PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Edwin Diaz is relieved he can have a normal spring training in 2025.

Entering last season, the Mets closer needed to be handled with close supervision. After spending all of 2023 rehabbing a torn patellar tendon in his right knee, Diaz had gone nearly a year between competitive innings after sustaining the injury during the World Baseball Classic.

He didn’t run for the first time until he appeared at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Diaz’s fielding practice was even more calculated, spent away from the rest of the team’s pitching staff.

“Now, I’m able to do whatever I want,” Diaz told NorthJersey.com. “I’m able to do my own work, so that’s something I like because spring training I use it get ready for the season. I’m able to work through everything, (pitcher fielding practice) with the team. Last year, I couldn’t do that. That’s something good.”

Diaz is hoping a full, normal runway to the season can help him get closer to the form he showcased prior to the injury in 2022 when he struck out 118 batters in 62 innings and received down-ballot NL Cy Young votes. Last season, Diaz spent a short stint on the injured list with a shoulder impingement, weathered a suspension for sticky stuff and finished with a 6-4 record, 3.52 ERA, 20 saves and 84 strikeouts in 53⅔ innings.

Edwin Diaz’s rocky 2024 season

When Diaz returned to the mound in a major league game for the first time last season, the closer was still working to regain the firepower he once had.

He sputtered through a merciless May, lost his handle on the closer’s role after he blew four saves in five attempts in the month, allowing nine earned runs in 9⅓ innings. Diaz’s triple-digit velocity did not return until his second appearance back from the injured list on June 14 against the Padres.

“We pushed it because I wanted to start the season with the team,” Diaz said of his early struggles. “I went through the injury a couple of days. I think after I came back from that, I was able to finish my pitches better. I was feeling way stronger. I kept that through the offseason.”

Down the stretch in the season, it was a peek back to vintage Diaz. In September, he nailed down five saves in six attempts, struck out 26 in 14 innings and maintained a 1.00 WHIP. He closed out the NL Wild Card Series victory in Game 3 with 1⅔ scoreless innings and closed the door on the Phillies’ season with a scoreless ninth in the NLDS, stranding a pair.

“Missed a season, came back and being able to help this team make the playoffs and finish two wins away to make the World Series was really amazing,” Diaz said. “Personally, I did feel proud of myself because I came through something during the season and to be able to get key outs at the end of the season during the playoffs, it was really emotional for me.”

In his first live batting practice this spring, Diaz was already up to 96 mph with his fastball. He threw his second live batting practice Tuesday, with one or two more before he will get into a Grapefruit League game.

Edwin Diaz’s focus for 2025 season

After Diaz got his legs back under him in 2024, one major area for improvement is controlling the run game. With Diaz’s delivery taking nearly two seconds last season, he allowed a career-high 22 stolen bases.

“If we get him somewhere around 1.5 (seconds), it’ll give our catchers a chance and people are not just basically walking to second base,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That’s something that we’ll see during camp.”

Diaz is working on a new mentality this season. While his sole focus used to be on the hitter, even with a runner on base, he realizes the strain that can come when that player moves up 90 feet unimpeded.

He is spending bullpen sessions with the idea that a runner is on first base and he’s homed in his pickoff move during the offseason in Puerto Rico.

“A lot of times when guys are used to that high leg kick, they try to create power,” Mendoza said. “By being quicker to the plate, how is that going to affect his velo? We’ll be watching and we will have to adjust. But the fact that he knows that he needs to get better at that is a good step.”

Beyond the baserunning, Diaz is hoping to enter this season with a better handle on his command to the glove side, which would help tunnel his fastball and slider better. The Mets closer will continue to be on the attack, but he’s using spring training as an engine to shut the door even more efficiently.

“When I got to the (spring training) games, I just think what I have to do to improve,” Diaz said. “If I’ve got men on base, I will try to pick off, I will try to do my thing. If I have a bad outing, I think it’s normal because it’s spring training.”