With whom Mets manager Carlos Mendoza recently called “one of the best right-handed hitters in the history of the game,” Yankees slugger Aaron Judge up to bat and the Mets up 2-1 with two outs and no one on base, Díaz knew he “wasn’t going to give up a bomb.”

The St. Louis Cardinals have a budding superstar on their hands in catcher Iván Herrera. Herrera has gotten his first, real taste of a consistent opportunity this season and he has made the most of it to this point.

It speaks to Juan Soto’s brilliance that no one or even two players were going to be able to do enough in his wake to make the Yankees offense as good, much less better, than last season.