Mets' Edwin Diaz tosses perfect inning in intrasquad game: 'I feel 100 percent ready'
As the Mets and Yankees were about to take the field at Clover Park, a familiar sound rang out from the backfields, a sound Mets fans have been clamoring to hear for almost a full calendar year.
The thundering Trumpets of "Narco" could mean only one thing – Edwin Diaz was back on the mound.
The 29-year-old closer, who tore the patellar tendon in his right knee on March 16 while celebrating a Puerto Rico win in the World Baseball Classic, started an intrasquad minor league game on Tuesday, showcasing his repertoire as he builds back up to 100 percent.
Diaz pitched one perfect inning, retiring Luke Voit on one pitch and capping off the inning by getting top prospect Jett Williams swinging on what appeared to be a wipeout slider.
In all Diaz threw 14 pitches, with his fastball in the 96-98 MPH range, and he was happy to have his level of competition jump up from his last live BP session.
“It’s game time," Diaz said about hearing the trumpets as he took the mound. "After my last live [BP] I told them I wanted to [raise] my level of competition, so I wanted to feel like I was in a real game. I know that was an intraquad game, but I knew I had to make pitches and field my position if they hit it by me or cover first. So, I told them I was ready to be in the games.
Diaz said that he expects to throw one more minor league game on Friday before joining the major league club.
"I just feel like I need competition. I’m ready," Diaz said. "I’m throwing my pitches like I want to. I feel 100 percent ready, so I need games, I told them. …Today was really good."
Diaz’s injury last spring put a damper on the Mets’ season before it even began, as members of the bullpen had to quickly take on different roles than they had previously expected. The right-hander was coming off of an utterly dominant 2022 season, when he pitched to a 1.31 ERA with 17.1 strikeouts per nine innings and 32 saves.
