The Edwin Diaz injury at the World Baseball Classic is the type of thing that can only happen to the New York Mets, a perpetually cursed franchise that always seems to have the dumbest things happen to them at the dumbest possible time.
But for as sad as the situation is for Diaz, and for as damaging as it might appear to the Mets bullpen, there is something that needs to be shouted from the roof tops here.
This is still an All-Star filled roster that won 101 games last year with a $360 million dollar payroll that is still going to be one of the best teams in the National League and a bona fide World Series contender.
This is not meant to downplay Diaz’s importance and significance to the Mets’ bullpen. He is one of the very best in the world at what he does. But it is also important to keep in mind he only pitched 62 innings during the 2022 season. They were dominant innings. They were innings to close out games. But it was still only 62 innings. The Mets managed to overcome an even more significant injury a year ago when they had to play most of the season without Jacob DeGrom, one of the best starting pitchers in the league.
If they can overcome that, they can overcome this.
Will their closer replacement be as good as Diaz? Absolutely not. But how much of a difference are we really talking about here? How many games are we talking in the standings? The league leader in blown saves last season was Taylor Rogers with 10 of them, and he was the only person that had more than eight. Not all of those blown saves turned into losses, either. In the absolute worst-case scenario, the Mets might subtract five or six wins from their total. In an expanded playoff field where an 87-win team still made the playoffs a year ago, the Mets should still have a huge cushion.
Losing a Pete Alonso, or Francisco Lindor, or Jeff McNeil, or Brandon Nimmo for the entire season would have been a damaging blow to their chances. But relief pitchers, even great ones, are one of the most volatile and easily replaceable parts of a team.
A star player that is the best at his position, signs a $100-plus million-dollar contract to stay with the team, and then a couple of months later suffers a season-ending injury celebrating a victory that was not even a Mets game?
Yeah. That is so Mets.
But these Mets still have a roster full of stars and a deep roster that is still going to contend for a World Series.
They also have the deep pocketed owner that is willing to do everything he can to trade for whatever closer is available if he feels the need.
