Edwin Diaz continues to play catch during his recovery from the torn right patellar tendon he suffered during the World Baseball Classic.
Mets manager Buck Showalter declined to discuss specifics about Diaz’s rehab, but he did say on Saturday that the club’s injured closer “is doing a lot of things he wasn’t doing” earlier in his recovery.
Diaz has said he wants to come back this season following the injury, which he suffered during a celebration following a Team Puerto Rico vicctory at the WBC.
With the Mets so far out of the playoff picture, however, it’s fair to wonder whether it matters if the right-hander returns this season.
Showalter said, prior to the Mets’ game Saturday night against the Dodgers at Citi Field, that the team’s place in the standings would not impact Diaz’s schedule.
“When the medical people say he’s ready for the next step, he’ll take it,’’ Showalter said. “We’re not gonna push it forward or pull it back.”
Showalter added that there has been no conversation yet about Diaz’s potential return to the mound.
The bullpen got another arm when David Peterson was moved there due to the addition of Jose Quintana to the rotation.
Peterson pitched well in his second stint in the Mets’ rotation and allowed a run in his first appearance out of the bullpen Friday in a loss to the Dodgers.
“You have to have a different mindset with how to attack guys [as a reliever],’’ Peterson said.
The lefty’s time in the pen might not last long.
The organization wants to keep him stretched out as a starter in case he’s needed back in the rotation.
There could be other arms for the pen at Triple-A Syracuse or coming back from rehab. Showalter said Sam Coonrod has progressed in his comeback from a lat strain and now is throwing bullpen sessions.
“He had a really good spring for us and probably would have made the club,’’ Showalter said of the 30-year-old who appeared in the majors with the Giants and Phillies over the previous four seasons.
Showalter also said Sean Reid-Foley, who pitched 19 games with the Mets the past two seasons, has shown positive signs at Syracuse, where he has pitched well in two of his three appearances.
Starling Marte was initially in the lineup Saturday, but he was scratched due to an illness.
DJ Stewart, who was originally playing left field, switched to right and Luis Guillorme was inserted at second base, with Jeff McNeil moving to left.
The Baby Mets the team had hoped would spark the offense have struggled of late.
Brett Baty entered Saturday in a long slump, with a .600 OPS over his previous 53 games.
He had a .938 OPS on May 1. Francisco Alvarez was in a 1-for-10 funk with five strikeouts, but that came after three straight multi-hit games.
Mark Vientos remains at Triple-A, where he’s hitting well.
And Ronny Mauricio, who had been in the conversation to potentially make his MLB debut earlier in the season, has yet to be called up, but like Vientos, continues to produce in the minors.
The Mets signed a pair of third-round draft picks, according to MLB.com, with two-way player Nolan McLean, the 91st overall pick and right-hander Kade Morris, No. 101, both signing.
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