New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz will not pitch this season, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner confirmed Monday (per MLB.com). The two-time All-Star is recovering well from March surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his right knee, but there simply isn't enough time remaining in the season to get game ready. Díaz will continue his rehab work leading into the offseason instead.
Here's what Hefner told reporters Monday (via MLB.com):
"It's too risky," Hefner said. "I'm not as concerned about the pitching. It's more about fielding and a ball getting hit back at him and he has to get out of the way, and really it's about covering first base and covering a bunt. I have very little concern about him pitching at the moment.
"If we were in a different situation as a team, we definitely could have pushed to the point where he'd probably be pitching in games right now. Obviously you saw with our team this year, he's an integral part. We can't do anything to risk next year by reinjuring an already unprecedented injury. That's where we're at right now."
Díaz suffered the injury when he landed awkwardly while jumping up and down with his teammates celebrating Puerto Rico's upset win over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic on March 15. He had surgery the next day. The injury was expected to keep him out the entire season, though Díaz left the door open for a return late in the year.
Last month Díaz said, "I want to pitch this year, the progress has been perfect," and he threw his first bullpen session on Aug. 27. He has continued to build up in recent weeks and could face hitters in live batting practice at some point. Díaz still has a few weeks of knee rehab exercises ahead of him, otherwise he is expected to have a normal offseason heading into 2024.
A year ago Díaz, 29, had one of the best closer seasons ever, going 32 for 35 in save chances and pitching to a 1.31 ERA in 62 innings. He struck out 118 of the 235 batters he faced, an astronomical 50.2%. The Mets signed Díaz to a five-year, $102 million contract last offseason. It is the richest reliever contract ever in terms of total dollars and average annual value ($20.4 million).
The Mets, with their MLB record $330.7 million payroll, are 70-80 and will soon be eliminated from postseason contention. The season has gone so poorly that they sold at the trade deadline, notably shipping out Mark Canha, Tommy Pham, David Robertson, Max Scherzer, and Justin Verlander. In some cases the Mets ate money to get better prospects in return.
On the morning of the trade deadline, the Mets were 50-55 and 17.5 games out in the NL East, and six games behind the third wild-card spot. Perhaps a healthy Díaz would have had the Mets closer to a postseason spot, so much so that they instead bought at the deadline. Then again, watching the Mets this year, it's clear their problems ran deeper than a missing closer.
