Is the plunger hitting the ball square? Could be giving the ball just a small hair of spin or knocking it off "ideal line" just a hair and causing that issue with the plunge.

The drops were an issue on my MET Pro for a while - if I hit the inlines TOO hard, the drops wouldn't go down. I think there's a way to adjust the spring to help with this. The other thing people said was to play it more and wear the drop mechs in a bit more.

Firstly congrats on the purchase. Arguably the best stern in recent times and definitely Borgs best in a while. A little underrated still but fast getting the recognition it deserves.mive owned most recent borg games and this title is borg at his best.
I'm thinking first issue is levelling and check the post near the middle jet that it's not interfering with the ball. Drops occasionally not dropping is a common issue on modern sterns. I just got a mustang and a clean hit on a drop sometime doesn't go down. There are adjustments you can make with the spring but I just leave it as it doesn't bother me.

Have fun.its such a brilliant design and code.

You might want to try the "mod" of adding a small piece of felt to the end of the ball guide just above the pop bumpers.
This makes a left orbit (barn) shot miss the pop bumpers and come flying straight back to the flippers. It's super easy and easily reversible - and makes the game even faster

There are pics that I posted here...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twd-left-orbit-shot-mod