New York Mets nearer Edwin Díaz was ejected earlier than throwing a pitch Sunday after umpires decided he had an unlawful sticky substance on his hand, and on Monday MLB handed down a 10-game suspension.
Díaz has the fitting to attraction the self-discipline.
The Mets had introduced in Díaz to guard a 5-2 lead within the backside of the ninth, however second base umpire Brian Walsh did not like what he noticed through the routine hand test when a reliever enters a recreation. After a tense back-and-forth with Díaz and Mets supervisor Carlos Mendoza, crew chief Vic Carapazza ejected the pitcher.
One close-up angle clearly confirmed some type of substance on Díaz’s hand.
After the sport, Díaz insisted that he had finished nothing improper.
“I take advantage of the identical factor at all times,” Díaz stated, by way of ESPN. “I rub rosin, swear, and I put my hand on the filth slightly bit as a result of I must have some grip on the ball. So that is what I used to be explaining to them. However they stated it was an excessive amount of stick. I understood, however on the finish of the day I used to be utilizing rosin, sweat and put my hand on the filth.”
Carapazza, nonetheless, wasn’t shopping for that argument.
“It positively wasn’t rosin and sweat,” Carapazza stated after the sport, by way of ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. “We have checked hundreds of those. I do know what that feeling is. This was very sticky.”
Díaz’s ejection left Mendoza needing to name in reliever Drew Smith to cowl the ninth inning. Smith obtained the primary two outs earlier than permitting a single to Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson. Mendoza then introduced in Jake Diekman, who completed the sport with a strikeout of Patrick Knowledge. The ultimate held at 5-2.
It might need been Díaz’s first ejection of the season, however it’s not the primary time issues have gone badly after he entered the sport. The $102 million man holds a 4.70 ERA this season, with 4 blown saves in 11 alternatives, and has seen himself each demoted from the nearer position and positioned on the injured listing with a shoulder harm.
Since coming back from the IL, Díaz had posted three straight scoreless appearances for the primary time since April 4, however he is now going through one other step backward.
That is Díaz’s first season again after lacking all the 2023 season with a torn patellar tendon sustained within the World Baseball Traditional. He has just one extra season left on his Mets contract after this season, with a wage of $21.5 million, however he holds participant choices for 2025 and 2026 at $18.5 million every.