Mets' Carlos Mendoza 'Not concerned at all' after Edwin Díaz turns in rough outing

Carlos Mendoza is not pressing the panic button despite Edwin Díaz struggling against the Marlins on Wednesday.

Oct 18, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (39) reacts after striking out Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, not pictured during the eighth inning during game five of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Not a lot went right for the New York Mets on Wednesday. They were blanked by the Miami Marlins, 5-0, snapping their six-game winning streak as they were even held without a hit until the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Mets also saw their All-Star closer, Edwin Díaz, struggle mightily in his latest outing when he came into the ninth inning hoping to keep the deficit at two runs. Díaz's command, however, was anything but efficient.

After walking leadoff batter Xavier Edwards and uncorking a wild pitch that advanced Edwards to second, Díaz gave up a one-out RBI single to Jonah Bride and a two-run homer to Matt Mervis, which made the score 5-0 and put the game out of reach for New York. Díaz was eventually removed in favor of Danny Young after issuing another walk to Griffin Conine; the Mets' closer threw 30 pitches, but only 16 of them were strikes.

Despite his struggles and noticeable decrease in velocity, manager Carlos Mendoza is not ready to press the panic button yet after Díaz turned in his worst outing of the young season.

"We've seen it at times with him, but then he's got the ability to come right back and execute three perfect pitches," Mendoza said. "Sometimes he's gonna let one go, or he's gonna bounce one, but we've seen it where he finds it and before we know it, he's throwing six nasty sliders or five fastballs in a row, that's who he is, but I'm not concerned about that."

"We've seen it at times with him, but then he's got the ability to come right back and execute three perfect pitches."

Carlos Mendoza says that Edwin Díaz's control issues are not a concern: pic.twitter.com/VEv4224F4X

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 9, 2025

The Mets are hoping that Díaz can return to his 2022 form; that year, the now 31-year-old converted 32 of 35 save opportunities and pitched to a 1.31 ERA across 62 innings, which resulted in him being named the 2022 National League Reliever of the Year.

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However, while Díaz had a respectable 3.52 ERA last season and recorded 20 saves, the righty blew seven saves and gave up seven home runs in his 53.2 innings of work. Díaz's 2024 season was also interrupted twice: he missed two weeks with a right shoulder impingement, and was suspended for ten games for violating MLB's foreign substance policy when he was ejected from the Mets' game against the Chicago Cubs on June 23 because of a sticky substance on his hands.

Díaz's command was also a bit shaky in his previous outing against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 6. Despite recording his second save, Díaz still hit two batters, which opened up a scoring threat for the Blue Jays.

While Díaz may not have been sharp at all in his latest outing against Miami, Mendoza is trying to preach patience with his closer in his ability to turn things around as the season progresses.