Edwin Diaz Out for Season Mets Will Be Without All-Star Closer After WBC Injury

By Dylan Flynn

On Tuesday, March 21, the fifth World Baseball Classic (WBC) reached its conclusion with Japan capturing its third title in a 3-2 victory over the United States.

The tournament lasted two weeks, and may have been the most entertaining installment to date. So many heroes and twists and dramatic moments, all while showcasing some of the best players in the world representing their homelands.

Even through all the good and growth the WBC brought to baseball, some fans are still trying to find the bad in all of it.

One of the shocks of the tournament was Puerto Rico defeating a stacked Dominican Republic lineup to knock them out and send Puerto Rico on to the knockout stage.

Following the dramatic win, the Puerto Rican team celebrated on the field with their closer and Mets pitcher, Edwin Diaz. In the celebration, Diaz was hurt and had to be taken off the field in a wheelchair.

It was later revealed that Diaz tore the patellar tendon in his right knee and would miss the entire 2023 season.

After a dominating season last year as the Met closer, collecting 32 saves in 61 games with a 1.31 ERA and 118 strikeouts, this is certainly a big blow to the Mets. Bullpen stability has always been a problem, and just when it seemed they’d found it, it was ripped away from them.

Fortunately, the Mets signed David Robertson in the offseason to add some depth and he will now likely step into the closer role. Last season, Robertson went 4-3, collecting 20 saves and 81 strikeouts to go along with a 2.40 ERA for the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies.

On top of that, Robertson has proven he can pitch in New York, from his time with the Yankees from 2008-14 and then again from 17-18.

No, he is not Diaz, but he is serviceable. And, fortunately for the Mets, with a week to go until Opening Day, it seems the rest of their big-time players have clean bills of health.

They did receive a scare when a day after Diaz, Brandon Nimmo was slow to get up after an awkward slide into second base in a spring training game. Nimmo suffered an ankle and knee sprain, but the Mets are hopeful he’ll be ready to go for Opening Day.

The Nimmo injury shows that injuries can happen at any time. Fans want to try and take away from the WBC, saying nothing good is coming of it, and that players are putting themselves at unnecessary risk.

However, the WBC games were some of the most watched games in the history of the sport. Every game in Miami during the knockout stage was sold out. In the last at bat of the tournament, when arguably the best players in baseball, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, squared off, over 97% of TVs in Japan were tuned in to watch.

In a pool play game, Japan faced off against Korea and achieved 70 million viewers, shattering the viewership record for MLB, which was 50 million during the 1980 World Series.

The emotions were high, the passion was real, and the baseball was great. Yes, the injuries are unfortunate, but they can happen anywhere.

The mission of MLB has become to grow the game. The game of baseball has never grown more than it did over the course of the past two weeks.