Mets Chaos Theory: When Edwin Diaz is down, the rest of the roster follows

At this point, what harm would it do the New York Mets to keep Edwin Diaz in the closer role? They’re going to need him for the ninth inning next year anyway. And after blown saves or a loss in the tenth inning by everyone other than Josh Walker in the last couple of games, resorting back to old faithful isn’t such a bad thing.

The Mets’ version of the chaos theory states that when your most important reliever goes down, no one else will be able to replace him. It’s precisely what has happened to the Mets. Reed Garrett has softened. Jorge Lopez and Sean Reid-Foley failed to get through tenth inning opportunities. Adam Ottavino blew a save and Jake Diekman is hitting objects in the dugout with his fist better than he is the strike zone.

Diaz might be on the field, but just like last season when they lost him for the year, it feels like the team has followed suit and become a hot mess.

As bad as the Mets bullpen has been lately, we need to hold the hitters accountable, too

The Mets had 7 hits yesterday which isn’t so bad until we account for the 19 innings they played. Only four in the first and three in the second, the club was easily outmatched by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tylor Megill kept the Dodgers hitters at bay for most of the game only for an unraveling to take place late. It’s a way too familiar story for the Mets reminiscent of Luis Severino’s outing on Saturday where he was excellent and came away with a no-decision because of late errors and ineffective performances from the relievers.

The Mets are playing a defeated brand of baseball. Brush aside Sunday’s unorthodox comeback and all of the other last at-bat wins they’ve had at Citi Field this year and we have a team that has been hitting like they just want to get the game over with. They’ve reached double digits just once this season when they crossed the plate 16 times against the Atlanta Braves on April 11.

Mets hitters have been consistently terrible. The batting average and OBP both rank 23rd in MLB. Some offensive rankings and numbers only saved by a recent glutton of home runs in losses, this is a ball club with no real strength at the plate.

But it can’t be all because Diaz isn’t at his best. The two have nothing to do with each other and yet just as he falters, so do the rest of the Mets. They went into last year without him and there never was the same kind of fight they had in 2022.

Confidence isn’t a quality the Mets have right now. The absence of the best closer in baseball, while present, seems to have gotten to everyone. Maybe it’s because no other reliever has been able to step up and replace him. As a result, they’ve lost multiple games this month and now 10 games under the .500 mark, the defeated feeling has trickled all over the place.

There is no prospect to call up to give this team more life. There is no lineup change to make that’ll improve the offense. 

A butterfly flapped its wings and it created a windstorm that led to a ball traveling a little further and a blown save for Diaz. In the following weeks, the Mets chaos theory has infected nearly everyone.