The Mets released info on Thursday afternoon detailing the injury to Edwin Diaz. The injury occurred just after the end of the World Baseball Classic game where Puerto Rico advanced, with Diaz closing out the game. It was an electric atmosphere, keyed by Diaz’s signature trumpet entrance — and yes, MLB is still a bit troubled that the song is titled “Narcos” — and an unfortunate, unlucky injury.
Many speculated that it was an Achilles rupture or ACL, especially as Diaz was carried off the field by medical staff and teammates, showing his foot hanging at what appeared to be an odd angle. (That appears to be mostly the TV angle, with another angle from a fan in the stands appearing more normal.) An MRI on Thursday morning confirmed that Diaz ruptured his patellar tendon, which will require surgical repair. The normal recovery is 9-12 months, but it is an extremely unusual injury.
The surgery is normally done as a repair, but more recently, doctors have begun using hamstring grafts and internal bracing to help with this. The video below shows more about the surgery and options, though it is unclear if Diaz will stay in house for this or seek out other options.
In the recent history of MLB, there’s very few patellar tendon ruptures. It’s more common in the NBA (Jeremy Lin, Victor Oladipo, Andre Roberson) and the NFL (Danny Trevathan, Jimmy Graham, Jack Conklin) and in both, it is one of the tougher injuries to come back to level from, with studies mixed with positive results around 60-70 percent.
In MLB, the two pitchers I could find were Garrett Richards and Matt Strahm. Richards ruptured his fielding a grounder in August 2014 and returned in April 2015. His career continued until last August and he is currently a free agent. Strahm had his surgery in October 2020 and was up and down before having a nice campaign last year for the Red Sox, signing before this season with the Phillies.
The Mets are now likely to look for bullpen help. Reports that the Mets were at Zach Britton’s workout make sense, as did rumors that the team enquired about Reds closer Alexis Diaz, Edwin’s brother, as well as Phillies reliever Gregory Soto. Internal options include David Robertson, Brooks Raley (coming off a minor hamstring strain suffered in the WBC), and Adam Ottavino.
More tomorrow in Under The Knife.
Wow, an injury like that from a celebration; I am trying to imagine the mechanics of exactly what caused it. Rotation perhaps, or jumping on the uneven surface between the mound and the field?