Edwin Diaz didn’t want to get excited ahead of Saturday’s Mets game because he hadn’t wanted to sulk for the past three days.
Meanwhile, Diaz has figured out how to navigate the rollercoaster life of a major league closer.
Diaz looked dominant as he hit the side and threw just one of 16 pitches for a ball as he made his 11th save on 14 occasions Friday night as the Mets beat the Phillies. It was the best imaginable reaction to his botched save against the Giants on Tuesday.
“I can have a bad game and flush it right away,” Diaz said ahead of the Mets’ 8-2 win over the Phillies Saturday night at Citi Field. “Even if I serve well, I put it away. When I come into the game, I don’t think about yesterday’s game. I’m thinking about what I can do right now in the ninth inning.”
Diaz was already having one great season before he really took on a short memory. After making 57 saves for the Mariners in 2018, Diaz was named Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year and got a chance to chat with the Yankees legend.
Edwin Diaz Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
“I didn’t have that mentality when I was young,” Diaz said. “When I spoke to Mariano, he said to me, ‘Hey, if you serve good or bad, flush it out. Every day is different and you have to do your job.” Sometimes when I serve badly I keep that in mind because I don’t want to think about it anymore.”
Diaz is averaging 16.93 strikeouts per nine innings (37 in 19²/₃), which is among MLB reliefs with at least 15 innings at the top. Left-handers only bat 5-for-31 (.161) from him. But Diaz didn’t just fall back on his laurels after allowing Brandon Crawford’s walk-off single to end a back-and-forth game in a 13-12 win for the Giants.
“I came here early [Friday] working on my mechanics because I wasn’t putting up the game I wanted in San Francisco,” Diaz said. “When I came into the game I felt good. In terms of command, I was able to throw my fastball deep in the zone and up in the zone, and my slider was good this year – throwing it down for strikes in the zone.
Manager Buck Showalter offered unsolicited praise for Diaz, who buzzed through the top four hitters in the Phillies’ lineup. Alec Bohm’s one-out single was the only hiccup, but Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos — with 15 home runs combined — went down swinging as potential tie runs.
“That’s a tough part of the lineup,” Showalter said. “It was impressive, and I know that doesn’t go unnoticed.”
In his first season with the Mets, Showalter has shown a belief in making a quick return to pitchers after a bad outing.
“It’s good that he trusts me to give the ball every ninth game,” Diaz said. “It gives me confidence. If our manager trusts us, that’s perfect. We can come into the game knowing we’re going to get the job done because he’s got our backs.”