Once again, the Mets are without their closer.
Edwin Diaz was suspended 10 games by MLB on Monday after being ejected from the Mets’ 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs one night prior at Wrigley Field for his hand being deemed too sticky. Diaz opted not to appeal the suspension, starting it Tuesday when the Mets opened the home half of the Subway Series.
“We’ve got to move on from it,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday at Citi Field. “We don’t want this cloud to be hanging over the team for too long. We decided [it’s] what is best. Obviously, he talked to his people, we talked to him, and we thought it was best that we just move forward, get it over with, and then move on from that.”
There are still lingering questions that remain about Diaz’s ejection. The Mets insist that he was using only rock rosin, sweat and dirt, while umpire Vic Carapazza said it was a foreign substance.
In this case, no one can definitively prove what exactly was on Diaz’s hand. Much like when Max Scherzer and Drew Smith were suspended last year, it’s tough for pitchers to know what the difference is between sticky and too sticky, as well as the difference between what is acceptable rosin use and unacceptable.
It was a hot, humid night in Chicago, and Diaz said he needed more rosin to get a firm grip on the ball, but he maintained that he used nothing different than what he has always used.
“I think it’s the same,” Diaz said Sunday night. “They always check me. They always check me and they let me pitch, but today was harder than early in the season, so I don’t know. They thought it was stickier.”
Diaz told his manager the same thing.
“He had to go to it a lot more than early in the year when it was cold,” Mendoza said. “So maybe that had something to do with it.”
Diaz said he plans to continue using the same trio of legal substances that he has always used. Smith didn’t change anything after his suspension last year. There was no opportunity for him to wash his hands, as other pitchers — including Scherzer — have been allowed. Diaz didn’t ask, but he also wasn’t sure if he was allowed to ask either.
According to SNY’s Andy Martino, umpires offer that option when they find discoloration or tacky substances on the glove or hand. Sticky substances are a different story, and league officials told Martino that sticky is binary.
However, Scherzer washed his hands after getting checked last year and was asked to change his glove. Scherzer’s hand was sticky enough to warrant a warning, which doesn’t seem very binary.
The league’s intention is good, but the execution is flawed. Pitchers complain about the vagueness of the process. Umpires receive training on how to identify the various substances pitchers use, but players feel that some transparency is necessary.
Being unable to properly grip a pitch can cause bad mechanics, which leads to injuries. Even worse, losing the grip on a 99 mph fastball might mean connecting with a hitter’s head.
To be clear, it isn’t every pitcher that is complaining. Yankees closer Clay Holmes doesn’t have an issue with the system.
“I feel like there’s been enough of an introduction period where … your hand’s been checked enough, I guess, where you kind of know the expectations and what your hand should be like,” Homes said Tuesday at Citi Field. “I don’t really know the situation that happened over here with Edwin, but sometimes the games, especially in the summer, get more sweaty. There’s more rosin.”
Ultimately, it’s on the teams to properly communicate and police their pitchers. Diaz became the third Mets pitcher to be suspended for violating the prohibitions on foreign substances, and the sixth in the organization with members of the Triple-A Syracuse Mets (Dylan Bundy, Eric Orze and Jeff Brigham) receiving the same suspensions last season. Mendoza said he has been clear with his players.
“Talking to Edwin, obviously, I’ve got his back,” Mendoza said. “I truly believe what he was telling us. But yeah, we’ve been pretty firm since day one with the rules, and you hate to see it happen. But we’ve got to move on and stop this.”
Entering a crucial part of the season, the Mets will be down a man in the bullpen, with manager Carlos Mendoza intending to go back to a closer-by-committee approach. This is the same approach the Mets used in Diaz’s absence last season when he was out with a knee injury, and earlier this month when he was injured. Pitchers with options will get shuttled back and forth from Syracuse to New York to Washington to Pittsburgh to keep arms fresh.
“We’re going to have to get creative,” Mendoza said. “But it’s one day at a time.”
