Mets’ Díaz won’t appeal ban; Marte lands on IL
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — The New York Mets, streaking in June following a turbulent May, will be without two key contributors for considerable time after closer Edwin Díaz chose not to appeal his 10-game suspension for violating prohibitions on foreign substances and right fielder Starling Marte was placed on the injured list with a right knee bone bruise Tuesday.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Marte, whose IL stint is retroactive to Sunday, will not return to the team for at least a month. The club called up veteran outfielder Ben Gamel to take Marte’s place on the roster.
While the Mets could replace Marte, their bullpen will be a man down without Díaz for the next 10 games. Díaz was ejected before throwing a pitch Sunday in a win over the Chicago Cubs. He was issued the ban Monday and decided not to appeal the decision Tuesday, leaving the Mets relief corps shorthanded as they began a two-game Subway Series with the New York Yankees at Citi Field.
“We want to move on from it,” Mendoza said when asked why Díaz didn’t appeal the suspension. “We don’t want this cloud to be hanging over the team for too long. And we decided it was best.”
On Sunday, Díaz said he used the same legal concoction he’s always used to better grip the baseball: rosin, sweat and dirt. But crew chief Vic Carapazza said the sticky, discolored substance the umpires discovered “definitely wasn’t rosin and sweat.”
Major League Baseball has suspended eight pitchers for foreign substances since it started cracking down on them during the 2021 season. Three have been Mets: Max Scherzer and Drew Smith last year, and Díaz on Sunday.
Mendoza indicated the team planned on making changes to avoid another violation.
“You hate to see it,” Mendoza said. “And as far as doing anything different, from day one, we’ve been very specific and very direct. You hate to see it. I obviously don’t want to get into the details of what we’re going to be doing moving forward, but, obviously, the rules are the rules. Talking to Edwin, obviously, I got his back. I truly believe what he was telling us.”
The suspension was the next chapter in a miserable return to the mound for Díaz, who missed the 2023 season with a torn knee ligament. The 30-year-old right-hander has a 4.70 ERA in 24 appearances and has blown 4-of-11 save opportunities.
Mendoza said he will “mix and match” with the closer role, depending on availability and matchups. The bigger challenge will be navigating a stretch starting Friday of eight games in eight days with an undermanned pitching staff.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to have to reshuffle some things here, but we just got to take it one game at a time,” Mendoza said. “See where you’re at bullpen-wise and then go from there. The good thing is we got depth. We got people with options and we’ll get through it.”
Marte, meanwhile, is slashing .278/.328/.416 with seven home runs in 66 games this season. Mendoza said Marte, 35, first started feeling knee discomfort during the team’s three-game series in Washington at the beginning of the month. As a result, Mendoza said, the club was careful with Marte’s usage, but “something didn’t look right” after his first at-bat Saturday against the Cubs, so he was pulled.
Mendoza named DJ Stewart, Tyrone Taylor, Jeff McNeil and Gamel as options to play right field in Marte’s absence. Stewart started in right field Sunday. Taylor got the start Tuesday.
Despite an excellent first half to the season, Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi wasn’t selected as an All-Star this year, but the team made sure that he’ll be paid like one.
Despite the snub, Eovaldi was given the $100,000 All-Star bonus in his contract by the Rangers after he posted a 1.58 ERA with 94 strikeouts over 91 innings. Teammate Jacob deGrom, who was selected as an All-Star, also received a $100,000 bonus.
Eovaldi, in his 15th major league season, would lead the majors in ERA, but after missing a month due to a triceps injury, he fell six innings short of the necessary 97 innings to qualify among leaders for individual statistical categories.
Eovaldi, a two-time All-Star, won his third straight game on Sunday to improve to 7-3, giving up five hits and a run with eight strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings against the Houston Astros.
The right-hander ranks second only to Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal among MLB starting pitchers in WHIP (0.85) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.71). Opposing batters are hitting a paltry .194 with a .237 on-base percentage, .286 slugging percentage and .523 OPS against Eovaldi.
Eovaldi is scheduled to make his first start of the second half at home on Sunday against Skubal and the Tigers at Globe Life Field.
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