Mets Can’t Shed Injury Bug As They Secure First Win of the 2023 Season

The Mets are potentially one of the most cursed franchises in all of sports. The team has been plagued by bad contracts and untimely injuries to star players all throughout the history of the organization. Star pitchers Edwin Diaz and Justin Verlander have already been bitten by the injury bug, read on for my analysis of the situations.

Edwin Diaz

Edwin Diaz was injured on March 15th at loandepot park while celebrating a save for the Dominican Republic at the world baseball classic. Diaz was put in a wheelchair, but it was initially unclear how severe the injury was.

It is now known, however, that Diaz suffered a ruptured patellar tendon. The surgery will keep him out for eight months. Experts say the recovery could be completed in six-months if all goes well, but fans should not get their hopes up for Diaz to return this season.

Teammate Francisco Lindor was quoted saying that he “couldn’t stop crying” over Díaz’s injury at the World baseball classic. “I never knew I loved Edwin so much until I couldn’t stop crying. That’s when I realized I loved Edwin a lot… It broke my heart. It did not feel good.”

Diaz wrote a special message to Mets fans via Twitter: “To all my beloved fans, especially the Mets fans, I want to let you know that I am doing well and healing. I feel blessed and grateful for your support with messages and prayers, thank you very much! I can’t wait to see you guys in NY again and play those trumpets.”

The Mets team and fans rally behind Diaz’s energy whenever he takes the field, and it is to be seen whether the bullpen will be able to close games anywhere close to how Diaz would. Losing Diaz will hurt the Mets chances to win the world series, but the team is still strong in many other areas and has a strong overall pitching staff. The Mets are known to get the most out of their pitchers year in and year out, and fans should expect this year to be no different.

Justin Verlander

The next domino to fall on the Mets roster was Justin Verlander. Verlander was acquired over the offseason in hopes that he could replace the departing phenom Jacob DeGrom. Verlander is without a doubt a downgrade from the once in a generation player that DeGrom is, but the Mets should benefit from solid pitching from Verlander once he returns from injury.

It was reported to the team last night that verlander was dealing with a low-grade teres major strain. Verlander will be placed on the IL and will continue throwing at moderate intensity and we will rescan in a week. The Mets will be able to provide an update at that time. Until then, the team will have to rely on Tylor Megill to fill Verlander’s spot in the rotation and will turn to their offense for more production.