Díaz feels sharp, hurls perfect ninth in first game back

NEW YORK -- Closer Edwin Díaz's return from the IL on Thursday was a successful one. In his first game back, he pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, picking up the win in the Mets' 3-2 walk-off win against the Marlins.

"I'm feeling 100%, you know," Díaz said. "I thought I was throwing 99, 100 [mph] today, I didn't do that earlier in the season. I was locating the pitches the way I want to. My slider was sharp. I just did my job. As soon as I threw my first two pitches, I totally knew I was feeling great, so I just backed it off a little bit and just tried to throw the ball to the catcher."

Before the injury, Díaz wasn’t even close to being the pitcher who dominated hitters and won the Trevor Hoffman Award as the National League’s top reliever in 2022. In 20 games this season, Díaz has allowed 12 earned runs in 20 innings.

At one point, after a game against the Marlins on May 18, in which he allowed four runs in one-third of an inning, Díaz acknowledged that he lost his confidence. But he was back on the mound against the Giants five days later. Díaz pitched two games in the San Francisco series at Citi Field and allowed one run in two innings before the shoulder injury flared up.

The Mets still have hopes they can make the postseason. Following Thursday's game against Miami, the Mets moved to three games back of the idle Giants for the third and final NL Wild Card spot.

“For us to make a run at this, we are going to need Díaz to be Edwin Díaz,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “... He feels good, physically and mentally. So I’m comfortable with him going back to the closer’s role.”

The Mets are convinced Díaz is the guy in the ninth inning because of the way he performed during his two Minor League rehab games for High-A Brooklyn. He adjusted his mechanics, and his slider and fastball appear back to normal. Díaz pitched in two games for Brooklyn and didn’t allow a run in two innings.

"When I went to the IL, I would take three, four days off, working the arm strength," Díaz said. "... As soon as I went to Minor Leagues, those games, they were really happy with what I did down there -- if I was locating my fastball the way I want to, the slider was a good combo with the fastball. I did the same thing today."

Mendoza is convinced Díaz’s confidence is back based on the conversations the two have had in recent days.

“The conviction -- you can see it on his face,” Mendoza said. “He wasn’t the same guy when he was struggling. You could tell he was feeling it a little bit. But the past couple of days -- even though he was facing Minor League hitters -- you could tell that he is in a good spot and ready to go.”

Senga back on mound

Mets right-hander Kodai Senga, who is on the 60-day IL because of a right posterior shoulder capsule strain, threw another bullpen session on Wednesday afternoon without any problems. He was able to throw all of his pitches, which includes his four-seamer, cutter and slider.

“The good sign was that he was smiling after he was done throwing,” said Mendoza, who witnessed Senga’s session.

Senga will probably throw two more bullpens before facing hitters in a live batting practice session. He was coming off a great rookie season in 2023, in which he went 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts. Senga was slated to be the Opening Day starter this year before the injury occurred during Spring Training.