Edwin Diaz and 3 other players who’ve hurt their cause by playing in the WBC

The World Baseball Classic has had many New York Mets fans in an uproar since Edwin Diaz’s injury. Rather than enjoy seeing players participate in this tournament while representing their home countries and territories, Mets fans are dreading every at-bat and innings from our players.

Diaz has lost the most this year because of his injury. Meanwhile, three other Mets have hurt their cause by choosing to participate in the tournament.

1) NY Mets third baseman Eduardo Escobar is losing playing team being away from the team

Eduardo Escobar going 1 for 10 for Team Venezuela won’t have Mets fans thinking he should be replaced at the hot corner. His lone hit, a home run, will be something he’ll remember forever. Meanwhile, in his absence, Brett Baty has done everything in his power to steal the starting third base job.

A hot spring from Baty was sure to help him enter the Opening Day roster conversation. A weak WBC performance from Escobar won’t do much to help him lose out. However, while gone, the young Mets third baseman has had ample playing time to push himself further into the picture.

At the start of spring, there was a case that could be made to hold Baty back and let him improve his defense in the minors. His bat is debatably major league ready. I think the majority of fans are ready to see him make the club at least as a part-time player with regular starts at third base and some in left field or even as the DH.

Escobar chose to participate in the WBC and we shouldn’t hold it against him. Opportunities like this only come around every so often. Unfortunately, it may have expedited how quickly the Mets start benching him.

3) NY Mets catcher Omar Narvaez is giving himself a disadvantage this season

Omar Narvaez didn’t play much for Team Venezuela before they were eliminated. While Alonso and McNeil are in no danger of losing playing time, Narvaez is. We should expect him to be more of a platoon catcher alongside Tomas Nido. Spending a few weeks away from the Mets won’t change this. What could hurt him and the team is how he works with the pitchers.

Narvaez is new to the club. Getting as many opportunities to catch each and every pitcher matters. Helping to pass along whatever knowledge he could to countryman Francisco Alvarez would pay off dividends he won’t even be around long enough to see with this organization. He didn’t play much in the WBC. He did lose a lot of chances to focus on his new team.

Several Mets players were already outspoken about their feelings on the WBC. Brandon Nimmo skipped it to stay healthy, ironically. Max Scherzer questioned if there was a better time for the tournament to take place. Kodai Senga made it known that his priority is the Mets.

We also have Francisco Lindor defending how important the WBC is for many players. It’s a generation thing. The tournament should only grow in popularity as years go on and more players grew up watching it. Narvaez is at an age caught between the ones who really think of the WBC as classic and those who see it as a secondary importance.

Narvaez will have extra work to put in between now and Opening Day. I have faith he will, but why work harder when you can work smarter?