This Sucks So Bad For Edwin Díaz [Update]

What's a surefire way to immediately and horrifically kill the mood following a thrilling and meaningful sports victory? One of the victors leaving the field in a wheelchair tends to do the trick.

This was the aftermath of Puerto Rico's 5-2 victory over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday night. It was a win-or-go-home game for both teams, which not only made it one of the most tense and exciting games of the tournament so far, but a wonderful advertisement for international baseball. Who wouldn't want to spend an evening in March watching two teams as stacked as the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico go at it in a game with some real stakes? The answer to that question was "Nobody!" right up until Puerto Rico and New York Mets star closer Edwin Díaz recorded the final out.

As soon as the game was over, Díaz's teammates, led by his brother, Alexis, encircled the big closer and started doing little celebratory hops. Díaz, more or less against his will, hopped along with them until one of those hops went very, very wrong. All of a sudden, he was on the ground, and the players around him were acting like they'd just witnessed a compound fracture.

Nothing quite so gruesome happened to Díaz—he was just sitting there on the grass once the crowd cleared—but the reactions of his teammates tells you all you need to know about how severe the damage he did to his right knee might be. The tears rolling down Alexis Díaz's face were not a good omen, and neither was the sight of Edwin attempting to drag his useless right leg off the field before eventually being plunked into a wheelchair.

Díaz is set to get an MRI today, the results of which will most likely put a dark cloud not only over his and the Mets' upcoming season, but the WBC itself. Díaz became a no-shit star in New York last season, the first closer to reach that status in quite some time (having a signature entrance song that kicks insane amounts of ass certainly helps), and the Mets were counting on him to continue anchoring the bullpen as they again hope to compete for a title. The fact that such an impactful injury occurred during what is more or less an exhibition tournament also opens the door for all sorts of grumpy takes about how the WBC should cease to exist. Those can be easily ignored, but if an injury like this leads to fewer players agreeing to participate in the tournament in order to protect themselves, or MLB teams putting strict limitations on their employees' participation, that is a more existential threat.

There will be plenty of time to worry and argue about these things in the future, but for now I think everyone can agree on at least one thing: no more little celebratory hops.

Update (1:42 p.m. ET): The news isn't good: