Is It Time for the Mets to Make a Change with Edwin Diaz?

Is It Time for the Mets to Make a Change with Edwin Diaz?

should the Mets move Edwin Diaz off the closer roll we’ll talk about it on today’s show you are locked on Mets your daily New York Mets podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hello to all you uh Maze and Mets fans you’re watching locked on Mets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day I’m your host Ryan felstein if you want to find any of my work follow me on X atlin Ryan you can also find somei writing at just baseball.com where I work as the managing editor now I really debated going to the ballpark on Saturday to catch the Mets game vers the Marlins and ultimately I just decided you know what it’ll be better for me to go on Sunday based on some things I had to get done today and then as I am watching the game late this afternoon I was kicking myself because the mess looked great new lineup you love to see it from Cisco Lindor batting lead off Pete Alonzo still hitting second and Brandon nmo moved to the three hole give the Mets maybe some more um run producing opportunities for Nemo Change Up The Vibes and it worked in the first inning the MET score a pair of runs Lindor got on base Alonzo got a hit Nemo grinds into a force out but then JD Martinez and Mark Vientos each get knocks to bring in runs and all right the metso rolling the Marlins with would tie the game though against Luis srino they scored one in the second Jazz Chisum homered in the third even ball game but top of the fourth the Mets rallied back to get one Jeff mcneel toas Neato each singled mcneel stole Third Base scored on a ground out from Lindor and then in the fifth inning the Mets exploded four runs they loaded the bases as Brandon Nimo got hit by a pitch mark Vientos walked Starling Marte singled you had RBI hit from Harrison Bader and Jeff mcneel that each scored a pair and the Mets are up seven to2 and Luis srino at that point was cruising cruising until the seventh inning he’s working on a low pitch count so it seemed like he would definitely get through seven but boy did that inning really come back to Haun srino walks the lead off batter which is always just a killer gives up a double um scored a run there gets a couple of outs but couldn’t get out of the inning as Jazz chis had a huge game uh gets an RBI knock with a single and all of a sudden game gets close seven to4 the Mets go to Reed Garrett he didn’t get the job done right away gives up a couple of hits all of a sudden it’s 75 and I think all of us as Mets fans saw our anxiety levels climbing but here we go again it’s the I I’ve seen that story play out a million times and it always feels like it’s the Marlins where it’s the team that you should beat you get out to the early lead and then for some reason you can’t hold on to the lead and it’s just so frustrating but again I still had some Envy I was like I should have been at the Ballpark for this one especially as we watch Edwin excuse me Adam anino man Edwin Diaz on the brain for good reason we’ll get to him in a second Adam mavino clean eighth and then the Mets scored some runs for Edwin Diaz in the ninth had Brandon nemmo JD Martinez and star Marte all double in that inning and there was some thought is is even going to pitch here because no longer a save opportunity I loved the decision by Carlos Mendoza to pitch Edwin Diaz because I guess like Mendoza I know nothing but really to it was a situation that had outlined on a previous episode of the show The Last Time Edwin Diaz blew a save a couple days ago I said it would be great to get Edwin Diaz out there in a nons saafe situation a less High levered situation I was thinking maybe pitch him in the inning which might be what’s coming next here but I was fine with it all right he’s in his role but he shouldn’t have to worry he shouldn’t be in his head he’s got a four-run lead but he was absolutely in his head and he just looked awful from the start his slider just had no bite to it it was over the heart of the plate the whole inning and within 15 pitches quite literally he blew a game that the Mets offense had earned a win for they go nine innings of good at bats battling tacking on runs and it all gets washed away by your closer that just has no confidence right now and to make matters worse because we’ll talk about Edwin and the pitches that got hit and what the Mets do with him in a second here in the next segment but I also have to note a brutal managerial decision by caros Mendoza I understand what he was thinking and it wasn’t just putting Diaz out there because like I said I agreed with that it was the decision to have Tyrone Taylor play left field for the ninth inning now I know Brandon Emo’s been dealing with an illness and so you you wanted to to maybe get him off his feet in a game that had been decided at least you thought have been decided but if you had watched her closer pitch over the past week in change you should have had a thought that maybe it’s not in the bag and maybe this is a tough lesson that Mendoza has to learn it’s never necessarily in the bag and also never burn your DH because Tyrone Taylor entered the game top of the ninth inning after JD Martinez doubled he came in as a pinch Runner which made sense right you want