PORT ST. LUCIE — As he reported to camp last week, Edwin Diaz declared that he thinks he “will be the same guy” this season.
Through first swings and then words, his teammates confirmed as much Friday.
The Mets closer bulldozed through Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and Harrison Bader in a live batting practice session that affirmed Diaz’s often unhittable stuff is still intact.
Against some of the club’s top hitters, Diaz induced five whiffs on eight swings at Clover Park, leaving his teammates buzzing.
Did that sling-shotting righty on the mound look like the same superstar whose ridiculous 2022 season made him the Mets’ $102 million man?
“Hell yeah,” Alonso said after a particularly telling at-bat.
Alonso looked at three pitches and was ahead in the theoretical count, 3-0.
A pair of sharp, hard sliders followed that the big first baseman offered at and missed.
Diaz turned to a top-of-the-zone fastball to finish off Alonso, who swung through that one, too.
“His slider looks really sharp,” Alonso said. “His fastball’s always explosive. Looking really good.”
In all, Diaz threw 20 pitches and allowed two balls in play — both from Lindor, who lofted what would have been a fly out and what approximated to a groundout to second base — while striking out Alonso and Bader in a dominant showing.
Diaz faced hitters for the first time this spring on Feb. 15, when his fastball maxed out at 96 mph, and he reported that he felt good afterward.
In both sessions, Lindor has stood in the box.
Lindor can tell his friend is not yet fully unleashing himself, but even a building-up Diaz has proven dominant.
“He looked much better today than he did last week,” the shortstop said. “His slider was sharper. His fastball had more carry. He’s starting to be more Diaz-like.”
There were no trumpets but there was another strong statement from Diaz, who missed all of last season after tearing his patellar tendon in his right knee during the World Baseball Classic.
Without their best reliever, the Mets’ bullpen was a glaring weakness — and ranked second to last by FanGraphs’ Wins Above Replacement tabulation — in what became a lost season for the club.
Diaz has said he could have been ready to return by the end of the season, but the upside was suspect for a Mets team that was far out of the playoff race.
A year later, Diaz looms as a critical re-addition whom Lindor acknowledged the Mets missed “a lot” last season.
David Robertson served as a fine closer until dealt to the Marlins, but the depth of the group was continually exposed.
Having Diaz at the back of the bullpen will be a comfort for new manager Carlos Mendoza, who said it was “really, really good to see Diaz go through his live BP.”
With the Mets’ Grapefruit League season beginning Saturday at home against the Cardinals, Diaz won’t be seen in exhibition games immediately.
His progression from surgery does not yet include fielding.
“The biggest thing is for him to get comfortable on the mound facing hitters before we move him to the next phase, which is covering bases, fielding bunts, fielding his position overall,” Mendoza said. “Like I said, he’s moving around well, feeling good and that’s what we want.”
The Mets want the same pitcher against whom batters hit just .160 in 2022 and who turned Citi Field into a nightclub with each “Narcos” entrance.
The Mets want the same electric right arm who finished with a 1.31 ERA, 17.13 strikeouts per nine innings and 32 saves, plus NL Cy Young and MVP votes.
The early indications from several of Diaz’s teammates is that a year after surgery, their best pitcher has returned.
“The feedback from the hitters,” Mendoza said, before trailing off. “They’re excited to have him on the mound.”
