Edwin Diaz’s injury has brought major criticism to the World Baseball Classic. MLB fans and podcasters are questioning the participation of players in the quadrennial tournament. New York Mets fans are especially concerned with their star pitcher’s condition, considering his importance on their roster.
The 28-year-old has been influential in getting Team Puerto Rico through to the second round. After their huge win against Team Dominican Republic, the Puerto Ricans erupted into celebration with the entire roster on the field. However, after the huddle cleared, the Mets pitcher was seen holding his leg in anguish.
Quite unsurprisingly, Mets fans were distraught at the incident. They were furious with the handling of their players just days before the regular season. Podcaster Kevin Clancy took to Twitter to express his anger. In an almost bizarre and hyperbolic rant, Clancy said the following:
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“I wish I could say “not in my wildest nightmares” but this is in my every day nightmare. This is of course what happens when you send players to the fictional fake World Series. GODDAMIT.”
Mood in the Puerto Rican camp is “quiet” after Edwin Diaz’s injury
After Edwin Diaz’s injury, his teammates were asked to comment on the incident. The mood in Team Puerto Rico’s camp was dampened to say the least.
“Quiet,” said Puerto Rico center fielder Kiké Hernández. “I mean, it comes to a certain point that it gets bigger than the game and something very unfortunate happened.
“As excited as we were about the game and all that, it’s one of our brothers and some of us grew together and all that. It’s real easy to set aside the game and worry about us as humans. So it definitely doesn’t feel like we just beat the Dominican Republic to advance.”
Even more concerning was Diaz being helped off the field in a wheelchair. The exact injury and its extent is currently unknown, but hopefully it is not as bad as it looked. This poses a lot of problems for their roster, as they have to face up against Team Mexico in the quarterfinals in Miami.
Edwin Diaz’s injury has caused fans (who were getting excited for the World Baseball Classic) to question the tournament. As to whether it will change anything is a separate matter.
