Mets’ Edwin Diaz offers a new and optimistic explanation for earlier struggles
Standing a few feet from Edwin Diaz in the Mets clubhouse after Thursday’s 3-2 win over Miami, it was easy to notice his profound relief and excitement.
“I was throwing 99, 100 today,” Diaz said, practically glowing. “I wasn’t doing that early in the season.”
The equation for the Mets is fairly simple: If Diaz dominates, the team has a chance to hang around the Wild Card race. If he struggles, no shot.
When he emerged from the injured list with a dominant ninth inning, with a fastball that touched 100 mph and sat 1.4 mph better than his season average, not to mention a slider that had its old bite back, he offered the Mets a glimpse of what could yet be.
Before the game, I talked to a rival evaluator who posited that Diaz’s mechanics had been off this year in an apparent attempt to avoid putting pressure on his right knee. Diaz missed the entire 2023 season after injuring that knee in the World Baseball Classic.
Diaz this year was “all arm, like he’s trying to protect the knee,” the evaluator said.
After Diaz finished his media scrum postgame, I pulled him aside and asked about that theory. In rejecting it, Diaz offered an explanation that offered a strong suggestion for future success.
“I think it was more being down a year,” Diaz told me. “In spring training I ramped up quick. Maybe my shoulder was a little tired. I think it was.”
After blowing four saves in nine attempts this season he went on the IL on May 29 with a right shoulder impingement.
“My shoulder was fine,” he said. “Just, it felt like it was tired. Heavy -- my shoulder was heavy. The time off helped me.”
That last sentence seemed key: Diaz missed a year, ramped up quickly, struggled and lost his confidence -- but then he rested. And now he feels better.
He added that tests on his shoulder showed no structural damage. He is all clear and good to go.
And what about the scout's suggestion of using too much of his arm and not enough of his lower half? Could that have caused the shoulder issue?
“No not really, because my knee felt one hundred percent,” Diaz said. “I didn't have any setbacks with my knee during my rehab or during spring training. I just think the time I got to spring training and started ramping up -- because I didn’t pitch in the winter. So I got to spring training and started throwing a lot, and maybe my shoulder was a bit tired.”
With a lighter shoulder, sharper stuff and more confidence, post-IL Diaz returned in a far better place than he was last seen.
For the Mets, this was a better development even more than the walk-off win.