to get some speed out there so that if you get a base hit you can score instead of having JD Martinez run totally cool with that but after he came in to run the Mets hit around a little bit and so Brandon Nemo’s spot was due up second in the 10th inning when you got around to it the Mets burn their DH because they pulled him up from the game and have t Tyrone Taylor play left field and of course when you when when they announc that and I’m doing the math in my head I’m like that’s a little odd it it shouldn’t matter but and whenever you say that it shouldn’t matter it’s just like when someone’s playing out of position right if you put if Brett batty ever has to play second base or short stop I can guarantee you that first inning he’s out there two ground balls will be hit to him because that’s just Murphy’s Law and so it was the same thing here you make a little bit of a curious decision you burn your DH so Edmond Diaz would have been du to bat second in Extra Innings obviously he doesn’t get through it Jake deckman gets out of the inning but then here you are in extras where you need to get play a run and your best hitter on the team sitting on the bench because he was subbed out for defense because he couldn’t get three more outs could stay out there for another 15 minutes and then you end up having to hit DJ Stewart against the Lefty because your options were Stewart and Ria or batty to pinch it for Jake Dean and I think that cost him because if Brandon Emo’s in the game he might get a base hit and you might have had another shot at it you might have gotten into an 11th inning at least but yeah just just a brutal game all around and as much as I’m frustrated by that decision from Mendoza the elephant in the room the thing you cannot ignore is the Mets have a closure right now that you can’t trust and he looks a lot more like 2019 Edwin Diaz the guy that eventually lost his closure role that year I believe it was in favor of Seth Lugo the best starting pitchers in baseball right now uh but he looks like that guy he doesn’t look like the lights out best reliever in the game in 2022 they got the $100 million contract so what do you do with Edwin Diaz when you can’t trust him to save games how do you manage his spot in the roster when do you pitch him we’re going to talk about all that in just a minute first though word from our sponsors today’s episode is brought to you by game time I mentioned how I wished I was in the ballpark for most of the game today until Edmund Diaz blew that save well for the series finale on Sunday I will be going down to Miami to watch Mets vers Marlins and you know I’ll be buying my tickets through game time because it is the fastest and easiest way to buy tickets for all the sports music 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as he gets more comfortable as he gets more into his mid-season form as much as that is the easiest thing to point to the lack of velocity I honestly do not believe that’s the case because today it wasn’t the fast ball that burned him it was the slider you could say well if he was throwing the slider harder there might be a little bit more bite to it and that is fair but to me this is a command issue and this is a confidence issue it’s that simple you look at what happened today first three batters he faced all got hanging sliders he was lucky that the middle batter uh popped it up because he gave up a double then he got a pop out and then Jazz Chisum hit the RBI single and then Brian Day La Cruz got a base it now that one came on a fast ball that was at 96 it was inside yes if he blows that by him at 101 maybe he doesn’t catch up to it but it was the hanging sliders that killed him and then the pitch to Josh Bell was a another hanging slider it that one was a little bit lower in the zone than the first three but it was too much over the heart of the plate pretty much right down the middle just low in the zone and Josh Bell easily able to get a barrel to it and he crushed that ball I didn’t have the ex of velocity Mark there but I think it was 108 off the bat and he hit it dead center in Marlins Park that is not an easy place to hit a home run dead center but he did and right there that was the lead for the Mets what they do with him at this point I don’t know this has been a really rough stretch for Edwin di you go back to April 29th against the Cubs he gave up that Homer to Christopher Morell that ended up blowing that game I mean it was a tie ball game at the time but you get out of that inning with Edwin Diaz pitching a scoreless frame maybe you score one in the ninth and you end up winning but no you lost that one there uh he ended up actually having two scoreless innings of relief though in the final game of that Cup Series so you have to note the good Innings that he had or the good outings that he had um and then he converted a save on May 6th he also had an inning against the Braves um where he he he was solid that was on the 12th that was the game that Brandon Neo hit the walk-off home run so those were the good outings now he’s blown four saves so the 29th was not a save opportunity but it was a home run allowed in the ninth then on May 5th he blew a save against the Rays they lost that game then he blew two saves in a row essentially as far as his appearances