Díaz battled early setbacks and looked for his '22 form.

NEW YORK — Back in 2022, before he tore the patellar tendon in his right knee, underwent emergency surgery and missed an entire season, Edwin Díaz put together one of the most dominant reliever campaigns in Major League history. Throughout the summer, he was all but untouchable. His entrance music became such appointment television that SNY, which broadcasts most Mets games, ceased cutting to commercial when Díaz entered the game.

The version of Díaz that walked off the mound after the top of the ninth inning Monday was something less invincible. Throughout the first six and a half weeks of Díaz’s comeback season, in fact, he has clearly been a diminished version of himself. Díaz is fooling batters less often and allowing home runs at a significantly higher rate.

Those issues formed the foundation of Díaz’s second blown save in his last four chances. The Mets closer allowed two runs in the top of the ninth inning at Citi Field en route to a 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Phillies.

“The best closers are going to go through it at times,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s one of those where he didn’t have it today. But he’s a huge part of this team, and he’ll come through it.”

Until Díaz does, though, questions will continue to surface regarding various aspects of his form.

Control and command

Unlike control, which refers to a pitcher’s ability to throw strikes, command is a pitcher’s ability to hit specific parts of the strike zone. Díaz was elite at that skill in 2022, painting fastballs on both sides of the zone and burying sliders arm-side.

He’s been worse at it in 2024. Entering Monday’s play, Díaz had thrown about 30 percent of his pitches over the heart of the zone, compared to 26 percent in 2022. Opposing hitters were slugging .773 on those offerings.

To be clear, this is a small sample. But when asked about Díaz’s struggles after he gave up two more hits in the ninth inning Monday, the first words out of Mendoza’s mouth were: “Command of his pitches — obviously.” Díaz agreed that “I think I’ve been missing my location a little this year.”

Díaz also walked two batters on Monday and hit one with the bases loaded, though he took issue with the second of those free passes. His 1-1 pitch to Whit Merrifield was a fastball that appeared to nick the outside corner, but umpire Gabe Morales called it a ball. Díaz’s 3-1 pitch was clearly a ball, but Merrifield came close to swinging; first-base ump Ryan Additon ruled that Merrifield had held up.