How Edwin Diaz has re-established the Mets’ confidence in him

It was, as Carlos Mendoza described it, “Big-boy time.” So the Mets manager called on his closer, Edwin Díaz, for a six-out save against a, well, big-boy lineup. And while the eighth and ninth innings Sunday night against the Phillies might have been hell on pulse rates and blue-and-orange serenity, Díaz ultimately delivered.

Díaz blazed a 98.3 mile-per-hour fastball past Kody Clemens for the final out of the Mets’ 2-1 victory over Philadelphia, a key win because it enables Díaz and his teammates to head to Atlanta holding a two-game lead over the Braves in the NL Wild Card race. Díaz has had an up-and-down season in returning from his awful knee injury, but maybe he’s re-established his dominance now.

He’s certainly re-established the Mets’ confidence in him and that could have crucial repercussions in October, when multi-inning zeroes from vital bullpen arms can tilt a series. Díaz figures to be one of the most important Mets in October. The Mets should keep using him aggressively in big-boy time.

“I wanted my best guy against their best here and then let it play out,” Mendoza said. The manager added, “We’ve been protecting him the whole year and now it’s big-boy time and he’s our guy. So proud of him.”

It was not easy, however. There was drama and, perhaps, a strategy kernel for potential October opponents to file away. Díaz, coming off a four-out save Saturday that cost 17 pitches, got the six outs, earning his 20th save. He threw 30 pitches Sunday and the Phillies swung 13 times, missing nine times, according to MLB’s Statcast.

But Díaz gave up a hit and two walks. The Phillies ran at will, too, stealing four bases while he was pitching, something that opposing scouts at the game no doubt noted.

Díaz fanned the first batter he faced, the dangerous Kyle Schwarber, with 97-mph heat, the first of his four strikeouts. But Trea Turner blooped a single to center. Turner stole both second and third, but Díaz got Bryce Harper on a check-swing on more 97-mph gas and then retired Alec Bohm on a grounder on his first slider of the night.

In the ninth, Díaz got Nick Castellanos on a fly ball, but then walked Bryson Stott, who also stole two bases, including one when Díaz whiffed JT Realmuto for the second out. After Díaz walked Brandon Marsh, Mendoza went to the mound. Ryne Stanek was getting ready in the bullpen, just in case.

“I just wanted to make sure that (Díaz) was feeling good, because I was pushing him,” Mendoza said. “He got four out for us (Saturday), and then, you know, six (Sunday). That’s not easy. But I also wanted to explain the situation.”

Mendoza wanted to talk through the first-and-third scenario. What if the runners took off? He wanted to tell Pete Alonso how to hold the runner at first, his infielders how to play the batter. “There were a lot of things there, strategy-wise,” Mendoza said. “I wanted everybody on the same page.”

Mendoza’s faith and aggressiveness paid off and his closer’s self-belief is soaring. And Sunday’s usage plan might be a window into the way Mendoza will handle the closer if – when? – the Mets make the playoffs. October’s built-in off-days give managers a chance to narrow their circle of trust in the bullpen and lean on their most electric relievers, so figure on seeing Díaz get this kind of chance again.

As it was, Sunday’s six-out save was just the second of his career. The first came against the Braves on Aug. 4, 2022. More attempts figure to be on the way, though.

“Those final pitches felt pretty good,” Díaz said. “I saw 101 lighting up on the pitch before the strikeout. So I was feeling great. Just was trying to, ‘Don’t overthrow, try to make pitches.’”

Díaz said Mendoza told him on the mound, “‘You’re the guy here. We need you. Finish it out. I trust you.’ That was the conversation.”

“I feel great,” Díaz added. “Early in the season, I wasn’t playing the way that everyone was expecting. Now I’m coming out and closing games and when they give me the ball, I’m doing my job. I feel really good. I feel really happy.”

Based on some of the things Mendoza said after the game, this kind of late-season daring in using Díaz must have been part of the plan all along, though who could blame the Mets if they hesitated now, considering the way the closer struggled earlier this year.

“Early on, you stay away from back-to-backs to, three-out-of-four, because of situations like this,” Mendoza said. “So when we do need them, they’re going to be ready to go. He’s coming off a major injury. He missed a whole year. He struggled.

“At the beginning, he had it rough and a tough month of May. But he’s one of the best in the game. And what we’ve seen lately with him is just 2022 (Díaz’s finest season, you might remember), and here we are needing everything out of everybody, and he’s one of them. He’s giving it to us.”

It’s certainly being noticed by teammates. Brandon Nimmo, who had the game-winning hit with his sixth-inning home run off Zack Wheeler, was gushing about Díaz in the clubhouse.

“They have superstars all through that lineup and you’re asking him to go through there and not give up one run,” Nimmo said. “It’s a tough, tough thing to ask. But if anyone’s up for it, Diaz is, and just what a beautiful story for him.

“From the beginning of the season till now, it’s taken a lot of mental toughness to do what he’s done, and I just could not be more elated that this is the culmination of the last home game – him getting six outs for us against the heart of the Phillies lineup – to put us in a good position heading into Atlanta for the final few games.

“Just extremely proud of him and happy for him.”