I gotta tell ya, I was really rooting for Jake Diekman on Wednesday night. More than I was behind Tyrone Taylor when he confounded the left field foul pole for his home run to lead off the third; more than I cheered Mark Vientos making the shrubbery beyond the center field fence at Nationals Park his personal meditation garden in the fourth; more than I applauded Francisco Lindor turning the disappointment of Ben Gamel’s near-home run moot by belting a two-run home run of hiw own with Gamel on second in the fifth; more even than I was delighted to have Christian Scott back in the major league rotation, I was all in on Jake Diekman.
“C’mon, Jake,” I urged, “I know you can do it. I have confidence in you. I BELIEVE in you! Go get ’em, Jake!! You’ve got this!!! This is YOUR moment!!!!”
But, alas, Jake didn’t do what I truly wanted him to do. He did not follow the example his former teammate Jorge Lopez set weeks earlier and he did not fling his glove into the stands in disgust after a terrible outing. I so yearned for Diekman to commit an unprofessional act and thereby compel the management of the New York Mets to designate him for assignment on the spot, meaning he’d never come out of the Met bullpen again and throw another inning like he did in the seventh, when he gave up a ten-pitch walk, a double and a single in succession and allowed a slim 5-4 Mets lead to transform into a 6-5 Nationals advantage en route to a 7-5 Mets defeat.
I thought you could do it, Jake. Next time (and it appears there will be a next time), remove your glove from your right hand and aim for the fans behind the dugout. Or, in your case, somewhere near them. Just be as bad coming off the mound as you routinely are on it and give the front office the nudge it needs. I still believe you can do it.
Mendoza’s reliance on Diekman is destructive to the success of the club.
Forget Diekman. Why all of sudden was it so important to get Christian Scott to 100 pitches? Especially since he’s been limited to something like 80 pitches in each of his MiLB Starts.
One of the very few losses I pin on Mendoza. Not sure how many people watch the Mets on SNY these days, but I’d say 99% of us saw Lopez’ 3 run homer coming since about Scott’s 95th pitch.
Ya know, if these games really meant anything at this point, I would be spitting mad!
What the f— is Mendy doing, taking out a usually horrible Ottavino after he miraculously got the first 2 outs in the 7th, to bring in an even worse Diekman, who is absolutely even more horrific.
Up until now, Mendy’s been right on point, but this one’s on him, and he cost Christian Scott his first MLB win.
He said he made the change due to:
‘MATCHUPS,’ the same reasoning behind all of the dreaded Luis Rojas’ moves. He forgot the game is played by people and not by computers.
OMG!
Oy My God…
I’ll say it again – how many days until Edwin Diaz comes back?
Is it me, or has pretty much every game the Mets lost since he’s been suspended been due to the bullpen blowing it?
It’s not just Diekman. If Diaz were closing and the Mets had a full roster, Diekman would be on junk time duty. Or already DFA’d. This is on Sugar.
I’m so tired of hearing about matchups. This new age of baseball is destroying the game.
Diekman’s 10 pitch walk was a miracle in itself. It means he threw 9 pitches in a row without something disastrous happening.
[…] Next, for reasons best known to Divine Providence, Jake Diekman, the lefty who has still not taken our well-intentioned advice to fling his glove into the stands in order to inspire a designation for assignment à la Jorge […]