Met Meltdown

Mike Francesa called it a “rocking-chair save.” And that’s what it should have been for the Mets. A can of corn, a layup, a day at the beach, fish in a barrel—whatever tired cliché fits your literary fancy. But nothing’s been easy for Edwin Diaz this year and Thursday’s late-inning stare-down with the Phillies was no exception.
Let’s not mince words here. Calling the Mets a dumpster fire is far too gentle. “Dumpster fire” left the station about five stops ago. In their quest for rock bottom and whatever misery lies underneath that final layer of baseball nothingness, the Mets have blazed a new trail of failure littered with blown leads, bullpen breakdowns, front-office unrest and locker-room blowups. It’s been one nightmare after another in Flushing and Diaz—who New York acquired for an arm and a leg this offseason—has had his fingerprints all over the Mets’ sinking ship.
Coming off four straight losses—a streak that began Sunday at Wrigley Field when Seth Lugo took Jacob deGrom’s six innings of hard work and flushed it down the toilet—the drowning Mets needed a life jacket and Todd Frazier threw them one with a ninth-inning mic drop. Facing a 1-0 deficit in hostile territory, Frazier pounced on a belt-high fastball from Phillies closer Hector Neris and launched it into the left-field seats for a two-run homer, giving the Mets their first lead of the afternoon. After adding an insurance run to go ahead by two, the stage was set for Diaz—a cannon-armed 25-year-old who racked up 57 saves as a Seattle Mariner last season—to finally put a stop to New York’s losing ways.
But what would be the fun in that? When New York fell to the Cubs on Sunday afternoon (a letdown that ended with Jason Vargas having to be separated from one of the team’s beat reporters inside the clubhouse), manager Mickey Callaway was raked over the coals by media and fans alike for hanging an overworked Lugo out to dry while Diaz watched it all unfold from his cushy seat in the Mets’ bullpen. After New York traded what was left of the team’s dwindling prospect base for Diaz and Robinson Cano’s Alcatraz of a contract, the least Callaway could do is actually use his closer in high-leverage situations, or so the thinking went.


That’s a fine working theory but the truth is, Diaz hasn’t been the same pitcher since leaving the Pacific Northwest. He’s still been getting swings and misses (50 Ks over 31 innings this year), but when it came to hitting his spots Thursday, Diaz couldn’t deliver. Tasked with silencing the bottom third of the Phillies’ order, New York’s late-inning gatekeeper began the frame by issuing a leadoff walk to Cesar Hernandez. Maikel Franco, who committed a costly error just minutes earlier, redeemed himself with one mighty swing, cementing his Mets killer status with a towering two-run homer to left center, knotting the game at three. Diaz tried to stop the bleeding but couldn’t, dialing the self-destruct-meter up to a 10 by putting runners on first and second with only one out. That’s when Jean Segura decided to put the Mets out of their misery, capping the Phillies’ four-game sweep with a walk-off homer to left field.
Thursday’s matinee could have been a turning point for the Mets. Frazier’s go-ahead blast (which came courtesy of a similarly flawed Phillies bullpen) had potential to be the perfect rallying cry for the Mets, a symbol of hope and resiliency amid mounting struggles. But Diaz, the ringleader of New York’s bullpen buffoonery, couldn’t rise above the Mets’ aura of hopelessness, wasting Frazier’s heroics the same way New York has squandered breakout seasons from Jeff McNeil (second-highest average in the majors) and Rookie of the Year front-runner Pete Alonso (second-most homers in MLB). Diaz’s seismic fall from grace illustrates the fragile nature and alarmingly short shelf life of even our most trusted ninth-inning arms and why unloading prospects to acquire one (unless his name is Mariano Rivera) is usually a bad idea. The Mets made their bed with Diaz (13.00 ERA, .425 BAA, three blown saves in his last nine outings) and now it’s time for them to lie in it.
Diaz has been an unquestioned bust and another strike against clueless GM Brodie Van Wagenen, but he’s far from the Mets’ only shortcoming. The ex-Mariner is just one ingredient in the Mets’ disaster stew as New York’s bullpen has compiled an inexcusable 7.96 ERA in the month of June, the worst in baseball by a country mile. New York has blown a two-run lead in each of its last five losses and Diaz, who has only logged three appearances in the last 12 days, was only on the mound for one of those. Remarkably, the Mets have actually blown more saves (a league-high 20) than they’ve converted (18). Jeurys Familia, who New York chose to bring back on a ludicrous three-year, $30 million deal this offseason, has been a horror show in setup duty, faltering to a 7.81 ERA over 29 largely disastrous outings.

Must be something in the drinking water in New York.

And that’s just the bullpen! Look around. Disappointment is everywhere. Cano's return to the Big Apple has been a bigger flop than either of The Hangover sequels while Jed Lowrie, an injury-prone 35-year-old inexplicably netting a $10 million salary, has yet to play an inning in Queens. Playing poorly isn’t a crime (or else the Orioles and Tigers would be doing hard time) but there’s a way to handle that frustration with grace. That email must have gone straight to the Mets’ spam folder. As if Sunday’s clubhouse incident at Wrigley wasn’t enough of a fiasco, Callaway somehow made things worse by butchering his first apology (his second try was only a marginal improvement), which was still better than the callous, non-apology issued by Vargas, who, while smacking gum and sporting a backwards cap, said he was only sorry for the “distraction” he created. Heartwarming stuff, Jason.
As bad as this stretch has been, New York isn’t buried yet. The Mets do have talent (Alonso, McNeil, deGrom, Noah Syndergaard) and, even with all their missteps, they remain only 6.5 games back of the Brewers and Phillies in the NL Wild Card. The real question is, do they have any fight left? After seeing Diaz take all the air out of the room Thursday, I’m not so sure.

