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New York Mets: What’s going on with Edwin Diaz?

By Adam MacKinnon

FLUSHING, NY - AUGUST 05: Edwin Diaz #39 of the New York Mets returns to the dugout after a game between the Miami Marlins and the New York Mets at Citi Field on Monday, August 5, 2019 in Flushing, New York. (Photo by Lizzy Barrett/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
FLUSHING, NY - AUGUST 05: Edwin Diaz #39 of the New York Mets returns to the dugout after a game between the Miami Marlins and the New York Mets at Citi Field on Monday, August 5, 2019 in Flushing, New York. (Photo by Lizzy Barrett/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

After dominating the 2018 MLB season with the Seattle Mariners, New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz has been absolutely atrocious in 2019. What gives?

What a difference a year makes.  While with the Seattle Mariners in 2018, New York Mets RP Edwin Diaz was lights out.

I mean, the type of year that if my life depended on one inning of baseball, there’s a good chance I’m handing the ball to the Diaz to get me out of whatever ridiculous jam I was in.

Anytime you can post an ERA + over 200 for a season, that’s… that’s really good.

2019 Edwin Diaz?  I don’t think I’d bet my lunch money on him.

So what happened?

There are wide splits, then there are disparities that will give you whiplash.  According to Baseball Savant, Diaz ranks in the 98th percentile in strikeout percentage, but in the THIRD percentile for hard-hit percentage.

To put it in perspective, his hard-hit rate last season was 35.3%, compared to this season, where it has ballooned to 46.1%.  What it boils down to, is that when Edwin Diaz is on the mound, if you’re not walking to the dugout, you’re trotting around the bases.

It doesn’t take a whole lot of analysis to realize that this is not exactly the best formula for a pitcher who has a specific role on the team, and often only gets one inning to complete that task.  The mistakes are magnified.

Edwin Diaz’s Defensive Help went from Mediocre to Terrible

A good defense is a pitchers best friend.  A bad defense is someone you hung out with once, but probably wouldn’t again.  The Mets defense is the friend that dashes out the back door when the check comes and you’re in the bathroom.

It puts a lot of pressure on a pitcher when they’re unsure about how the players behind them can handle the ball, and New York has struggled in that department, owning one of the worst defenses in all of baseball, compared to a middle of the road team that Diaz had behind him in Seattle.

While the evidence suggests this hasn’t affected his pitch selection per se, one could easily argue that it does correlate to his approach, using his fastball much more often in 2 strike counts as opposed to his slider.

Take all that into account as things he can control.  Of course there’s one thing that he can’t…

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