Jeff McNeil defends World Baseball Classic after New York Mets teammate Edwin Diaz exits with season-ending injury

Despite the massive viewership that the 2023 World Baseball Classic has drawn, the tournament is coming under increasing fire for making players vulnerable to injuries just before the start of the new season.

One such player is Edwin Diaz of the New York Mets, who will miss the entirety of the 2023 season on account of a WBC injury.

In a recent piece for the New York Post, MLB writer Jon Heyman traveled to the New York Mets spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida to get word from Diaz's teammates regarding his injuries.

Jeff McNeil was among the Mets players who shared their thoughts on the World Baseball Classic. McNeil, who had the highest batting average in the National League last year, offered sanguine thoughts regarding the tournament:

"Injuries can happen at any time. They can happen on the back fields at Port St. Lucie. They can happen here.”

The 2023 World Baseball Classic has drawn names that have never appeared in the tournament before, like Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and Trea Turner to name a few. While the presence of these big names delights fans, it also undoubtedly causes a lot of stress among their parent organizations.

A slew of injuries in the World Baseball Classic, ranging from minor to severe, has caused many to call for an end to the tournament. Popular sports commentator Keith Olbermann even claimed that all the tournament does is "split up teammates based on where their grandmothers got laid."

One such injury that has caught a lot of attention is that of New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz. Diaz, who registered 32 saves with the Mets last year, suffered a torn patellar tendon after he was swarmed by Puerto Rican teammates following his team's crucial first-round win over the Dominican Republic.

"Edwin Diaz appears to have suffered an injury during Puerto Rico's celebration" - Fox Sports MLB

The torn tendon means that Diaz will miss the entirety of the 2023 season. The blow to his team comes after he signed a five-year contract extension worth $102 million this past offseason, making him the highest-paid reliever in MLB history.

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Freddie Freeman was another player to suffer an injury at the WBC. The first baseman exited Canada's game against Mexico, but is expected to be ready for Opening Day.

Although unpopular among MLB teams, the World Baseball Classic is likely here to stay

Cases such as Edwin Diaz's are enough to spook even the most confident of MLB teams. However, the World Baseball Classic represents a massive opportunity to market baseball to a global audience, and will not be easily relinquished by the MLB, who commissions the tournament.