Jerry: Mets have 'no chance' to make playoffs if Edwin Diaz isn't reliable

Jerry believes the Mets are a solid team in 2024, but he has a hard time believing that they will get over the hump and reach the playoffs if Edwin Diaz is unable to do his job in the back end of the bullpen.

“The thing that really irks me watching them, when you go back to April and the early part of May,” Jerry said. “And then you look at Sunday’s loss where Diaz gives up the lead...and they were four or five outs away from taking three of four from the team that has played the best baseball since the All-Star break. It was a wasted opportunity by the bullpen and a by a guy that they have to have be the best version of himself to get to the postseason.

“Then they go out and win a game in Arizona and stop their six-game winning streak...and then the eighth inning [on Wednesday] happens, and the bullpen does it again.”

Diaz coughed up a big game for the second time in a row, this time allowing a grand slam in Wednesday’s loss to the Diamondbacks, lasting just 0.1 innings and raising his season ERA to 4.30. this comes after Diaz took the loss in a 3-2 defeat against the Padres just days before, as the Mets have dropped two games to teams they are chasing in the Wild Card hunt that could, and arguably should, have been wins.

“I’m not saying he’s not ready, but it’s almost as if he’s not ready to throw a strike,” Jerry said. “You’re sitting here saying, ‘What in the hell just happened?’

“These two losses, if you’re gonna catch up to teams like the Braves...it can’t happen. When the one guy you really relied on to start the season falters, you have no chance.”