It has been a very up and down year for New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz. On June 23rd at Wrigley Field in Chicago, it came to a head and (hopefully) reached its low point. Diaz was ejected before entering the game in a save situation in the ninth due to a foreign substance on his hands. While he disputed it, saying it was rosin, sweat, and dirt, the umpires stood behind their decision after the game, saying they have seen thousands of samples and this was more than that.
To fully understand the situation and what might have driven Diaz to get into this predicament, it is important to understand his history of the past few years and the roller coaster of Diaz’s 2024 so far.
In 2022, Diaz was clearly the most dominant closer of the game. He was a big driver of the Mets success that year, as the team won 101 games and made the playoffs. Diaz appeared in 61 games, striking out 118 in 62 innings. He converted 32 of 35 save opportunities.
Following his 2022 campaign, Diaz signed a five-year, $102 million contract which made him the highest paid reliever in history. It seemed well-earned at that point and the sky was the limit for the reliever with a nasty fastball and slider combination.
In the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Diaz (fresh off his new contract) was injured while celebrating with teammates after closing out a victory for his native Puerto Rico. That knee injury kept him out for the entire 2023 season, and could easily be pointed to as a driver for the Mets slide to only 75 victories.
Entering 2024, Diaz was expected to be a key component in the Mets turnaround and return to playoff contention. Despite the team’s 0-5 start, they were able to right the ship and Diaz was off to the races. He converted his first four save opportunities and by the end of the game on April 28th against the Cardinals, was pitching to a 0.93 ERA with those four saves.
Then, the wheels began to fall off. On April 29th, Diaz posted his first loss of the season, ironically to the same Cubs. Following that, he blew four save opportunities with one more save (his fifth) mixed in. Manager Carlos Mendoza was put in a tough spot with handling Diaz and started using him in different innings, in non-save situations.
The Mets ultimately sidelined Diaz on May 29th with a right shoulder impingement. At that time, his ERA had ballooned to 5.40 with the five saves and four blown saves.
On returning from the Injured List, Diaz was reinserted to the closer role. Along with it came a lot of pressure to restore his place as the game’s elite closer. Previously, Diaz had been very emotional about his struggles and wanting to be there for his team.
If there was anyone feeling extreme pressure, and looking for any leg up, one could easily speculate it would be Diaz. He returned to the mound on June 13th against the Marlins and earned the win. He then picked up two saves in a row, against the Padres then the Rangers before trying to take the mound at Wrigley.
Diaz now faces a mandatory 10-game suspension that goes along with the foreign substance ejection. It is hard to make the case that it was just rosin, sweat, and dirt when looking at the pictures.
This is not a good look for the Mets. For the second year in a row, a high profile pitcher is suspended 10 games for sticky stuff. Last year it was Max Scherzer. This year it is Diaz. Entering the Subway Series against the Yankees with a 37-39 record and only one game out of the last Wild Card spot, this is a very unnecessary distraction and creates a bullpen dilemma for Mendoza.
Photo Credit; The Sporting News
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