against the Phillies um luckily that Mets one one of those games but still he he blew a couple opportunities and it would have been a lot easier if he didn’t blow the second save and then he blows this one which wasn’t a save opportunity but that’s even worse a four-run lead that he couldn’t hold on to so if you count the blown saves that the Mets actually lost the game you count this one and you go back to that game against the Cubs Morel Homer to the ninth there’s four games you could have had that that would have gone the other way if you look at that where the Mets are right now they’re 20 and 25 if Edwin Diaz is lights out from April 29th until now and is pitching like himself the Mets are 24 and 21 they’d be two games up in the Wild Card race two games up right now they’re two games back you got to do something and the easiest thing to do and probably the first course of action is removing him from the closers role Adam adino only threw six pitches tonight I imagine if they have a save opportunity on Sunday he’s probably the guy Reed Garrett likely get some opportunities or hey Lopez has gotten save opportunities this year and maybe gets some as well as the Mets might go to some type of A Closer by community in the meantime and then maybe you try to pitch Edwin Diaz earlier in games I think that’s the best thing that you can do right now let him pitch the sixth inning and see what that does honestly depending on the stter like let’s just say Tyler Mill is going to make his debut on Monday maybe if Edwin Diaz be an opener have Edwin Diaz pitched the first inning and have Mill ready to go in the second I I’d honestly consider that just to change things up because he has to get out of his head and I mentioned this after the game and I the only reason why I’m not leading with it is because I don’t think it’s gonna happen but if it was me I would be right now thinking about should we option Edwin Diaz should we talk to him and say listen we want to send you to Syracuse for a couple of weeks just get your head on straight just have you just work on your mechanics figure some things out now he’d have to accept that assignment but considering the team player that he is I don’t think that’d be any issue I think it’s more a matter of the Mets doing what’s best for the team and if they believe that is the case right now because as much as you could say all right out of sight out of mind clear them you’ll f figure it out let him get his head on straight he comes back and if he’s Edwin Diaz again you roll the problem is you can’t just put him on a minor league assignment for five days he makes three appearances he looks great you bring him right back up it doesn’t work like that if you are optioning him he’s going to have to stay in the minor leagues for two weeks basically 15 days so if the Mets are even considering that which I i’ I’d imagine they aren’t but let’s just play out the thought exercise here I think they’ probably give him through the end of this week you’re on a road trip one more in Miami three in Cleveland then you come home I think you give him the week and the reason I say that if you were to send him down next Monday right let me pull up the exact schedule here so I’m not talking out of school but I I counted this out before I hit record here basically because the Mets have all these off days when they go to London it would line things up so he wouldn’t miss that many games let’s just say that you did this across the 15 days that he’d be in the Mino leagues the Mets would have three off days so you get a little bit of real estate during that assignment where you’re not playing games so hopefully you get more of Evan Diaz you don’t have to send him to London he can just stay State side work on his stuff uh and maybe that helps I I really don’t know if they’re going to go that route ultimately this is a mental thing as much as it’s a mechanical thing I think it’s a combination of both and that can be sorted out on the big Le roster don’t get me wrong and I also want to acknowledge that you know he was pitching on the same Mound that he blew out his knee all those you know months ago or a year ago at this point more than a year ago I don’t know how much that played into what happened today because this is by far the worst outing of the year for aan Diaz and there was a lot of trauma associated with that ballpark so to have to go back in that situation where you’re not feeling like yourself and you’re in your head a little bit maybe that just takes Whatever anxiety that was there and ratches ratchets it up even further I I don’t know I really don’t I’m playing armchair psychologist here trying to figure out when Diaz we’ll have to just wait and see what happens here I think he’s gonna figure it out and probably won’t take too long I still believe that Edwin Diaz Will Be Edwin Diaz this year I don’t think this is going to be a season long thing but you got to make it work somehow and honestly I I I think removing leverage situations is huge for him at this point if he’s in his head pitch him in games your winning pitch him as an opener like I said Pitch him in the fifth or sixth inning just let him go out there have some scoreless Innings get that confidence back and once he starts to look like edwind Diaz again you