Whither Edwin Diaz?

[seawolf17]

I am firmly on Team Edwin 2020.



Get him across the tri-state area on a goodwill tour this winter. Bring some mentoring Puerto Rican players to help him out - Beltran, Delgado, Feliciano, whoever. (Fonzie's Venezuelan, but him too.) Get him signing autographs at every mall from Smithtown to Parsippany. Send him up to the Syracuse and Binghamton Winter Carnivals. Have him play an elf for Santa Nimmo. Film silly commercials hanging with Keith in the Hampies. Make us love this guy.



Because you're not going to get anywhere near value.

[Centerfield]

Teach him how to throw a changeup. Any third pitch really. Just to mix it up.



I think the ball goes back to normal and he dominates next year.

[seawolf17]

=Centerfield post_id=23078 time=1569552309 user_id=65]
I think the ball goes back to normal and he dominates next year.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I pointed this out when we got him but his most similar was Hector Noesi, I think, who also has 1 outstanding season as a young reliever. He easily could have had his best days already.

[Edgy MD]

On the other hand, his K/IP numbers were off the chart — third best in all of baseball this year, among folks with at least 30 innings pitched. That certainly suggests the stuff is still all there (which supports my eyeball assessment). But the control and sequence and philosophy and confidence haven't been.

[Lefty Specialist]

I'm not sure what you do to fix him, but perhaps getting him to throw fewer meatballs down the middle of the plate might be a start. Is Rick Petersen available?



Seriously, though, trading him now would be beyond stupid. You'd get nothing for him. You have to hope he fixes what's wrong.

[seawolf17]

Diaz's pitching coach in Seattle: Mel Stottlemyre Jr.

[RealityChuck]

The problem was mostly that he had some spectacular failures, but in between, pitched just fine. It's a matter of tweaking what went wrong. Trading him will get you nothing, and it's quite likely he will go back to his previous form with a little fine tuning.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think he's got to be one of the season's goats. (I can picture a Bill Gallo drawing of him under goat's horns.) I bet if we tallied up the games that the Mets lost because he blew a lead and turned half of them, or maybe even a third of them, from losses to wins the Mets would be preparing for the postseason right now.

[Ceetar]

find out what's happening with the ball next year.



Because Edwin Diaz is very very very good.



It's seemingly all the slider. It's harder to throw with this ball which leads to more meatballs and more complete misses/walks.



It's hard to know how much of the damage as a result of the slider is natural, or bad luck, or whatever. It seems like a lot of those probably should've just been long fly outs or doubles. Hell, even a fraction of an inch more break or movement and they are.



You don't trade a guy under control that strikes out nearly 40% of every batter he sees. That's absurd. Especially if you're trading low.

[Vic Sage]

somebody teach this guy a changeup.

[Edgy MD]

I agree that a changeup or a splitter would be great.



But sure, stay with him. He may have shat the bed, but until you can say, "Yeah, I've got seven better relievers," what is there to talk about?



I mean, maybe they get offered a similarly talented catcher or something — young, controllable, and megatalented, coming off a disastrous year, and they can talk about a problem swap but you can't bank on that.



But if you're in the trading game, there's always someone out there who you see as fair value. You just have to get the other team to see it that way. For what it's worth, Van Wangenen's most successful trade from last offseason was picking up a https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/davisjd01.shtmlplayer who was young, controllable and megatalented coming off a disastrous year (YCaM CoaDY), so somebody in the organization seemingly knows how to scout for that sort.

[Frayed Knot]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I pointed this out when we got him but his most similar was Hector Noesi, I think, who also has 1 outstanding season as a young reliever. He easily could have had his best days already.

Not sure where Noesi is coming from since his best season contained a 4.50 ERA (96 ERA+) and never had anything as good as even that again.

And Diaz didn't merely have a good season, he had two good years and one Great one [ERA+ = 146, 128, 208] all in his first three seasons and all by age 24



Look, he may very well never see the likes of 2018 again but there was no reason to suspect anything like what we've just seen.

And I have no idea if Tracky is actually quoting someone in the front office when he advances the 'can't handle NYC' thing but I sure as fuck hope no one there

is actually dumb enough to fall into that trap. That's 'pass-the-blame' loser talk.



He's young, he's talented, and (as pointed out) not ALL of his indicators headed into the toilet even as the year as a whole could scarcely have been more of a disaster.

Maybe it's the ball (affecting the slider), or it could be fucking sunspots for all I know. But I see no upside in trading him this winter and potentially a lot in sticking.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: And I have no idea if Tracky is actually quoting someone in the front office when he advances the 'can't handle NYC' thing but I sure as fuck hope no one there is actually dumb enough to fall into that trap. That's 'pass-the-blame' loser talk.

I adored the talk with Hubie Brooks today and so did Keith and Ronnie, but it wasn't the easiest of interviews, as Hubie had been out of the game so long he didn't seem to have a knack for keeping a conversation going on the air. Keith asked him if, as a West Coast guy, it was difficult to play on the East Coast. Hubie let about three awkward beats go, and he answered, "No ... I mean, why would it? I was just happy to be playing baseball."



Keith's face seemed a little embarassed and a little playful, sort of like implying, "Sorry, Hube, it's just my job to sit here and ask stupid cliched questions."

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Sorry not Noesi but Netfali Feliz

[smg58]

I think we're all in agreement that there is no point in simply dumping him. You have to hope he can fix his slider, and I agree with those of you who said that a third pitch wouldn't hurt. So hold on to him, but be proactive and don't just hope his issues go away on their own.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

One thing I learned reading Tyler Kepners book was how difficult it is to develop a changeup. Some guys just can't, and even guys with good ones take years to get them right.



I'm more pessimistic about Diaz than most of you but agree the Mets don't have any choice but to hope he improves his results. I think he's going to cost Mickey his job and the most likely storyline going into next year will be how the new manager will make him better

[G-Fafif]

Edgy MD wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: And I have no idea if Tracky is actually quoting someone in the front office when he advances the 'can't handle NYC' thing but I sure as fuck hope no one there is actually dumb enough to fall into that trap. That's 'pass-the-blame' loser talk. I adored the talk with Hubie Brooks today and so did Keith and Ronnie, but it wasn't the easiest of interviews, as Hubie had been out of the game so long he didn't seem to have a knack for keeping a conversation going on the air. Keith asked him if, as a West Coast guy, it was difficult to play on the East Coast. Hubie let about three awkward beats go, and he answered, "No ... I mean, why would it? I was just happy to be playing baseball." Keith's face seemed a little embarassed and a little playful, sort of like implying, "Sorry, Hube, it's just my job to sit here and ask stupid cliched questions."

That was Ronnie's question, as he is the one who sometimes defaults into ex-jock broadcaster mode, whereas Keith only Keiths.

[Edgy MD]

I really thought that was Keith. I thought it odd, since Keith is from The Bay Area. But here I am with egg on my face, or "huevos on my cara" as Keith might say.

[MFS62]

Yes. Diaz withered.

Maybe he can grow again in the Spring.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

A 1-2-3 inning for Diaz ... HE'S FIXED!!!!!