Mets look like cooked toast with a fork in them, Carlos Mendoza isn’t concerned with Edwin Diaz

Closing Major League Baseball games is living life on the edge. You need to be built differently. When the New York Mets gave Edwin Diaz his $102 million contract, they weren’t expecting what we’ve seen twice in a row.

Players will sometimes have what we classify as two different seasons. A lengthy slump with a midseason turnaround, perhaps. Or maybe a guy looks like he’ll hit .400 and ends up at a more mediocre .250 by the year’s end. The fizzling out story is the worst kind and hardest to accept. Diaz hasn’t exactly had this kind of year because his 2024 season has been as much of a rollercoaster as anyone’s.

Following his second straight loss in as many appearances, fans are worried. The manager is not.

In Carlos Mendoza’s defense, he wasn’t going to throw Edwin Diaz under the bus

Mendoza has been a clever manager at times—sometimes a little too caught up in the race to outsmart everyone. His lineups have been uniquely bold. In-game decisions have set him up to either look like a genius or failure. He’s a great match for David Stearns in this way. Not always going with the obvious decisions, the pair replicates the other’s way of thinking from their position.

There isn’t much creativity to think with Diaz. As the closer, he is meant to pitch the ninth and that’s about it. Occasionally, like in Wednesday’s loss you’re still waking up sore from on Thursday, Diaz was called upon from the bullpen to get the last out of the 8th inning. One runner on and two out, consecutive walks loaded them up before the deathblow from Corbin Carroll.

Everyone has those bad nights and for Diaz to show up so small down the stretch has fans remembering what it was like when he was at his worst back in 2019. 

It’s the home run ball that bit so deep back in 2019. Diaz allowed 15 of them—half of the 30 surrendered in his time with the Mets. He is at 7 this season with two this week. He gave up only 6 in 2021 and 2022 combined.

What’s there to really say after two implosions? Diaz stated the obvious and offered a solution.

This is much different than earlier in the year when Diaz seemed to go full Shawn Michaels and lose his smile. At least he has some explanation.

The Mets are now 4 games behind the Atlanta Braves with exactly a month to go. The tough losses are coming too frequently. Francisco Lindor only has so many pats on the back to give.