A manager, who sometimes seems over his head, made another dubious decision with a familiar face. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Groundhog Day in Metsville, but not funny like the film.
Here’s the final scene. Bottom of the 10th, Edwin Diaz toeing the rubber, one out, gift runner is at third on a sac bunt, first base is wide open, the Marlins marvelous hitting Bryan De La Cruz is due up and the .108 hitting Lewin Diaz is on deck.
If you got a “D” in baseball, what would you instruct your pitcher to do? That’s right, walk the Diaz dude. Well, congratulations! You’re smarter than a major league manager.
On Wednesday night, shades of so many past bonehead moves by Mets managers came back to haunt me – specifically, Terry Collins keeping Matt Harvey on the mound in the ninth. Ow. That one really hurt.
This loss was a big, fat, “I saw this coming” – because that’s one of the storylines for the Mets right now. Diaz is having a tough time in the clutch and manager Luis Rojas is in denial that he’s not.
Putting his fragile pitcher in this position once again was the poorest judgment since, “Cop Rock.” I kid. But it was bad.
Defending his decision, Rojas responded, “We always like Diaz. You always trust your closer right there in a matchup, righty-righty. Diaz’s stuff always plays well.”
No it doesn’t. Not presently.
Rojas is not reading the room. If he wants his righty to recover, put him in when the going isn’t as rough. In the three years he’s been a Met, I don’t know if Diaz can’t hack playing in New York or just has the yips – But I do know – how the ball club is handling him, has to stop.
Luckily for the Mets, their generous brothers from other divisions – the Dodgers and the Brewers – beat the Braves and Phillies. Unfortunately, in the Wild Card picture, the Angels and Dodgers weren’t as kind in putting away the Cards and the Padres.
I don’t know how many more, “At least Atlanta and Philadelphia lost,” I have in me. Maybe instead of “Let’s Go Mets!” the team slogan should read, “Lets Go, Mets!”
