The New York Mets received a terrible blow as the club announced on Thursday that superstar closer Edwin Díaz suffered a full tear of his patellar tendon, requiring surgery, which the Puerto Rico native underwent yesterday afternoon.
With Díaz likely sidelined for the entire season, the Mets have to pick up the pieces and construct a formidable bullpen. New York already has added the likes of David Robertson and Brooks Raley as high-leverage options out of the ‘pen, but depth is certainly a cause for concern as the Mets lost other relievers, in addition to Díaz, since the start of spring training.
On Friday, the Mets claimed Dennis Santana off waivers from the Minnesota Twins, according to Michael Mayer of Metsmerized Online. In six innings this spring, Santana has walked just one hitter and struck out over a batter per inning, he also has an ERA of 4.50, allowing three runs on six hits. That’s a good sign for Santana, who has struggled with walks over the course of his career with the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Correction, average 97.7 mph on his four-seamer.
— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) March 17, 2023
Dating back to 2019, Santana — now 26 years old — was considered by MLB.com to be the No. 7 overall prospect in the Dodgers’ robust farm system. He has never quite lived up to his hype as a prospect, as last season with the Rangers, he had a 3-8 record with a 5.22 ERA. Though, according to FanGraphs, he had an xERA (Expected ERA) of 3.89.
Santana is out of minor-league options and could be an option for New York’s Opening Day bullpen. We’ll have to see if that bears fruit, but the Mets have also lost relievers, Sam Coonrod (lat strain) and Bryce Montes de Oca (forearm strain) for the foreseeable future.
[Michael Mayer on Twitter, MLB.com, Fangraphs]
