After tearing his right patellar tendon while celebrating a win at the World Baseball Classic in early March, it seemed the trumpets would not be blaring at Citi Field this season.
Díaz, however, never ruled out returning late this season, and on Friday, the Mets received some great news.
Edwin Díaz was spotted throwing at Citi Field
On Friday, SNY’s cameras spotted Díaz throwing before the Mets’ 6-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. In the video, you see Díaz throwing from a level surface and getting his arm loose while using far from maximum effort.
While making it back this season is unlikely, there is still a chance. The typical right patellar tendon tear recovery timeline is six to eight months. If Díaz recovers on the earlier side of the timeline, that could see the 29-year-old returning in September.
Díaz is coming off his best season as a New York Met when the Puerto Rico native pitched to a 1.31 ERA with 118 strikeouts and 32 saves.
For his efforts, the 29-year-old made his second career all-star appearance, made the ALL- MLB First Team, placed in the top 16 in both MVP and CY Young voting, and won the Reliever of the Year award. Díaz parlayed that success into a five-year 102 million dollar contract, the largest contract in history for a reliever.
Díaz’s loss has not been as drastic as initially anticipated, as his replacement, David Robertson, has been excellent for the blue and orange.
The 38-year-old has been better than anybody could have expected, as in 30.1 innings, Robertson has pitched to a 1.78 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 10 saves. However, despite Robertson being fantastic, getting back arguably the best closer in baseball would do wonders for lengthening a bullpen that has struggled all year.
With the Mets currently sitting four games under .500 and chances at October baseball in Queens looking bleak, it may be best that Díaz focuses on being fully healthy for 2024. Still, the idea of the blue and orange getting Díaz in 2023 should not be overlooked.