Mets closer Edwin Diaz will undergo surgery this afternoon to repair a full-thickness tear of the patellar tendon in his right knee, general manager Billy Eppler announced this afternoon. The general timeline for recovery is around eight months, although in certain cases it’s possible to return in closer to six months. The team is not providing a specific timeline for Diaz’s return for the time being. SNY’s Andy Martino first tweeted that Diaz was dealing with an injury to his patellar tendon.
Diaz closed out last night’s World Baseball Classic quarterfinal matchup pitting his native Puerto Rico against the Dominican Republic with a scoreless frame. He was injured during the subsequent celebration. Diaz was helped to his feet by teammates and trainers before eventually being placed in a wheelchair and taken off the field.
It’s a devastating loss for the Mets and the worst fear of any team allowing a star player to participate in the World Baseball Classic. Diaz was baseball’s most dominant reliever in 2022, punching out a comical 50.2% of his opponents en route to a 1.31 ERA and 32 saves. It was his second sub-2.00 ERA of the past three seasons — the first came in just 25 2/3 frames during the shortened 2020 campaign — and a strong enough showing to convince the Mets to re-sign the 28-year-old fireballer on a record-setting five-year, $102MM deal just one day after the 2022 World Series concluded.
More to come.
