New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz is headed to the injured list after his recent struggles, prompting an array of jokes from Mets fans about one particular bit of their history.
The Mets on Wednesday placed Diaz on the injured list with what the team called a right shoulder impingement. He will miss a minimum of two weeks, and it is unclear if he will miss time beyond that.
A former All-Star, Diaz has been a mess lately. The Mets briefly removed him from the closer’s role, then reinserted him after a weak vote of confidence, only to see him blow another save. In his last six appearances, he has blown three saves and allowed eight runs in 5.1 innings of work.
Mets fans, however, had their own reaction. Recall that former Mets GM Billy Eppler is serving an MLB ban for fabricating injuries, and a lot of fans joked that the current-day Mets are doing the same thing just to get Diaz away from the mound for a while.
Phantom IL is back
— Andrew Livingston (@AndrewLiv) May 29, 2024
“Shoulder impingement” be careful there, Billy Eppler https://t.co/8JxQC2hVtK
— Falch (@Falch57) May 29, 2024
Eppler lives
— Knicks Memes (@KnicksMemes) May 29, 2024
We’ll just have to take the Mets’ word for this one, but people are going to have their suspicions given the context. If Diaz comes back after the minimum IL stint, we’ll probably hear more jokes.
