Mets switch the lineup around again, salvage one game in Miami
And what to do when a star closer loses his confidence...
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets salvaged the series finale in Miami on Sunday afternoon, topping the Marlins 7-3 (Box)
LHP Sean Manaea started for the Mets and earned the win, allowing two runs on five hits across five innings
Brandon Nimmo blasted his 7th home run of the season
Nimmo, Tyrone Taylor, and Harrison Bader all drove in two runs in the game
Reed Garrett earned his 2nd save in 2024, and earned it, firing two innings of scoreless relief with four punchouts
The Mets announced they are promoting their 10th ranked prospect, RHP Blade Tidwell, to Triple-A (MiLBCentral)
Down on the Farm 🌾
LHP David Peterson (Rehab Assignment, Triple-A) 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K
C Kevin Parada (No. 9 Prospect, Double-A) 1-for-3, HR, RBI, BB
Nolan McLean (No. 19 Prospect, High-A) 1-for-3, HR, RBI, BB
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (21-25) at Guardians (30-17)
Where: Progressive Field — Cleveland, OH
Starters: RHP Tylor Megill (0-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. RHP Ben Lively (2-2, 3.06 ERA)
When: 6:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Let’s talk about what’s going on with Edwin Díaz ✍️
The biggest story for the Mets on Sunday was not that New York earned a crisp 7-3 win over Miami—though to be fair, these days a Mets win is noteworthy in its own right.
Instead, the primary talking point is this Steve Gelbs report on SNY.
In it, Gelbs offered a glimpse into the Mets clubhouse on Saturday night following arguably Diaz’ most disappointing outing in a New York uniform.
After blowing a four-run ninth inning lead in a game the Mets eventually lost in extra innings, Diaz stood at his locker and answered all of the reporters questions like the professional he is. But after that, with the clubhouse clearing out, Diaz sat and let his emotions out, visibly crying and having to be consoled by Francisco Lindor and Sean Reid-Foley.
The emotional reaction from the Mets closer was undoubtedly a culmination of built up frustration both short and long term. In the here and now, it’s quite clear he’s going through one of the most difficult stretches of his career.
Diaz has allowed seven earned runs in his last 2.1 innings. He’s blown ninth inning leads in each of his previous three outings, and has to feeling an abundance of responsibility for the club’s recent struggles.
Which, he should. They’ve lose three of those four blown save chances.
On the grander scale, the veteran righty has to be seething about everything that has happened in the last 14 months.
After being far and above the best relief pitcher in baseball in 2022, we all remember the devastating injury Diaz suffered in the World Baseball Classic that took away his entire 2023 campaign.
He was exceptionally eager to return to the Citi Field mound here in 2024, and by all accounts the beginning of his campaign went well.
Diaz allowed just one earned run in his first 10 outings this season, and while his peripheral numbers were not quite as dominant as his otherworldly 2022 was, his stuff was still there and he was still a lockdown presence in the ninth inning.
Since then, though, Diaz has allowed runs in more than half of his appearances, has converted just one of four save chances, and has especially struggled when working back-to-back nights.
In response to his latest meltdown, and especially the mental angst it caused him, the Mets have announced they’ll temporarily remove him from the closer’s role in an effort to remove pressure.
That’s the first step towards rebuilding Diaz’ broken confidence, but it will be more complicated than that. Ideally, the Mets will look towards finding seventh and eighth inning opportunities to bring him in against the bottom part of the opposition’s order. This will hopefully allow him to begin to stack scoreless outings on top of each other, and eventually reinstate order in the Mets relief corps.
Everyone involved with the Mets knows that the best version of the team is the one that includes a dominant Edwin Diaz at the backend of the game. The Mets are hoping that by taking a small step backwards right now, it will allow them to take several large leaps forward in the near future.
Fingers crossed.
Around the League 🚩
Gunnar Henderson crushed his league leading 15th bomb in the O’s 6-3 home win against Seattle
Tyler O’Neill hit his 11th home run of the season in the Red Sox 11-3 victory over the Cardinals
Shohei Ohtani delivered his first walk-off hit as a Dodger, with a 10th inning knock against Alexis Diaz to give LA a 3-2 win over the Reds
Yu Darvish fired seven scoreless innings and struck out nine as the Padres bludgeoned the Braves 9-1