Big Paul

AL Quick Hits: The people have spoken and Hunter Pence is their choice. He’ll represent the American League as the starting DH at next month’s All-Star Game in Cleveland. For Pence, this will be his fourth All-Star appearance overall and first since 2014. Gary Sanchez, Carlos Santana, DJ LeMahieu, Jorge Polanco, Alex Bregman, Mike Trout, George Springer and Michael Brantley were also voted in as starters in the American League. … Yankees GM Brian Cashman doesn’t anticipate having Giancarlo Stanton back until August. The former MVP landed on the injured list with a sprained PCL earlier this week. Injuries have limited Stanton to just nine games this season. … The White Sox are expected to designate Yonder Alonso for assignment on Friday. The one-time All-Star hasn’t hit a lick this season, batting an ugly .178 with just seven homers and 27 RBI in 219 at-bats for the Pale Hose. Whoever he plays for next will be his sixth team in a five-year span. … Former fourth overall pick Brendan McKay will debut for the Rays Saturday against Texas. Rated as MLB.com’s No. 23 prospect, the former Louisville standout has pitched to a dominant 1.22 ERA in 13 appearances (11 starts) between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham this season. He’s also been a force offensively, slashing .265/.400/.551 with four homers and 10 RBI over 49 Triple-A at-bats. … Kevin Kiermaier was a spectator for most of Thursday’s win over Minnesota, exiting with right calf tightness just two innings into an 18-inning marathon at Target Field. Despite his injury, the Rays center-fielder is confident he won’t miss more than one game. … Yordan Alvarez made an early departure Thursday versus Pittsburgh, exiting with left knee discomfort in the fourth inning. Manager A.J. Hinch called his removal precautionary, though the rookie is unlikely to suit up Friday when the Astros host the Mariners at Minute Maid Park. … Spencer Turnbull made it through just two innings Thursday, bowing out with shoulder fatigue in a loss to Texas. The right-hander experienced a steep drop-off in velocity, which alerted the Tigers to his injury. Luckily his MRI ruled out any structural damage. … It didn’t take long for Trevor Rosenthal to find a new home. He landed with the Tigers on a minor-league deal just four days after being cut loose by Washington. The former closer has much to prove after posting an embarrassing 22.74 ERA during his brief stint in the nation’s capital … Andrelton Simmons was back in uniform Thursday night, going 1-for-4 with a single as the Angels topped Oakland 8-3. It took the Gold Glove shortstop about five weeks to recover from a sprained ankle. … Blake Treinen completed 20 pitches off flat ground Thursday and hopes to throw a bullpen session later this weekend. A strained shoulder has shelved the A’s closer since last week.

Yelich as in Relish

NL Quick Hits: Reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich was the National League’s leading vote-getter in All-Star voting. He’ll start alongside Willson Contreras, Freddie Freeman, Ketel Marte, Javier Baez, Nolan Arenado, Cody Bellinger and Ronald Acuna in the Mid-Summer Classic slated for July 9 at Progressive Field. … Thursday brought a shakeup to the Brewers’ infield as Milwaukee made room for top prospect Keston Hiura by demoting Travis Shaw to Triple-A. Shaw was hitting just .164 for Milwaukee with six homers and 69 strikeouts in 183 at-bats. The Brewers also pulled the plug on utility man Hernan Perez, designating him for assignment. … Craig Kimbrel got a rousing ovation in his Cubs debut Thursday at Wrigley Field. The All-Star closer looked rusty in his return to the mound (1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 R), but still did enough to earn the save as Chicago eked out a 9-7 win over his former club, the Atlanta Braves. … Speaking Thursday, Cubs skipper Joe Maddon didn’t rule out the possibility of Kyle Hendricks returning prior to the All-Star break. A shoulder impingement has sidelined the right-hander for the past couple of weeks. … The Dodgers kept the engine rolling Thursday with another win over the Rockies, beating them for the 12th straight time. Los Angeles slugged six homers in the victory including two by Max Muncy, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI as the Dodgers stretched their lead in the division to a commanding 13 games. … Rockies rookie Peter Lambert continued his torrid start at the plate with another hit Thursday night, running his season average to an even .600 (6-for-10). However, he didn’t fair nearly as well on the mound, surrendering nine hits and five runs over 4 2/3 lackluster innings while seeing his ERA skyrocket from 5.85 to an even bleaker 6.57. … Rockies manager Bud Black confirmed Thursday that Trevor Story won’t be activated when first eligible next week. Story is still nursing a sprained thumb he suffered earlier this month. When the time comes, the ace shortstop will likely need 2-3 rehab games in the minors before he’s summoned to Colorado.

Story