About a year ago, New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz suffered a freak injury while celebrating a win with his native Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
One of his teammates made contact with him, and the rest is history: a torn patellar tendon, a long, complicated surgery, and the whole 2023 campaign on the shelf.
Fast forward to spring training 2024, and Diaz is now ready to graduate to live spring training action.
“‘We’re excited.’ Carlos Mendoza says Edwin Díaz will pitch his first major league game tomorrow after a long year of rehab,” SNY tweeted on Sunday.
"We're excited."
Carlos Mendoza says Edwin Díaz will pitch his first major league game tomorrow after a long year of rehab. pic.twitter.com/JSwvHdfxUJ
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 10, 2024
The Mets, at long last, have their star closer back.
Diaz was brilliant in 2022, with a 1.31 ERA in 62 innings and 118 strikeouts.
He also added 32 saves (in 35 opportunities) to that stat line.
That performance earned him a five-year deal worth $100 million, the biggest for a closer at the time.
Now, he will be ready to live up to that hefty deal while dominating in the back of the Mets’ bullpen.
By all accounts, the rehab went just as expected, so Diaz should be able to have a relatively normal 2024 and continue to make history with every save and every punchout.
He will be facing the Detroit Tigers in his spring debut, and if all goes well, he will slot right back into his old closer role.
With Diaz now fully healthy, the Mets could potentially dream about making the postseason.
It would qualify as a mild surprise, but knowing their budget, their strong farm, and the quality of some of their players, it shouldn’t.
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