“Sweat, dirt and resin.”
Mets closer Edwin Diaz said on Saturday afternoon that he did not plan to change anything about his pre-match routine upon returning from a 10-game suspension for an ejection related to a sticky substance.
That’s exactly why the right-hander wasn’t nervous at all when he slowly trotted out of the PNC Park bullpen and was checked out by the umpires before his appearance in the bottom of the ninth against the Pirates.
But after passing his first test back, he was officially cleared to take the mound, Diaz showed some nervousness when hitting shortstop. Oneil Cruz in the leg with a 97 mph fastball early in the inning.
He quickly returned to his dominant form and was able to throw a 98 mph fastball hitting lefty Rowdy Tellez and then secured the much-needed victory with a game-ending double play.
“I felt really good,” Diaz said. “I got a little excited, I was trying to be perfect, but once I got the hit by pitch I was just focusing on making my pitches and throwing them where I wanted and we were able to get them.”
And those were the last three crucial outs, which proved to be extremely difficult for the Mets to secure over the course of the ten games they were without Diaz.
New York’s bullpen posted the worst ERA in baseball over that span and finished 5-5, with four of the five losses came after they had a late lead or were tied after seven innings.
That’s exactly why Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said postgame that having your All-Star ready to close things out makes a big difference for this team.
“It’s a totally different game when you have Diaz ready to play,” said the captain. “I was able to be more aggressive in making decisions and taking the starter out of the game and the bullpen recovered a lot.”
After a bit of a rough start to the season, Diaz appears to be back to his dominant form as he has missed three straight save opportunities and has yet to allow a run in that span.
David Stearns will likely still need to add some replacements before the trade deadline, but bringing the All-Star back into the mix is certainly a huge boost for this team.
