It’s been a long 10 games.
For the first time since he was ejected from the game prior to the bottom of the ninth inning for having a sticky substance on his hands at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs, Edwin Diaz is back with the Mets after serving his 10-game suspension that automatically comes with a sticky substance-related ejection.
The closer spoke to reporters before Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates and maintained his innocence that he was not using any illegal substances on his hands.
“I don’t feel guilty because I didn’t have anything, like I said. I was using the right stuff that they allow us to use so I didn’t feel guilty. They said I was using a little substance, but I feel fine because I didn’t use anything,” Diaz said.
For New York, it’s obviously nice to have Diaz back in the bullpen which has struggled mightily lately.
During his suspension, the Mets went 5-5 with four of the five losses coming after New York either had the lead late in the game or it was tied after seven innings. Even some of their wins during that stretch in which the Mets had sizable leads got dicey because of the bullpen.
In fact, New York has a 6.05 ERA over the last seven days – second worst in the majors – with a lot of that coming from its relievers.
“It’s been tough from the stands,” Diaz said. “I’ve been at home, I was at a couple games in New York pissed off because I should be there. I was trying to support them from outside, like I said, but it was tough.”
The key now is to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
That may be tricky, though, since Diaz believes he did nothing wrong and will continue with his normal game routine.
“I will do the same thing. I didn’t have anything that day,” he said. “I will do the same thing, the rosin, sweat and dirt. That’s how I feel I have grip on my ball and I will keep doing the same thing.”
The problem here stems from MLB not having a clear rule or guidelines regarding sticky substances and the ruling being completely subjective from umpire to umpire.
“I think [it] goes how [umpires] think. They didn’t have a rule like that’s too much or that’s less, so they decide what is sticky for them so I don’t know how they evaluate it,” Diaz said.
And the Mets have been no strangers to the rule going against them. Last season, Max Scherzer and Drew Smith were both suspended for 10 games for having hands that were deemed too sticky by the home plate umpire.
Of the eight pitchers that have been ejected for sticky substances, three have pitched for New York.
“I think that that’s [MLB’s] rule and they gotta work on that,” Diaz said. “I think that they gotta maybe maintain something in a line to tell us what is sticky and what is not sticky, but at the end of the day that’s their rule and they made their decision.”
As for Saturday, Diaz said he’s ready to compete with his team once again as the Mets continue to fight their way back into a playoff spot.
“If [manager Carlos Mendoza] gives me the ball today I will do my job,” he said.