Edwin Diaz, the New York Mets closer, faces a 10-game penalty after being dismissed from Sunday night’s 5-2 victory against the Chicago Cubs for possessing an illicit substance on his throwing hand.
Before taking the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning, crew chief Vic Carapazza ejected Diaz, 30.
“I touched his hand,” Carapazza said in a pool report after the game. “I grabbed his hand. The stuff was really sticky. It wasn’t rosin or perspiration. We checked thousands of them. That’s exactly how I felt. “This was extremely sticky.”
Diaz claimed to use just rosin, sweat, and dirt on his hands.
“I always use the same thing,” he said. “I apply rosin, sweat, and put my hand on the ground to get a better grip on the ball. I was shocked since there was nothing on my hand, glove, or belt. “They are always checking everything.”
Carapazza acknowledged that Diaz just had sticky substances on his fingers, but that is enough to have a player expelled. In recent years, Major League Baseball has clamped down on pitchers who utilize foreign chemicals other than rosin because they provide stronger grip and spin on the ball.
Carapazza noted that the Mets did not contest the dismissal or explain what transpired. “I told them I have a job to do,” Carapazza stated. “We were meant to inspect it, but it was too sticky. I couldn’t ignore the material on there.”
Diaz risks an automatic 10-game penalty for using an illicit drug. He can appeal, but he isn’t sure he will. “It’s tough to let my teammates down for 10 games,” Diaz told reporters. “That sucks.”
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza bemoaned Diaz’s absence; according to the rules, the Mets must play without Diaz for the duration of his ban. “We have to move on,” Mendoza said. “Guys are going to have to step up.”
Drew Smith and Jake Diekman accomplished it Sunday night, combining to throw a shutout ninth inning after Diaz was removed, and the Mets won for the ninth time in 11 games.
Diaz has only made seven saves this season and has an ERA of 4.70. He missed the whole season last year due to a knee injury sustained while celebrating Puerto Rico’s World Baseball Classic victory, and he was on the disabled list for approximately two weeks this season with a shoulder problem until being reinstated on June 13.
