N.Y. Mets: Ongoing Ninth Inning Fire Rages On

From the desk of: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

WILL THE METS REAL FIREMAN PLEASE STEP UP

One strike away from their second straight victory to begin the season, and ...

 ( ( ( (    POOF!  ) ) ) )

... another Edwin Diaz pitch irretrievably disappears over the fence.

Manager Rojas spends the lead-up making timely substitutions and smartly reconfiguring his defense.  In fact, the freshman Rojas sets the stage rather well.  Starter Steven Matz exits on the winning side of a 2-1 contest after six innings and 93 pitches thrown, with 58 (62%) going for strikes.  After which the trio of Jeurys Familia, Dellin Betances, and Justin Wilson, join together for two scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and fanning a pair.

Enter Edwin Diaz; it's the ninth inning.  With two outs and the Mets clinging to a slim 2-1 lead, he gets two strikes on Atlanta designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.  Then comes the fatal pitch, belt high and flat, on the outside portion of the plate, just begging to be hit the other way by a right handed batter.  And Ozuna does just that, sending Diaz' offering high beyond the reach of Michael Conforto, and over the right field fence - game tied.  The Mets eventually lose in the tenth inning, but the damage is already done (MLB's new extra inning rules be damned).

Diaz last year pitches 58 innings and yields fifteen home runs all in the ninth inning, which sets a new MLB record previously established by Francisco Rodriguez.  Now with the 2020 season underway, Edwin appears in each of the Mets first two games.  Therefore, since arriving at Flushing he has now pitched 60 innings, surrendered sixteen home runs, all in the ninth inning.  It bears repeating: eight blown saves; seven losses, sixteen home runs allowed in just 60 innings pitched, with a 5.37 ERA and 1.379 WHiP, over 68 overall appearances as a Met.  Edwin Diaz is 26-years old and a veteran of four full major league seasons, during which he's averaged 67 innings per season.  Therefore, his arm is far from approaching its expiration date.  His 103 strikeouts and 15.4 K/9 average are perhaps his best and only defense.  He strikes out two on Opening Day, and strikes out two more on Saturday before his run in with Ozuna.  But what good is that?

Granted this is only game two of the season, but - and it's a big but - there remains only 58 games left to play.  Therefore, one must question how much longer can the Mets afford to hand over ninth inning responsibilities to a consistently ineffective Edwin Diaz.

FIREMAN WANTED: INQUIRE WITHIN

In this compromised 60-game season, time is of the essence.  The responsibility of rethinking the ninth inning now falls on Luis Rojas.  Hunter Strickland raised some eyebrows during Summer Camp, but on Saturday had fans watching at home turning and looking the other way.  He incurs the loss upon yielding three runs, two earned, in just one-third of an inning pitched.  But the likes of Seth Lugo, Jeurys Familia, Justin Wilson, Dellin Betances, along with Edwin Diaz, should perhaps begin taking on a greater collective role insofar as closing out the ninth inning.

Steven Matz is the overlooked victim in all this.  He allows just one earned run on a mere two hits with one walk, and seven strikeouts, but for all his efforts unfortunately walks away with a no decision.