SOME GUYS WERE JUST BORN AT THE WRONG TIME
Edwin Diaz is an absolute strikeout freak.
Edwin, we can't deny it.
You win.
But the definition for success as a closer is simple:
Not blowing saves.
At that, you really blow all right.
Figure something out - fast.
Or forget closing forever.
You may have just blow up another Mets season.
Like you - yes, you - did in 2019.
Your timing is impeccable.
In those ultra-critical moments, you allow more long balls than a groovy BP pitcher.
You make every one of those hitters look like Barry Bonds.
Bewildering...jaw dropping.
Figure something out fast.
Understand this, please....
You pitch in an era where 2 to 3 times as many homers are hit than in, say, 1980.
Guys are much bigger, stronger, and home run focused.
What you could have gotten away with in 1980 you can't now.
Learn and adjust - or leave - or forever relinquish your closer role.
Because what you are doing is abysmal.
Season-killing.
I want Lugo back as reliever. He is not going long as a starter. We need him more in the pen then rotation, At the present time we have plenty of starters, deGrom, Porcello, Wacha, Peterson, Gsellman, Kilome and if we want to try Smith or Szapucki we have them.
ReplyDeleteWith Diaz showing yesterday I think Rojas has to rethink the situation. If he wants the manager’s job next season he is going to have to show that he makes good decisions not to lose a 5 run lead with three outs to go. He needs to pull a pitcher and even put in Guillorme if he has to. Why not use Kilome or Jurado who he had available?
Yes, he is definitely struggling, but are the hitters really bigger, stronger and more HR-focused than they were in '18?
ReplyDeleteA couple of things.
ReplyDelete1. I think the Mets play a day game today. They better hurry up if they are going to trade anyone.
2. I too would trade Diaz. I am sure there are a multiple amount of teams that would be interested. His K/IP is insane. But his head doesn't fit in a Mets jersey.
3. Every decision I would make during the remainder of this season would be based on what I want my team to look like on opening day 2021. Yes, we have a starter weakness, but we need a capable closer. And mine would be Lugo.
Mack, good points. Bill, back in the 1980 era, for about three seasons, the Mets averaged about 65 homers a season. Almost everyone looked scrawny back then. Check out the weights of those guys. 165, 170, 175. Hicks’ ball in 1980 probably would have been some dude hitting it to the edge of the track.
ReplyDeleteYes, but I referenced '18 in my post, not' 80. And it was in '18 that Diaz dominated. He wasn't close to being born in' 80.
DeleteAgreed, Tom......different era, for sure.
ReplyDeleteHowever, unless we can get ahold of a DeLorean and a flux capacitor, I don't have much hope for "Sugar".
Taking the emotion out of my thoughts, Diaz is simply not getting it done. He is at best a middle reliever going forward and
hopefully someone else seems him as more and deals for him today.
Lugo is a better choice for the ninth inning and he has a much bigger impact on the club in that role, then he does
making a handful of starts the rest of the way.
I agree with Mack but I feel with Cohen hopefully taking over and keeping the team for a long time I feel the Mets need to go slow. They should try and fill out their team with free agents. If top free agents are not on the market they need to be patient and wait. The most important part is they have to develop their minor league system better. Do not trade top prospects. Make good amateur draft picks. Unless things change in the international market, get good scouts and sign good players at an early stage in the development.
ReplyDeleteGood teams in baseball have a good farm system. So if someone gets hurt they can bring someone up who can help out their. The Mets need to do that, without that we will never be a good team. Ever year under the Wilson’s we were doing dumpster diving in the spring looking for agents who might become a diamond in the rough. This never happened.
We presently have a list of players in Brooklyn that was signed in the spring that have not been used in a game. Why keep them around? If we are looking toward next year, dump them and bring up more prospects to develop.
We as Mets always want to win now. I am 73 years old. I am willing to wait. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
John, Edwin still rocks a sensational result as a Met in non-close inning situations as a Met. If he is not traded, don't let him close...period.
ReplyDeleteSet up man? Might be one of the best in baseball.
Bill, as John alluded, Edwin would have to go Back to the Future in a DeLorean to head to 1980 - but he'd find the 1980 hitters far more to his liking because they'd have far less propensity to hit his dreaded long balls.
ReplyDelete