insert him right back into that ninth inning but the Mets are going nowhere without aan Diaz this year it’s just that simple and it’s not even a matter of you know get him off the team that would help that that’s not going to uh solve anything either I’m talking about a mental refresh if they were to send it down but re Garett and Adam anino in some type of A Closer by Community is not going to be good enough either you need Edwin Diaz you need those guys being set up man and if the bullpen not a string for this team they’re gonna be cooked it’s just that simple and there might be anyway but i’m G to try to find some silver linings for you give you a little bit of an optimistic angle at what lies ahead might be tough I’ll try in a minute first though a word from our sponsors today’s episode is brought to you by prize picks prize pick is the number one fantasy sports app with more than three million members is the easiest and most exciting way to get in on the action while you watch all of your favorite sports and players you can pick more or less on two or more player stats and then you just watch the winnings roll in so right 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give you some silver linings for why this Mets team can get back on track we’re going to start with one that’s a little bit odd the Mets are five games under why is that a silver lining because we saw them at this very record or at this very Point under 500 all the way back 40 games ago when they were 0 and five well now you’re 20 and 25 which means you had a stretch of 40 games where you played exactly 500 baseball the Mets were able to pull out of it they went 12 and three after starting 0 and5 maybe that’s what they have ahead of them maybe they’re about to go on a 12 and three stretch or a 15 for 15 out of 21 games that they’re going to win they’re just going to reel them off maybe June’s a good month for once maybe they had a crap May so finally June’s gonna be great right one of the Silver Linings that I would say is baseball always tends to give you some overcorrections the Marlins and the Rockies are two teams that were playing as bad as any in baseball the Rockies reeled off seven straight now of course those Tides can always turn the other way and they typically do they’ve lost the last two games where they’ve given up 10 more 10 or more runs in each of them but Rockies fans are always gonna have that seven game winning streak that started on May 9th and carried all the way through May 15 it was a glorious time for them look at the Marlins right as much as they have been a horrible team throughout this season they’ve gotten right lately yes playing the mets has helped but they’re coming off a serious victory over the Tigers and they did win the final game of their Series against the Phillies on Mother’s Day so for this past week they’ve been playing really good baseball they’ve only lost one time throughout this week hopefully it’ll be two by the end of Sunday but this is what happens in baseball things tend to swing either direction and so the Mets have gone on a downswing for a while they’re due for a bounce back now if they’re a bad baseball team which will learn as the season goes on they’ll have another down swing after that and they’ll continue to drop under 500 and it might not ever get better but it will at some point inevitably climb back and sometimes when things just get this awful you’re just bound to snap out of it and that type of a loss on Saturday it might just be one where the team just shrugs and and Powers forward and maybe they win on Sunday maybe they win the next series and who knows maybe they get a little series streak going and find their way back to some winning baseball but a silver lining as crazy as it is to say is the fact that they are five games under but baseball tends to correct things back and if this is a 500 baseball team that means they’re due for some winning to at least get back to that Mark so I I hope might even pray here uh that they could find their way to to some success coming up I also think that this lineup that they just found is potentially a good one I like the idea of changing things up having Francisco Lindor bat lead off maybe that Sparks him a little bit change up his mindset just get on base get hits and Brandon imemo he’s been showing some power I think he has more pop than Lindor right now have him batting third that’s always a a place where you want your best hitter I know the game has changed and they’re saying bat your best hitter second to me number three is always going to be where the best hitter belongs and right now I still believe even though nimo’s had a rough week that that he’s the best hitter on the Mets so I like him bat in third I like breaking that line up they’re keeping at left right left right as far as you’re one through four with JD Martinez batting cleanup and I think these guys are going to be a good topof the line up soon here and they’re gonna carry the Mets to some early leads hopefully we’re already starting to see it a bit um you know it was a good example today as they were able to get going and JD Martinez has gotten hot he’s hitting over 390 the past week he’s up to 315 on the season he’s a good hitter he he’s gonna keep hitting for the Mets and that’s just going