How the Mets' season fell apart - ESPN

New York Mets general manager Billy Eppler watched the World Baseball Classic warily this spring. Of course, he knew there were inherent risks for his squad. And on March 16, as he sat in his spring training apartment with Catherine Eppler, his wife, he tried to mentally steer Edwin Diaz around the potholes of possibility from afar. Eppler followed Diaz's pitch count and tracked the outs remaining for Diaz, and when Diaz closed out a win for Puerto Rico, Eppler felt relief. He got up and walked into another room.

Catherine lingered in front of the television to watch the Puerto Rico celebration, and she called to her husband in alarm. «He's still on the ground,» she reported, and once Eppler saw Diaz at the feet of teammates, in a heap, he immediately dialed his phone, desperate for information.

What Eppler did not know in that moment was that the first domino had fallen in what would turn out to be a lost season. The first of many dominoes, as it turned out. The Mets were preparing for their Opening Day game when Justin Verlander, the team's most important acquisition after the 101-win season of 2022, went down with a teres major injury and would start the season on the injured list. It was apparent to coaches early in spring training that Starling Marte wasn't close to fully recovered from offseason core surgery. Max Scherzer became the most prominent player suspended for a sticky stuff violation, and lost the wipeout slider that had distinguished him in recent seasons. Veteran starters Carlos Carrasco and Jose Quintana both missed months with injuries. And just about every position player other than Brandon Nimmo and rookie Francisco Alvarez would go through some extensive slump. «It was one thing after another,» said