NEW YORK -- When Mets manager Carlos Mendoza called upon Edwin Díaz in the seventh inning of National League Wild Card Series Game 3 last week, the closer was shaky, walking two of the first three batters he faced before recovering to escape a jam. Back in the dugout between innings, various Mets approached D¨ªaz and advised him to trust his stuff.

Six days later, in the ninth inning of NL Division Series Game 4, D¨ªaz was once again wild, throwing eight of his first 10 pitches outside the strike zone. During a mound meeting, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and shortstop Francisco Lindor both implored D¨ªaz to throw his fastball right down the middle.

¡°They said, ¡®Your ball¡¯s got good life today. Your fastball is looking good,¡¯¡± D¨ªaz recalled. ¡°I was trying to hit the corners with my fastball. That¡¯s why I got behind the hitters. As soon as they told me that, I said, ¡®OK, I will do this.¡¯ I started doing that, and my inning was better.¡±

On both occasions, D¨ªaz recovered to give the Mets crucial late outs in a playoff clincher. At his best, D¨ªaz remains an overpowering pitcher, with a fastball as hot as 101 mph and a slider that¡¯s nearly unhittable when located well.

But this postseason, D¨ªaz has frequently not been at his best. Through three appearances, he¡¯s walked five of the 17 batters he¡¯s faced. He blew a save in the eighth inning of NLDS Game 2 in Philadelphia, allowing three runs on two hits and a walk. He hasn¡¯t had a clean appearance in three weeks.

That¡¯s a problem for the Mets, who intend to rely on D¨ªaz as much as possible in their biggest games of the season, including the NL Championship Series beginning Sunday.

¡°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.¡±

Any conversation about D¨ªaz¡¯s issues tends to be relative in nature. D¨ªaz was certainly a successful pitcher in his first year back from major knee surgery, producing a 3.52 ERA in 54 appearances and striking out 14.1 batters per nine innings. That latter figure is elite; among pitchers with as many innings as D¨ªaz, only Fernando Cruz, Mason Miller and Aroldis Chapman punched out batters at a higher clip.

But when compared to what D¨ªaz accomplished before his surgery in 2022, his stat line loses some of its luster. That year, he was the best reliever in baseball, bar none, with a Major League-leading strikeout rate and expected ERA. He only blew three saves in 35 chances, compared to eight in 29 tries this year (including the playoffs). It¡¯s been a somewhat jarring fall for D¨ªaz, because it¡¯s not as if his stuff is clearly worse. He still features the same elite fastball-slider combo he always has.

¡°When you get knocked down a couple times,¡± Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo said, ¡°it takes a little bit of adjustment and then confidence of doing it and throwing it in the zone and finding that success in order to get that confidence back again.¡±

¡°I think there¡¯s a combination of a lot of things here in the past week, where we¡¯ve been riding him pretty hard,¡± added Mendoza. ¡°But the one thing from him is he always wants the baseball. He wants to be in those situations. He wants to be in those moments, and he¡¯s our guy.¡±

Recent workload could indeed be a factor for D¨ªaz, who threw 153 pitches over an 11-day period from Sept. 29 through Oct. 9. While that may not sound like much, it¡¯s far outside the bounds of typical usage for D¨ªaz, who piled up four of his seven highest pitch counts of the year during that stretch.

If workload has been the primary issue, D¨ªaz should benefit from the three full days of rest he¡¯ll receive between the NLDS and NLCS. And if it¡¯s simply a matter of confidence, then D¨ªaz claims he¡¯s already learned his lesson.

¡°That¡¯s something I¡¯ve got to have in mind always,¡± D¨ªaz said. ¡°Go after hitters, throw my stuff, and I will be fine.¡±