You already know that's the worst they can hurt me or I can be hurt by them."ĭiaz took to heart some tips he'd gotten from another Hall of Famer: Yankees legend Mariano Rivera. You have that moment where it hurts real bad, but then you realize you're the same person and it's not a wonder how it's going to feel anymore. But you fail, you get booed and then you realize you're fine. "In the long run, failure here can be the best thing that could've happened to him," said Mets reliever Adam Ottavino, who grew up in Brooklyn and has also pitched for the Yankees. It was just one year that was bad."įor Diaz, some tweaks needed to be made on the mound, but the bigger adjustment came in his mindset: shifting the way he approached game days, how he handled the scrutiny that comes with playing in New York. "It was more or less letting his natural abilities come out. "I didn't really have to do a lot with him," Hefner said. When the Mets hired Jeremy Hefner as their new pitching coach that offseason, Hefner made the trip to Puerto Rico to work with Diaz. Martinez sent him feedback, giving him small adjustments centered around slowing his weight transfer on the mound. He reached out to Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez - who worked with the same personal trainer - showing him videos of his bullpen sessions. There he began to rework his release point, which had become inconsistent throughout the course of the 2019 season. "It's hard to ignore that."Īfter the Mets finished 86-76, missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season, Diaz went home to Puerto Rico to hit the reset button. "I really tried to not think about that every time, but at the same time, it was always there," Diaz said. The 15 ninth-inning home runs he allowed in 2019 were the most given up by a pitcher in a single season in major league history, and the thoughts of failure echoed through his head. "Now it's paying off, and everyone is talking about the opposite."įROM HIS CHILDHOOD in Puerto Rico through his time in the Mariners' farm system and his first three years in the big leagues, Diaz rarely struggled, cruising on his 98-mph fastball and a top-tier slider that made hitters look like they'd never seen a breaking ball before.īut after leading the American League in saves with 57 in 2018 and being dealt to the Mets in a blockbuster deal that December, something changed. "Everyone was saying that I was one of the worst trades," Diaz said. Now, as much as fans once tore him down, they have built him up. But in 2022, he has arrived at his destination, with a 1.52 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 1.13 FIP (the best among relievers in baseball) and 101 strikeouts in 53.1 innings pitched. Over the next two seasons, Diaz began to take the latter route, posting a 2.95 ERA and 38 saves in 89 appearances. The first year was tough."ĭiaz saw two paths for himself: He could let his failures overtake him, or he could use them as a hard lesson on how to manage intense pressure, high stakes and outsized expectations. On social media, things were bigger here. " I didn't see the same amount of reporters as here. "In Seattle, it was not the same," Diaz said. Critics wrote him off as the latest athlete to wilt under the spotlight of the Big Apple.ĭiaz, too, felt the pressure of being the centerpiece of a major trade for a team expecting to compete in October. Mets fans ripped the trade with the Seattle Mariners that brought him to Queens, lamenting the loss of top prospects Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn for an All-Star closer who now couldn't stop giving up moonshots. The New York tabloids crushed his performances. After each rough outing, the same four words ran through his head, night after night, blown save after blown save. In 2019, he was actively contributing to Mets losses to the tune of a 5.59 ERA (seventh worst among relievers), 15 homers allowed and -0.6 bWAR in 58 innings. Just three years ago, more often than not, Diaz would come home from Mets games, rest his head on his pillow and brood over what had happened at the ballpark: another game, another blown save, another home run served up in a crucial moment. How New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz went from Big Apple bust to the King of QueensĮDWIN DIAZ DOESN'T forget there was a time before he was a Mets folk hero, before Timmy Trumpet's horns on "Narco" were the sign of an incoming New York victory, before he was the best closer in baseball. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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