![]() While the success of the Mets as a team has been well-documented, Diaz has been a major reason they've weathered the slew of injuries to their pitching staff throughout the season. Despite some wildness early in his MLB career, his fastball-slider combo is one of the most un-hittable 1-2 punches in baseball when he's on. He has 20 saves in 23 opportunities and has posted a 1.69 ERA.ĭiaz's Baseball Savant page is blood-red, and he's in the 99th percentile in MLB in expected ERA, expected batting average, expected slugging percentage, whiff percentage, and strikeout percentage.ĭiaz has become an everyday closer, and the Mets' 14-9 record in one-run games is no accident. ![]() Diaz, an All-Star himself, has shown some of the best stuff in baseball this year. One such pitcher is superstar closer Diaz, who was acquired in the trade that sent Jarred Kelenic to Seattle. All-Stars like Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, and Starling Marte - along with starting pitchers like Carlos Carrasco - others get buried in their roles. While certain players are rightfully credited with their hot start, e.g. The Mets enter the break 2.5 games ahead of the Braves in the NL East with a 58-35 record. Mets closer Edwin Diaz is just a cog in the machine this year. MORE: MLB All-Star rosters 2022 Edwin Diaz's shutdown dominance Here are some of the most underreported stories from the first half of the 2022 MLB season. Elsewhere, Sandy Alcantara has catapulted into the Cy Young conversation with his outstanding season.īut what about the rest of the league? Baseball's regional nature can make it hard to take note of what's going on around the league, particularly on non-competitive teams.Īs the trade deadline approaches, now is the time to take notice of some of those players, along with incredible performances being buried on very good teams. Despite his trip to the injured list, Yordan Alvarez is rightfully recognized as one of baseball's eminent hitters. Some stories have gained the appropriate amount of noise as the year has gone on. While some teams will always dominate the headlines - the perennially competitive Dodgers and the MLB-best Yankees - others are making serious waves (albeit more quietly). The comeback showed shades on the 2017 season when seemingly everything went right for the Dodgers – up until the World Series – but perhaps this win will be a start of another great run that leads back to the Fall Classic and ends with the first parade in Los Angeles since 1988.MLB is at the halfway point of the season, which means through the doldrums of summer baseball the standings are starting to take shape. The Dodgers went into the game 0-16 this season when trailing going into the ninth inning. What made the win so impressive for Los Angeles was not only that they were facing one of the game’s best, but it also was something that they were unaccustomed to doing. He has only blown six saves since the start of 2018, with two coming at the hands of the Dodgers. That was followed by back-to-back doubles from Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger to tie the game.Īn intentional walk and infield single loaded the bases for Alex Verdugo, who gave the Dodgers a victory with a sacrifice fly.ĭiaz has built a reputation as one of the best closers in baseball over the last two seasons, leading the league in saves with 70 while pitching to a minuscule 2.26 ERA with 159 strikeouts in 95.2 innings. The inning started with back-to-back home runs from Joc Pederson and Max Muncy to bring Los Angeles within one run. I was throwing my fastball with good velocity. I was throwing my fastball, I was throwing my slider. I was throwing the ball where I wanted to and they just got me. “Today was easily the worst day of my career, the worst game of my career, the worst game of the season for me,” said Diaz. After the game, he was honest in admitting that the game was the worst he could remember but credited the Dodgers hitters for putting good swings on the ball, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com: The four runs Diaz gave matched his total during the aforementioned streak of 35 consecutive gaems. The Los Angeles Dodgers had previously gotten to Diaz in 2018 when he was closing for the Seattle Mariners.Īlbeit an extremely small sample size, there at least was some recent familiarity for the Dodgers, which may have played a role in their walk-off win. Going into Wednesday’s game, New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz had converted 35 straight saves on the road, which was tied for the eighth-longest streak by any pitcher since saves became an official stat in 1969.Īlthough it was not a save opportunity, Diaz pitched at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, working around a base hit to wrap up the Mets’ 7-3 win.
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