Cue the trumpets. He’s back. Hardly a single person was left in their seats when Edwin Díaz jogged onto the field at Clover Park Monday evening against the Marlins. The 29-year-old flame thrower made his long-awaited return to the mound nearly a year to the date after suffering a patellar tendon injury in the World Baseball Classic. 

The All-Star closer struck out the side on 14 pitches and touched 98 mph with his fastball. He left the mound to a standing ovation.

Díaz earned NL Reliever of the Year honors in 2022 and signed a five-year, $102 million contract that offseason. He has a career 2.93 ERA, 657 strikeouts and 205 saves through 399.1 innings of work. The Mets acquired Díaz and Robinson Canó after the 2018 season in exchange for Jarred Kelenic, Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak, Gerson Bautista and Justin Dunn.