September has come and the New York Mets are in free-fall mode.
After a dominant start to the season, they’ve watched their lead in the NL East over the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves shrink from 10 games to just a half-game.
In fact, at one point last week, the Braves actually led the division.
It slipped away pretty quickly, but they may be back in first before too long.
The Mets just got swept by the Chicago Cubs.
One telling aspect of their September struggles is that they haven’t been able to use standout closer Edwin Diaz all that much.
He’s thrown just 24 pitches in 13 days and has not earned a save this month.
In fact, he only has two in the last month.
In a rather telling statistic, Edwin Díaz has thrown just 24 pitches over the last 13 days. He does not have a save in September and has totaled only two over the last calendar month.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 15, 2022
Diaz Not Getting Many Opportunities In September
This is not a good sign for the Mets.
Diaz is of course healthy and available.
But when you’re losing games, you don’t always have a chance to use your closer.
In that case, it means less “Narco” playing at Mets games.
That is of course his entrance song, featuring an epic trumpet riff from New York’s own Timmy Trumpet.
But beyond that, the Mets just haven’t had a spot where they could potentially use Diaz in a while.
Too much rest could turn into a problem.
The Mets need him right now.
They aren’t playing good baseball and may soon be looking up at the Braves in the NL East.
Diaz is a key factor for this Mets team, and if they can’t use him regularly, then there really isn’t much he can do to help stop the bleeding.
The Mets will need to turn it around and win some games if they want to give him some more opportunities here down the stretch.
NEXT: The Mets Achieved An Unfortunate First This Week