Sugar couldn’t have been sweeter.
In his first game action since tearing his patellar tendon in the World Baseball Classic, Edwin Díaz entered to “Narco,” the trumpets and a standing ovation Monday night. He left after after striking out the side.
“Man, I feel great,” the two-time All-Star told SNY in a dugout interview. “First time in a year coming back and pitching in front of the crowd. It was amazing.”
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
“I tried to block (out) everything. But I was a little bit nervous because I was a year out (from injury). So I was trying to make my pitches. After I threw my first pitch, everything calmed down.”
He fanned Miami’s Jesús Sánchez, Avisaíl García and Jon Berti—all swinging, all on sliders—to the delight of 5,119 at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie. His fastball topped out at 98. He pitched the fifth inning in a game New York would lose 1-0. He said in a post-game interview that the atmosphere was “crazy.”
“I just want to try to control my emotions in that moment because I know I have to do my job,” he said. “Even if it’s a spring training game, but I treat this game like a regular season.”
Díaz missed last season after tearing his patellar tendon celebrating Puerto Rico’s win over the Dominican Republic at the World Baseball Classic. It was a devastating blow to lose the closer who struck out 118 in 62 innings in 2022 while recording 32 saves and finishing ninth in Cy Young voting.
Mets fans missed “Narco” at Citi Field last year, but the father of two boys, ages 7 and 2, kept the tradition.
“In the last year, my kids, my oldest son put it on every time,” he told SNY. “They love that song. Every time when I was home, they were playing the trumpets around the house.” It will be blaring again at Citi Field soon.
