic.twitter.com/7itFYYpns7
- SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 16, 2026
For the Mets, it was another awkward moment in a season that has gone sideways. The club has struggled badly, and the source of the frustration is easy to find.
Steve Cohen has spent aggressively, but the results still haven’t matched the hype, and David Stearns has not been able to get the front office moving in the right direction. The roster has been full of underachievers, and the team has spent most of the year looking like one of baseball’s worst.
That’s what makes the complaint about the fans so hard to take seriously. Alonso was a beloved player in New York for years, and the Mets let him go. Now, with the team well outside the real playoff picture and giving fans little reason to stay engaged, the organization is upset that the crowd responded to a familiar face.
This is where the contrast with Atlanta stands out. The Braves don’t usually get caught up in that kind of grievance.
If their fans want to celebrate a milestone for someone like Freddie Freeman or Max Fried, the reaction tends to be met with understanding, then the team moves on. Atlanta’s focus is on winning and keeping things moving.
New York, on the other hand, sounds like a team asking for applause it hasn’t earned.
In Other News...
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Braves Prospects Just Made Columbus A Much More Interesting Stop
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Several other players chipped in on both sides of the ball, giving Columbus a roster that felt more relevant than a typical minor league stop. For Braves fans, the bigger question now is which of those performances will carry forward and which names will keep climbing the organizational ladder when the next wave of prospects reaches Double-A. [Read more 🡒]