The New York Mets brought in closer Edwin Diaz last offseason believing that he would be a lockdown closer for the team, but that simply hasn’t happened before.
Diaz was dominant for the Seattle Mariners in 2018, posting a 1.96 ERA with a league-leading 57 saves. This season, his ERA is 4.94, and he has already blown as many saves before the end of June as he did in all of 2018.
Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jean Segura played with Diaz for two seasons with the Seattle Mariners, and it was his three-run home run that walked off Diaz and the Mets on Thursday. After that game, Segura openly wondered if the environment of New York offered too many distractions for Diaz.
Interesting comment here from Jean Segura, Edwin Diaz's old teammate in Seattle who hit the walk-off homer yesterday, on Diaz's struggles (via @MattGelb): pic.twitter.com/qCRETmEOF0
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) June 28, 2019
Segura knows Diaz, so it’s worth wondering if he thinks Diaz would be particularly susceptible to an environment like New York. His peripheral numbers aren’t bad, but he’s giving up a lot more hits and home runs than last season.
Diaz’s struggles are a subplot in what has quickly devolved into a very chaotic Mets season. The door is open to debate why a once-dominant closer is having such huge issues now.
