Last tournament, Díaz got hurt and missed a season. Now, he’s back.

By KATIE WOO / THE ATHLETIC

To this day, Edwin Díaz does not know how it happened.

One moment, he was jumping in jubilation, engulfed by his teammates in Miami near the pitcher’s mound after punctuating the most momentous strikeout in Puerto Rico’s recent international baseball history.

The next thing he knew, he was on the ground, grasping at his right knee in pain.

It has been three years since Díaz, the closer for Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, ruptured his right patellar tendon. He did it while celebrating an upset victory over the Dominican Republic and clinching a spot in the quarterfinal round.

What should have been a monumental occasion for the small but proud island quickly unraveled into despondency. Television angles captured Díaz freezing Teoscar Hernández on a high slider for a called third strike before disappearing into a mob of red and blue jerseys and bleached-blond hair, the Puerto Rican team’s signature hairstyle.

The cameras cut away to show scenes from a solemn Dominican Republic dugout. By the time they cut back, Díaz was on the ground while several teammates frantically motioned for a team trainer.

Díaz, then the marquee closer for the New York Mets, didn’t need a diagnosis to know his season was over.

“I just laid down and I knew my knee, my tendon, was blown,” he said.

He underwent surgery the next day and missed all of the 2023 season. Puerto Rico advanced to the quarterfinals, but a loss to Mexico meant elimination.

Plenty has changed since then, including the team that Díaz plays for. A three-time All-Star, he signed a three-year, $69 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers over the winter, the highest annual average value ($23 million) given to a reliever. So ended his seven-year stay in Queens.

Often, players fresh off new deals feel obligated to opt out of the Classic to better familiarize themselves with their new organization. Trepidation about an injury and the subsequent missed season can also be a factor. But the only obligation Díaz felt was the need to put his No. 39 Puerto Rico jersey back on and pitch for his people.

When Puerto Rico faced Colombia in Pool A of the 2026 World Baseball Classic on Friday, Díaz had the ninth inning. After giving up a leadoff single, he struck out the side to seal a 5-0 victory for Puerto Rico. He did not pitch in his team’s thrilling 4-3 win over Panama in 10 innings on Saturday.

With Puerto Rico a host site for this year’s tournament, Díaz is pitching in his homeland for the first time in his pro career.

As soon as he saw Puerto Rico would be hosting, Díaz said, “I knew my goal was to play in the WBC.”

That decision might be surprising, given the injury. But two players who were there when Díaz went down in Miami and now share a clubhouse with him in Los Angeles know how much playing for Puerto Rico means to him.

On that day in 2023, Kiké Hernández remembers sprinting in from center field, fueled by elation. But he pulled up short when he reached the infield dirt and saw the panic in his teammates’ faces and Díaz unable to move.

“I just remember getting sick to my stomach,” Hernández said. “Things happened so quickly. You went from incredible joy about winning that game to feeling like we had just gotten eliminated from the tournament. That’s how big a blow it was.

“You didn’t need to be a doctor to realize the severity of the injury.”

Silence filled the stadium as the crowd realized something was wrong. Javier Báez beckoned for manager Yadier Molina and the other coaches, who were celebrating in the dugout, still unaware of Díaz’s injury. Francisco Lindor crouched near third base, rubbing his forehead. Across the field, Hernández did the same. Alexis Díaz, Edwin’s younger brother, was in tears.