Edwin Diaz struggled for the second straight outing on Wednesday night, and once again, it came in a crucial game against a Wild Card team.
Marc Malusis sounded off on the Mets closer’s latest hiccup, and is done hearing about Diaz working through kinks that have apparently plagued him since he returned from his season-ending knee injury in the World Baseball Classic nearly 18 months ago.
“How many times can you hear about mechanics and that he’s falling off to third base and isn’t driving to home plate, or where his landing foot is?” Moose said. “After a while, you say to yourself, ‘Just get the job done.’ Stop hanging a slider to Corbin Carroll.
“I can’t hear about the knee anymore. I can’t hear about the mechanics anymore. You want to tell me that when he first returned this year and missed a year? We’re in August now. Now is the time to get the job done. If it’s a mechanical issue, fix it.”
Moose doesn’t believe Diaz, who surrendered a back-breaking grand slam and recorded just one out on Wednesday, is cooked and that the 2022 season was an outlier. But he doesn’t see how this Mets team can get into the playoffs with how the bullpen looks right now.
“That is a game you have to win,” Moose said. “I’m now supposed to believe? I’m supposed to look at this team and think they’re good enough to overcome the Atlanta Braves?
“The bullpen has destroyed the Mets...when you rally from 4-0 down and take the lead...what makes you think they’re going to play consistently enough to catch Atlanta?”