Remember when the Mets never lost with a lead with Edwin Diaz on the mound? It wasn’t the late nineties, but it seems that way. Ever since Christopher Morel took a Diaz fastball and deposited it over the Great Wall of Flushing, Diaz has looked anything but the most dominant closer in the game.
Last night, he blew his second save in a week to the Phillies. A Diaz entrance into the game used to strike fear into the opposition; now it looks like the Koby Clemens of the world have complete confidence in their ability to beat him at any given moment.
The Mets survived the implosion, barely, but add Diaz to the list of core stars who are having years significantly below expectations. Should everyone be surprised? In theory, yes, but there have been obvious warning signs of a problem with Diaz since his first regular-season appearance against Milwaukee.
The trends have been well documented: reduced fastball velocity, command issues, hanging sliders, and now a look of busted confidence that has appeared during his Philly meltdowns.
There doesn’t seem to be panic among the Mets brass; even David Stearns has gone public saying his velocity is not a concern, but it might be time to give Diaz a break from the high-leverage ninth inning and rebuild him a bit.
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