to be a consistent bat in the middle of their line they can hopefully help carry them and Mark Vientos has looked great coming right back um after he was in the minor leagues again he comes up he’s hitting had a great game today on the season Mark Vientos is seven for 21 through his first seven games played I I love having him in the top five and honestly the way he’s swinging it I wouldn’t even mind to see him start on though I could pretty much guarantee Brett Bay is going to get his start against the right-hander in Sixto Sanchez another Silver Lining past week Pete Alonzo was hitting 300 with three doubles and a home run but I like the doubles when Pete’s starting to get those hits that aren’t just the home runs where he’s always going to run into baseballs even when he’s struggling that’s the sign of Pete starting to feel good at the plate so I like what I’ve seen there again that leads right back into that top four in the lineup and stalling Marte starting to turn the the corner a little bit as well he’s hitting 321 over the past week Harrison Bader hitting 273 um feel like he’s having some good at bats really hitting right-handed pitching better than left this year for whatever that’s worth H but Bader hopefully getting it together maybe the more that this sort of continues on as far as the the new lineup where you you have JD Martinez in the DH spot and you got to try to struggle to find playing time for the other guys maybe it is Bader that ascend to being the the more everyday guy and Tyrone Taylor continues to take more of a backseat he’s not swinging it great right now DJ Stewart still is so you gotta find some time for Stewart mixed in there but that could just be key pinch hitting opportunities I I I do like what they have as far as those three guys sort of juggling around one spot throughout a game where you can have Bader start the game you can go to Stewart for a pinch hitting opportunity if you ever wanted to and then you could always Circle back to defense with Taylor or vice versa you start the game with Stewart then you can go to Bader you still have Taylor I I I think that this position player group now that Vientos is here it has made the Mets a really deep team and a team that I think will eventually start to put up runs and I haven’t quit on this lineup yet even though it’s looks so bad for stretches and we’re coming off a show on Saturday a couple days ago here off of Friday night’s game where the Met’s lineup looked awful I’m I’m buying in that they can figure some things out here with this starting lineup and the last silver lining I’ll look at is the Mets are starting to get healthy so you have to take that for what it is you’re getting Tyler Miguel back on Monday David Peterson should be ready to go as soon as he’s eligible to come off the 60 and kodai senga is inching his way to a return he’s still in the process of working out whatever is wrong mechanically uh but at least he’s healthy and it’s just a matter of getting himself feeling right and eventually ramping up but get Mill and Peterson in the mix here I think is going to help them as give them a little bit of a of a lift and then hopefully if you can hang in the mix the real reinforcements will come in June when you might get SGA and Alvarez back and then that team with all the parts together might be able to go for a little run before the deadline to prove that they’re not going to be sellers I guess the last silver lining that I would put out there for you all and something we’ve been talking about a lot over the last couple of days if this goes sideways it’s not the worst thing in the world for the Mets selling is not a horrible outcome so let’s enjoy uh the relevant baseball while we got it and hopefully the Mets can at least give us a little bit of Feelgood coming up especially today when I’m in the ballpark I don’t have my dad with me he’s actually funny enough in New Jersey went out to New York for a little bit of business and I hanging out with his high school buddies flying back on Sunday afternoon but he won’t get back in time for for the game so I’m going to be just flying solo chilling out in the ballpark if any are there um hit me up the sub texter send me a text if you are on Twitter or X feel free to reach outd love to meet any of you guys in the ballpark for the game but I’ll be back uh for tomorrow’s edition of locked on Mets if you’re listening on the audio side follow written review wh get your podcast if you’re watching on YouTube hit that subscribe button trying to make a push to 9,000 Subs so I appreciate all of you continue to subscribe if you want to be a lock on Insider find the link in the episode description go to sub.com lockon Mets you find me on X atlin Ryan follow the show at lockon Mets thank you for making lockon Mets you’re first listener your first watch every day not for your second watch stay up to date on all the latest in the World of Sports with lockon sports today scribing 247 on YouTube e

The New York Mets cannot catch a break right now, as Edwin Diaz blew a four-run lead on Saturday.

What’s next for the Mets closer, as his struggles begin to mount?

Host Ryan Finkelstein breaks down the Mets’ loss to the Marlins and how the Mets can bounce back.

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