When New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz (29) suffered an injury during the World Baseball Classic (WBC), teammate Francisco Lindor (30) covered him.
American media SNY said on the 17th (hereafter Korean time), “The Mets heard the shocking news that Diaz suffered a patella tendon rupture in his right knee on the 16th. He will need surgery and is expected to miss the entire 2023 season.”
Diaz is a special finisher who played an active role with 3 wins, 1 loss, 4 holds, 32 saves and an average ERA of 1.31 in 61 games (62 innings) last season. After the season, he re-signed with the Mets for 5 years and 102 million dollars (approximately 133 billion won).
Diaz, who played for the Puerto Rico national team in the WBC ahead of the first season of the contract, played in two games (two innings) and had an average ERA of 0.00, but was injured while celebrating after winning the last game of the first round against the Dominican Republic. Some Mets fans expressed outrage when the closer was injured before the season even started.
But Lindor, who went on to represent Puerto Rico with Diaz, supported Diaz. “I know how heartbroken Mets fans are,” Lindor said. However, just as many people think the major league regular season is important, playing on a stage like the WBC is very meaningful to us. Puerto Rican players dream of representing their country in a Puerto Rican national team uniform. And not just the Puerto Ricans, but all the players in the WBC consider it an irreplaceable honor to compete in this event.” 안전놀이터
“We don’t want to see injured players either,” said Lindor. Sad, of course, for Mets fans. And I thank everyone who cared about us and Edwin. I really know how heartbroken the fans are.”
Last season, Lindor recorded a batting average of .27 (170 in 630 at-bats), 26 homers, 107 RBIs, and an OPS of .788 in 161 games. In April 2021, he signed a 10-year, $341 million (approximately 444.8 billion won) contract extension with the Mets.