Edwin Diaz made his first appearance for the Mets since 2022 after he missed the whole of 2023 season due to knee injury.
Carlos Mendoza (L) and Edwin Diaz (R) [Image via Newsday]
In the ongoing Spring training, the New York Mets finally had some good news. Their star closer Edwin Diaz made his first appearance since 2022 recently and stole the show once again. His coach Carlos Mendoza later revealed how his teammates reacted to his return.
Diaz has been out of action since he suffered a knee injury during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He would injury his knee during the celebrations and later underwent surgery which kept him out for around eight months.
In his first mound appearance for the New York Mets this year, Diaz dominated the opposition hitters and picked up three strikeouts in one inning. His coach Mendoza as per SNY later revealed how much excited his teammates where to see him return and how they reacted.
It was pretty packed [in the dugout]…Pretty much the whole team was out there. And that was special. Everybody came out to watch him take the mound.
Carlos Mendoza on Edwin Diaz’s return.
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The 2023 season was not a good one for the Mets as they suffered heavily. Their pitching department was one of the major worrying signs as they failed to make it to the playoffs and ended up with a negative record. This led to former coach Buck Showalter being fired from his position later on.
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Edwin Diaz opens up about his performance as he took the mound for the first time since 2022
Returning from a major injury is one of the hardest thing in sports. After being out for so long, it sometimes takes a bit time for players to get back to their best. This though did not seem to be the case with Edwin Diaz as he made a triumphant return to the mound.
Edwin Diaz (Image via SI)
The 29-year-old star threw out 14 pitches in his first game back and looked sharped as ever. The two-time All-star ended up striking out Jesus Sanchez, Avisaíl García and Jon Berti in the fifth inning with his sliders.
After his outing Diaz opened about his performance and claimed he was just trying his best and taking it as a regular season game.
I was trying to control my emotions at that moment because I had to do my job, even if it’s a Spring Training game. I treated this game like a regular season… I knew I would be really good, but three strikeouts in the first outing was amazing.
Edwin Diaz on his outing as per SNY.
With Diaz now back into the bullpen, the team has a reliable option in the roster to close out a game at any given stage. The Mets fans are keeping their fingers cross regarding this as they hope for a massive turnaround in the 2024 season.
