Injuries being weird. Did you ever think that might happen, too? Well, apparently, the injury that unfolded during the Mets-Phillies matchup spread that vibe only. It was different.
According to the Phillies Manager, Rob Thompson, it wasn’t an injury at all. If anything, it was a calculated move by the New York Mets’ pitcher. Was it a strategic move by the Mets? Or was it a controversial call by the umpiring crew? Let’s recall how it all unfolded in the first place.
The Mets’ $102 million star Edwin Diaz exited the mound during the 10th inning with apparent hip cramps. His postgame interview baffled everyone when he publicly mentioned that his one leg felt longer than the other. Well, that didn’t make sense to the Metsies. They were collectively confused with one thing: “How can one leg be shorter than the other?”
They didn’t hold back after Diaz’s interview, and neither did Thompson.
Phillies manager Rob Thompson appeared to accuse Edwin Díaz of faking an injury to avoid a balk call in today’s game.
“That’s a play that I’ll have to remember to tell pitchers.”
— Just Mets (@just_mets) April 23, 2025
He told reporters postgame, “That’s a play that I’ll have to remember to tell pitchers.” Thompson believes he has to be cautious if something similar happens in the rest of the season. And if it were a controversial call by the umpires, the Phillies might have lost the chance to have a two-run lead against the Mets in the 10th inning.
But yeah, if you think or refer to Wednesday’s game, Diaz didn’t seem like himself in that inning.
Edwin Diaz surrendered a go-ahead RBI single off Nick Castellanos. Then he exited the mound not once, but twice when he went up against J.T. Realmuto. Not to forget, after disengaging from the mound twice, you are not allowed to disengage again as per MLB’s new rules. And when Mets’ closer disengaged for the third time, it had to be called a balk.
And so, it pushed Castellanos to second base. Exactly after that, Diaz left the game after calling over manager Carlos Mendoza, his coach, and the Mets’ training staff.
While the ruling was reversed because of Diaz’s exit from the game, Thompson accused the pitcher of faking his injury just to prevent a balk call.
And now, one thing is for sure: Thompson will be keeping a close eye throughout the season just to be on the safe side. But the drama didn’t end with his comments; instead, they received a fiery response from a familiar voice.
Former Mets’ manager fires back at Thompson’s comments
Just when the game ended with the Mets’ clean 4-3 victory against the Phillies, it didn’t take much time for the verbal war to begin. The Phillies viewed Edwin Diaz’s exit as a strategic move, while the Mets see it as a fair win.
While Thompson did say that he will be taking a note of this instance for the rest of the season, he also stated that, “Step off a third time. Call the trainer. He’ll take you out. We’ll put somebody else in.” He clearly believed that it was a planned move by the Mets.
And in response to this accusation, a familiar voice stepped in. Former Mets Manager Terry Collins didn’t hold back on “Mets Off Day Live” by SNYtv. To Thompson’s comments, he replied, “I got nothing to say about it. I don’t want to face you [Thompson] anyway.” According to Collins, the comments about Diaz’s ‘made-up injury’ were solely about the stint of losing.
He didn’t stop there. Collins straight away labelled Thompson’s comments as “sour grapes.” He implied that it’s barely about Diaz’s injury here. It’s more about Thompson being upset with the result.
Do you think Thompson’s accusations were fair? Because the Phillies have really lost 10 out of 16 games since they started at 7-2. Could it be all about the stint of losing? Join the conversation in our comment section.
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