Mets closer Edwin Diaz won't return to pitch in major league games this season, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
The plan is for Diaz to continue throwing bullpen sessions until the end of September, but the team does not want him to pitch in a Mets game since they are out of the playoff race.
"It's too risky," pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told MLB.com. "I'm not as concerned about the pitching. It's more about fielding. ... If we were in a different situation as a team, we would probably push to the point that he'd be pitching in games right now."
Diaz, who has been continuing to progress as he works his way back from knee surgery he underwent in March, will be ready for a regular offseason.
Mets manager Buck Showalter told reporters on Friday that Diaz was going to travel with the team on their upcoming road trip -- they begin a three-game series with the Marlins on Monday night in Miami -- with the plan being for him to throw a 20-pitch bullpen session in Port St. Lucie.
Diaz threw from the Citi Field mound last week, and recently began mixing in his slider to go along with his fastball.
The 29-year-old had said on numerous occasions that he wanted to return to pitch this season, but time was running out with the Mets having just 13 games left.
Being without Diaz this season was an enormous blow to a Mets team that expected to have him closing games.
David Robertson performed very well in the closer role before getting dealt to the Marlins as part of the Mets' trade deadline sell-off, but Robertson sliding from the eighth to the ninth created a negative ripple effect in the bullpen that helped lead to New York's lost season.