Mets’ Edwin Díaz injured
Patellar tendon tear in right knee likely ends closer’s season
The start of the season can’t come soon enough for teams looking to keep their pitching staffs as healthy as possible.
A tough spring for pitchers continued Thursday with the announcements that New York Mets star closer Edwin Díaz and Washington Nationals prospect Cade Cavalli were expected to miss the entire season.
Díaz tore the patellar tendon in his right knee while celebrating with his Puerto Rico teammates on the field after a World Baseball Classic victory over the Dominican Republic. Cavalli is undergoing Tommy John surgery.
“Edwin Díaz is a great human being and a fierce competitor,” Mets owner Steve Cohen tweeted. “All of us at the Mets are shaken but determined to sustain our quest for a great season. We wish Edwin a speedy recovery.”
Mets general manager Billy Eppler said the recovery timetable for a patellar tendon generally is around eight months.
“There are instances
where athletes have come back earlier, more around the six-month mark,” Eppler told reporters. “But those are a little bit more of the exception than the rule.”
Díaz signed a five-year, $102 million contract — the largest ever for a closer — after going 3-1 with a 1.31 ERA and 32 saves in 35 opportunities while striking out 118 batters in 62 innings last season.
Cavalli exited a spring training start against the Mets after 2⅔ innings on Tuesday.
The Mets announced earlier this week that José Quintana will be out until at least July with a stress
fracture in his rib.
Rules: Major League Baseball is heightening in-game inspections by umpires for banned grip aides, concerned that use of foreign substances by pitchers increased again as time passed from a crackdown begun in June 2021. “Unfortunately, spin rates began to rise again during the 2022 season and we received reports of continued use of foreign substances on the field,” MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill wrote Thursday in a memo. “Umpires have been instructed to increase the frequency and scope of foreign substance checks this year, including randomized checks of fingers (including removal of rings worn on either hand of pitchers), hands, hats, gloves, belts/waistlines, and pants,” Hill said. “Pitchers may be subject to checks before or after innings in which they pitch, and managers may make inspection requests of a pitcher or position player either before or after an at-bat.” Hill sent the memo to owners, CEOS, team presidents, general managers, field managers and all major and minor league players. The memo was first reported by ESPN.
Instant replay:
Umpires will have a new view this season: on Zoom. Major League Baseball struck a deal with Zoom Video Communications Inc. allowing on-field umpires to watch videos being evaluated by the replay operations center during contested calls. MLB first adopted instant replay in September 2008 for home boundary calls and expanded it to a wide variety of decisions for the 2014 season. There were 1,434 video reviews last season that included 1,261 team challenges with 50.2 percent leading to overturned calls. Until now, the on-field crew chief listened to the replay umpire in New York with audio only, joined by the umpire who made the initial call if different from the crew chief. The umps walked over to the side of the field through 2013 to listen on a headset, then from 2014-21 an attendant brought out a headset to the field for them. Last year, umps switched to a wireless belt pack and MLB for the first time allowed then to announce replays and decisions over ballpark public address systems. On-field umps this year will have 12.9-inch ipad Pro tablets brought out to them by a technician. They will be connected to the Zoom contact center and the replay operations center so they can see what replay is being viewed. The replay umpire still gets the final call.