New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz appeared to pick up a leg injury on the field during celebrations after Puerto Rico’s win following an upset of the World Baseball Classic against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday. Díaz, who ended the win that sent Puerto Rico into the quarterfinals, was helped off the field and didn’t appear to be putting much strain on his right leg.
Yadier Molina, who manages Puerto Rico during this tournament, said Díaz was still undergoing tests when speaking to reporters a 5-2 post-game win that eliminated the tournament favourites.
Here’s a look at the incident in question:
Díaz’ brother Alexis – a pitcher for the Reds and teammate from Puerto Rico – was in tears after the injury.
Díaz, 29, signed on March 22 a five-year deal worth $102 million last offseason. He comes off a historic season in which he had a 1.31 ERA (297 ERA+) and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.56 in 62 innings. He also finished with 32 saves over the course of 61 appearances.
Major League Baseball players participating in the WBC must be insured. The inability to obtain insurance has at times forced players to withdraw from the tournament. For example, Los Angeles Dodgers leftist Clayton Kershaw was reportedly one such case earlier this spring.
Should Díaz’s injury prove serious, he wouldn’t be the first player to miss significant time from the WBC following his injury. Drew Smyly missed all of the 2017 season and most of the 2018 season after suffering an injury with Team USA. It should be noted that participation in the WBC does not necessarily increase a player’s likelihood of injury.
In fact, The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh collated the numbers in 2017 and stated: “The evidence of an injury effect is not strong enough to justify excluding players from participation, especially when a packed tournament is so much fun for fans — and potentially beneficial to baseball over the long term, which in turn enriches teams.
As for the Mets, if Díaz missed at least the start of the season, they would reportedly go to a committee approach that included a rotating cast of characters in the ninth inning. The Mets retained Adam Ottavino and added David Robertson over the winter. They also took on Brooks Raley, although he is struggling with his own injury issues that have forced him to retire from Team USA.