2024 was supposed to be a transition year for the New York Mets.
And it has felt like one, truth be told, as they have a 22-32 record and rank fourth in the NL East division.
Perhaps unexpectedly, they have found a big challenge in an area they thought they had covered: the back of the bullpen.
The Mets have one of the best closers in baseball in Edwin Diaz.
He is returning from knee surgery and didn’t pitch at all in the 2023 season, though.
Perhaps it’s the lack of rhythm, the long inactivity, or a recently discovered right shoulder impingement, but Diaz has a 5.40 ERA in 20 innings this year.
Partly because of that, the Mets lead the league in losses with blown leads after seven innings, per Codify Baseball.
Losses this year in games they led after 7 innings:
9 NYM
8
7
6 DET
5 CHC HOU
4 KC BAL PIT LAA COL CWS
3 SD TOR ARI MIA
2 NYY PHI ATL BOS SF TEX WSH TB
1 CLE LAD MIL MIN STL CIN OAK
0 SEA— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 29, 2024
Now, that implies that the top setup men and the closer have been failing, not just Diaz, but his failures have become more evident in recent games as he has conceded eight earned runs in his last five appearances.
Diaz has blown his last three save opportunities, and hasn’t logged a save since May 6.
Evidently, there is something wrong with him and the Mets discovered what it is exactly: the shoulder injury.
The hope is that he can be back at some point soon after getting healthy and working on other things of his game.
If Diaz is right, the Mets likely won’t lead this particular and unfortunate stat when the season is over.
