Mets' Edwin Diaz showing signs of recapturing dominant form

Edwin Díaz was at his absolute best on Saturday when he secured a dramatic one-run win for the New York Mets against the New York Yankees.

After the Mets took a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Francisco Lindor, Díaz entered to pitch in the bottom of the ninth hoping to secure the save and a win for the Mets against their cross-town rivals. The hard-throwing closer was everything the Mets could have hoped for, pitching a dominant one-two-three inning with two strikeouts to secure his tenth save and remain perfect in save chances this season.

One of the most notable moments during Díaz's dominant outing was when he faced off against perhaps the most prolific hitter in the game right now, Aaron Judge. Despite entering Saturday's game with an absurd .412 batting average, Díaz was able to work the count full against the Yankees slugger and got him to strike out on a high 99 mph fastball to end the game.

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Although Díaz has had to work through some traffic during several of his outings this season, the hard-throwing-righty is beginning to show signs of his 2022-form. Díaz posted a career-best 1.31 ERA that year and converted 32 of his 35 save opportunities, earning him the honor of the 2022 National League Reliever of the Year.

Díaz was very blunt when he asked about his mindset heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, knowing he was going to have a tough task at hand against an elite Yankees lineup.

"Just throwing strikes," Díaz said. "I know I gotta deliver stuff, I've been feeling great. Just go out there and them try to make them chase and that's what I did today."

After seeing Reed Garrett struggle mightily in his outing during the eighth inning when he walked three batters as well as giving up a hard-hit double, the Mets will certainly love to see this version of Edwin Díaz each time he enters out of the bullpen in crucial spots.

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