by Tamar Chalker
March 17, 2023
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As we inch closer to Opening Day, the WBC has its first round in the books. The USA secured their ticket to the next round with a win against Columbia on Wednesday. They will face an undefeated (and very stacked) Venezuelan team on Saturday, but this was not the big news from the final games of the first round.
Perhaps one of the most anticipated games of the first round was Puerto Rico/Dominican Republic with both teams playing for the chance to move forward. Both teams have strong lineups and the game itself didn’t disappoint. Puerto Rico pulled off a thrilling upset in a contest that had everything from a boisterous and passionate crowd, home runs, spectacular defensive plays, and great pitching. Francisco Lindor even turned a routine single to center into an inside-the-park home run when Julio Rodriguez misplayed the ball.
Edwin Diaz closed out the game for Puerto Rico, striking out Teoscar Hernandez to seal the victory. For a moment, there was pure, joy from the Puerto Rican players and fans, but it was short-lived. The celebration suddenly stopped and Diaz was on the ground, eventually needing help from his team and a wheelchair. After having his knee looked at on Thursday, it turns out that not only is Diaz done for the WBC, but the Mets’ closer is likely done for the year. He has a full thickness tear of his patellar tendon in his right knee.
This has certainly put a bit of a damper on the WBC, as it seems to indicate the realization of one of the tournament’s biggest fears. I’m sure there will be a lot of people quick to say that perhaps the WBC isn’t worth the risk of such an injury - and there are plenty of players who make that decision and sit it out, as is their prerogative. In my opinion, this is a massive overreaction. Season-ending injuries happen. They happen during Spring Training, in the season itself, or even while a Hall of Fame pitcher is shagging fly balls in the outfield during batting practice. At least those are baseball activities and not, let’s say, a couple of broken ribs from crashing your Porsche…
There is an accepted risk of injury whenever a player laces up their cleats and I think that understandably extends to a team celebrating a big win. It is rare, but not unheard of, that someone ends up injured in those moments - and if you’ve ever been lucky enough to find yourself in the midst of one of those celebrations - perhaps it is surprising there aren’t more injuries in them.
Does this mean that players should avoid such merriment after a well-fought victory? I’d say absolutely not! If we ever reach a point where the money in baseball has owners telling players not to celebrate it would suck the spirit from the game. So I really hope this doesn’t become a conversation.
I do worry that this could make for a lot fewer MLB players in future WBCs and that would be a true bummer. The tournament is starting to get really exciting. Cuba and Japan are already through to the semi-finals. Japan and Venezuela are both undefeated, the USA and Puerto Rico teams are both a lot of fun to watch. With teams like Italy and Australia making it as far as the quarter-finals, it shows the global reach of the game and that is fantastic.
The problem with the WBC, as I see it, has always been the timing - and I’m not sure there is a good answer to that problem. Do you do it after the World Series? After a season of 162 games and playoffs, I feel like that would be a tough sell for a lot of players who need to give their bodies a break. On the other hand, doing it during Spring Training means you are also dealing with players who are still “warming up” as it were.
Injuries are going to occur, whether the WBC is happening or not. I hope just hope it doesn’t become the scapegoat for a freak, unfortunate accident. If anything, they should just chalk it up to something that would absolutely happen to the Mets. I mean, it’s pretty on brand for the other New York team… In all seriousness - I truly hope Diaz recovers as quickly and fully as possible so he can be back on the mound by 2024.
Looking at what I could of the footage, it certainly didn't look like they were celebrating all that hard - truly an unfortunate freak injury. Count me as one who enjoys the WBC. There's a lot of passion and excitement that we just don't see a lot of in sports today. The WBC players are not receiving any additional compensation for their participation - they just are playing because they really want to, and playing hard. With so much of sports today being watered down, this it a treat to me. Unfortunately, it's tough to pick the right time to do this. The championship is 3/21, and MLB Opening Day is 3/30. I wonder if they would push the championship…
Diaz is a pinhead. The only sad thing about this is that he's likely going to be paid $20 million this year for being a pinhead, and $100 million even if he can't recover from being a pinhead.
Moreover, as I said on a thread yesterday, this is not a baseball injury. It's a celebrating-pinhead injury, which Tamar notes, but I believe glosses over. Unlike Texeira's wrist injury in the WBC batting cage, which could just as easily have occurred in a Spring Training batting cage, Diaz likely would not have been dancing around like a fool after closing out a Spring Training game by striking out some guy bound for AA, though at this point, I wouldn't put a…
Just like the Olympics, I would prefer that these games are played by the best amatures, not Pros. Diaz was not hurt playing baseball. He was hurt by his teammates celebration. I think a pat on the back and a hand shake is enough. Act like you have been there before!!
I understand your points, but the WBC isn‘t paying Edwin Diaz hundreds of millions of dollars to pitch for them. I am not a Mets fan, but I know that the Mets are intent on winning a World Series this year.
This injury certainly doesn’t make that quest any easier, and while season ending injuries do happen regularly. The fact remains this didn't happen playing for the employer who is paying him well to help them on their championship quest. Especially at a time when he should be working in low stress situations on mechanics and conditioning.
MLB has been changing rules of protection for years now. You know them, avenue to the plate, late slides, warning for pitchi…
it's evidence of Poor Planning to sign an expensive contract with a player who becomes injured
on the other hand, it seems as though Diaz' planning was excellent.