Edwin Diaz says his goal all along has been to make it back to the Mets this season, and he believes it’s a legitimate possibility following the latest step of his rehabilitation from March knee surgery.
Diaz pitched off the bullpen mound Sunday for the first time since he tore his patellar tendon celebrating a victory for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, and the All-Star closer said he’s working toward appearing in games before the out-of-it Mets’ season ends on Oct. 1.
“My goal is I want to pitch this year … and to come back as soon as I can. As of right now everything is coming along really good and I’m happy,” Diaz said before Monday’s game against the Rangers in his first public comments since early April. “As soon as I got the surgery done, they said your recovery time is 6-to-8 months. My goal was to be ready in six months and I’m working on that.
“I’ve been feeling great, the progress has been perfect. We are checking a lot of boxes and we feel really good right now.”
The 29-year-old Diaz, who registered 32 saves and a 1.31 ERA over 61 relief appearances last season, acknowledged he might run out of time — but he added that it’s important to him to “pitch in one or two games” by season’s end to “finish on a positive note.”
“I want to try to come back and help his team win this year, but if not, I will work out hard in the offseason to come ready next year,” Diaz said. “Our step right now is I threw my first bullpen [Sunday] and I feel great. It went really good. And we gotta check how it feels in the next couple of days [before determining the next step].”
That likely will be at least one additional bullpen session before Diaz progresses to facing hitters in a live batting-practice setup.
The two-time All-Star said Sunday’s session went as planned, and that he “easily” was touching his target of 93-95 mph with his fastball.
“It’s exciting for everybody, but we’re not there yet,” Buck Showalter said. “I hope we get to that point.”
Showalter previously had said that Diaz had thrown from a mound more than once in recent weeks, but the pitcher clarified that those sessions essentially amounted to “playing catch” without the catcher crouching behind the plate.
“Yes, it was my first one. … The catcher was down and I was concentrating to make my pitches and try to throw like it was a game,” Diaz said. “Now I gotta see how my knee responds. As of right now, I feel great and we have to see how many bullpens we have and I guess I have to throw a couple of live BPs and then see what’s coming.”
According to Diaz “being outside the team was the hardest part” of the last five months, especially watching the Mets fall out of playoff contention before dismantling much of the roster at the trade deadline.
“I want to be there with them closing games every single night, but we have to battle with this and try to see if we can stay healthy,” Diaz said. “It was tough because on paper we have a really good team, but things didn’t come out the way we wanted to.”
Diaz added that he has no regrets about getting injured while celebrating on the field after Puerto Rico’s WBC win over the Dominican Republic on March 15.
He had to be carried off the field and underwent surgery the following day.
“No, I think that’s part of the game, man,” Diaz said. “I didn’t get hurt pitching or something. I was celebrating making little jumps, and that was something I look back and say that was weird but that’s part of the game that can happen in my house or anywhere, so I’m OK with that.”
Asked if pitching this season would give him some “peace of mind” heading into the offseason, Diaz smiiled and replied, “I know my stuff is there. The main thing for me is that my knee is good and healthy. I feel healthy right now and I’m pitching again. I just want to get that positive note to go home and relax and work hard for next year.”
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