Mets' Edwin Diaz strikes out the side in 'special' return to big-league mound
Mets closer Edwin Diaz looked to be in midseason form as he made his return to the mound on Monday night against the Miami Marlins.
Diaz, of course, missed all of last season after suffering a knee injury while celebrating a Team Puerto Rico win at the World Baseball Classic.
He worked his way back and was closing in on a return to the mound, but with the Mets out of playoff contention, they decided it was best to shut him down.
The righty came into camp ready to roll, dominating his teammates in live BP sessions and a minor league intrasquad game, before clearing the necessary hurdles to return to game action.
That finally came on Monday night, and it was well worth the wait.
After entering to his signature walk-in song 'Narco,' Diaz came out pumping gas, as he touched 97 MPH on a first pitch fastball to Marlins outfielder Jesus Sanchez.
He fell behind in the count 2-1, but quickly settled back in and got Sanchez fishing on a nasty slider out of the zone.
He followed that up with back-to-back dominant punchouts of Avisail Garcia and Jon Berti, striking out the side on just 13 pitches in his first appearance on a big-league mound since last March.
"It was crazy," Diaz said. "I heard the people screaming and everything and I was just trying to control my emotions in that moment because I knew I had to do my job. It's a spring training game but I was treating it like a big-league game controlling my emotions and my pitches.
"I threw a lot of lives and two backfield games, so I was making sure my pitches were the way I wanted them before I stepped on a big-league mound, so I knew it would be good, but three strikeouts in my first outing was amazing."
Diaz's outing certainly was amazing as he made a terrific impression on his new manager.
"He was special from the very beginning," Carlos Mendoza said. "I experienced the trumpets on the other side of the dugout, but it's good to be on the same side now. I thought he controlled his emotions well, just a really good day for us."
When he was last on the mound, Diaz was one of the top closers in the game, recording a stellar 1.31 ERA and 0.83 WHIP while striking out over 50 percent of the batters he faced across 61 appearances.
Getting him back to shutting things down on the backend will be a huge boost for the Mets' bullpen this season.
