Mets' Edwin Diaz, scarred from WBC, waiting until World Series win to celebrate on field
Francisco Alvarez (4) of the New York Mets (left) and Edwin Diaz (39) celebrate after winning in the ninth inning of game one of a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images/TNS) Credit: TNS/Edward M. Pio Roda
Scarred physically and emotionally, Edwin Diaz has been a passive participant in the Mets’ recent on-field celebrations, refraining from the histrionics in favor of a more mellow scream and smile.
The last time he really, truly let himself get in on such an occasion was March 15, 2023. He was on the mound for the end of Puerto Rico’s dramatic win over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. As he jumped along with teammates in their excited mob — a normal occurrence — he tore the patellar tendon in his right knee. He missed the entire season.
So now, even though the opportunity has presented itself repeatedly during the most joyous moments of the Mets’ improbable run, Diaz has declined to dogpile. He’s happy to just let the rest of the Mets be happy.
He is open to celebrating like that again, he said, but he wants to wait for the right moment, the big one, the World Series.
“Why do I have to keep celebrating right now?” Diaz said after the Mets clinched a spot in the NL Championship Series, which begins Sunday. “I know we’re advancing, we’re having fun. But I got hurt, so I have it on my mind. If I celebrate big, I want it to be in the World Series.”
Diaz’s approach has very much been a conscious decision, marked by carefulness and even a nervous hesitancy.
When the Mets clinched a playoff spot in Atlanta on Sept. 30, the final day of the regular season, he slammed his glove to the ground as catcher Francisco Alvarez ran toward him and jumped — into the closer, if not into his arms, exactly, because Diaz made no effort to catch him.
Then Diaz pointed Alvarez and others toward second base, where the excitement picked up in earnest.
“I said to my wife [a day before that], if we clinch, I won’t celebrate with the guys,” Diaz recalled that day. “I will try to stay away. I feel good and I know I can jump and celebrate with the guys, but just to make sure I will be ready for the playoffs, so I stayed away from that.
“I stayed on the mound, waited for them to jump and everything and then go talked to everyone.”
When the Mets moved on again, taking the NL Wild Card Series from the Brewers later in the week, Diaz watched the last inning from the dugout. The final out triggered a rush of everybody — or almost everybody — onto the field. Not Diaz. He moseyed toward the action, arms swinging, pleased with another significant accomplishment but the memory of anguish still fresh.
And Wednesday night, when the Mets beat the Phillies in the NL Division Series at Citi Field, he let out a primal scream, again walked toward Alvarez and — with others running at him — raised both arms and waived his palms down, as if to say, OK, let’s simmer down here. And so they again congregated around Franisco Lindor near second base.
Diaz endured a scare in the moments prior, walking his first two batters to bring the potential tying run to the plate. He has allowed three runs, two hits and five walks across three postseason appearances (3 1/3 innings). He also has struck out seven.
“In order for us to continue to get where we want to get, we’re going to need him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I’ve been saying that since May, when he was struggling, and he always finds a way to get the job done, to go through those struggles.”
It was Lindor — who played for Puerto Rico and was there for Diaz’s freak injury — who helped crystalize the celebration philosophy, Diaz said.
When Lindor hit the game-winning home run in Atlanta, and again after his grand slam against Philadelphia, he rounded the bases stone-faced, a visual signal of what he later verbalized: The Mets haven’t fully won. Not yet. There is more work to do.
As Lindor said late Wednesday: “I want to win it all.”
“I said, why didn’t you celebrate? He said, the game is not over,” Diaz said. “So our season is not over yet. We won today. We’re proud. But we got eight more games to win. That would be a big celebration for me.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
