Diaz (knee) said Wednesday that he's progressing well after surgery and believes he can return from the 60-day injured list in October, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports. "If everything goes well, I think I can be back quicker than eight months... I might throw this year," Diaz said.
Diaz tore the patellar tendon in his right knee back on March 15 while celebrating Team Puerto Rico's victory over Team Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic and later underwent surgery. The hard-throwing closer is presumed to be out for the regular season, and even a chance to help in the postseason should the Mets qualify seems unlikely at this juncture. Still, it's a positive sign that Diaz is making progress from the operation on his knee, and assuming he steers clear of any setbacks in the months to come, he looks like he'll at least be ready to go for the start of spring training next year.