The New York Mets quietly demoted Edwin Diaz from his bullpen role, instead opting for a closer-by-committee approach while the struggling right-hander regains his confidence.
Diaz’s role was described as “fluid” prior to Sunday’s game against the Miami Marlins, a game the Mets won 7-3. He did not appear in the game after blowing a four-run lead in the ninth inning on Saturday, a 10-9 loss in 10 innings to the Marlins.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza rode Reed Garrett for a six-out save Sunday afternoon. Garrett is expected to be part of the Mets’ end-of-game solution along with Jake Diekman, Jorge Lopez and Adam Ottavino in the interim.
After Sunday’s game, Mendoza said the Mets’ closer situation will be “one day at a time and put guys in position to have success. We’ll mix and match and see what we got.”
Prior to Sunday’s game, Mendoza said the Mets’ “job is to put (Diaz) in situations where we feel like he’s going to have success.”
“Right now, he’s going through it, he’s going through a rough stretch. Our job is to get him back on track. He’ll do whatever it takes to help this team win a baseball game, whether that’s pitching in the seventh, the eighth, the ninth, whenever that is, losing or winning,” Mendoza told reporters.
Diaz has blown leads in three straight games. Two of those were save opportunities while Saturday was not a save situation, given the Mets’ four-run lead when he entered in the ninth inning.
He’s converted only five of his eight save opportunities, allowing 11 earned runs in 18 innings for a 5.50 ERA.
Diaz missed all of the 2023 season after suffering a knee injury in the World Baseball Classic. He posted 32 saves in both 2021 and 2022.
He is 17-30 lifetime with a 3.04 ERA and 210 saves in 422 relief appearances for the Seattle Mariners (2016-18) and Mets. Diaz signed a five-year, $102 million deal in November 2022.
–Field Level Media