MIAMI — The Mets have a big headache in Edwin Diaz.
Never mind that the All-Star closer is far from his 2022 peak, but suddenly his reliability to finish games is questionable.
After squandering back-to-back save chances against the Phillies, the right-hander was given a no-save situation on Saturday, and in the 10th inning of overtime, Otto Lopez’s RBI single against Jorge Lopez brought the Mets within 10-10. Until then, they had allowed four goals to tie the game. 9 losses to the Marlins at Lawndepot Park.
After scoring on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s RBI in the first inning, the Marlins tied the score at 9-9 with Diaz in the 9th inning on Josh Bell’s three-run homer to center field.
Diaz had only one out in the first inning, giving up four runs on four hits, but missed last year to rehabilitate from surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in his right knee, and this season he appeared in 18 games with a low ERA. It was 5.50.
Diaz tore his tendon while celebrating on the same field as Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic.
After speaking to reporters on Saturday, an emotional Diaz cried as he was comforted by Francisco Lindor at his locker.
“I’m not confident right now,” Diaz said. “I’m pitching and throwing strikes. I’m doing my best to help the team win, but I’m not up to my ability at the moment.”
The Mets suffered their second straight loss to a team that started the day with the worst record in MLB.
Coach Carlos Mendoza’s next big decision will be whether to keep Diaz in the closer role or move an option like Reed Garrett or Adam Ottavino to the closer position.
“This is one of those games where I have to talk to the coaching staff and I have to talk to Edwin,” Mendoza said. “Whether or not we want to find more soft spots to cheer him up…he’s still our closer and he’ll get through it. He’s too much to suffer for too long. He’s also an excellent pitcher.”
Diaz’s problem so far has been with his fastball.
Mendoza noted that Diaz hit 99 mph with a four-seam fastball that day, and his slider was “flying all over the place.”
Bell dove for a slider on his first pitch and drove it 428 feet into the shrubbery behind the center field fence.
“I thought he didn’t hit that hard,” Diaz said. “But the ball kept flying.”
Diaz has allowed five home runs in 18 innings this season.
That includes Monday when he surrendered to Bryson Stott in the ninth inning before the Mets lost in overtime to the Phillies.
“When one of the best closers in the game is going through what he’s going through, it comes down to the confidence level,” Mendoza said. “I know he’s putting pressure on himself right now because he’s not getting results, but we’ll continue to work with him to get through this.”
On a day when Lindor and Brandon Nimmo swapped batting orders, perhaps the most notable performance came from Jeff McNeil. He had a rare multi-hit game and even had a stolen base for the Mets.
McNeil was in a slump with an OPS of .614, but he reached base three times as part of the team’s 15-hit attack, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
All of the Mets’ starters had at least one hit except Lindor (0-for-5), who moved to the leadoff spot and Nimmo to No. 3.
McNeil is 3-for-26 (.115 batting average) over the past eight games.
On Saturday, he contributed to the scoring in the fourth and fifth innings.
Luis Severino pitched in the seventh inning, got two outs in the final frame, and was then replaced by Reid Garrett.
Severino allowed 5 runs on 6 hits, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts on this day, showing the highest intensity of the season with an average speed of 96.6 mph with his four-seam fastball.
The Marlins chased Severino in the seventh inning with Lopez’s RBI double and Chisholm’s scoring hit.
Garrett came on and had two hits, including an RBI single by Bell that cut the Mets’ lead to 7-5.
J.D. Martinez and Starling Marte each hit RBI doubles in the ninth inning, giving the Mets four runs, but it wasn’t enough for Diaz.
“Usually we’re happy here and we’re having a good time,” Severino said. “But in games like this we have to reflect on what we did and try to be better.”
