Edwin Díaz Notches 10th Save In Stellar Subway Series Outing
The New York Mets’ closer looked as strong as he has all season as he closed Saturday’s game out at Yankee Stadium. Edwin Díaz set the pinch-hitting Austin Wells, followed by the No. 1 and No. 2 hitting Ben Rice and Aaron Judge, respectively, in order, to earn his 10th save of the season.
What may have been the biggest storyline of Díaz’s outing on Saturday was his increased velocity. His fastball velocity was up, on average, 2.0 mph, while his slider velocity was increased by 1.9 mph. He hit triple digits in the outing as well.
All of these aforementioned hard pitches came in the final at-bat of Saturday’s game against the best hitter in the league, Aaron Judge. Díaz dialed up his first fastball of the at-bat to 100 mph, which the hulking Judge fought off foul with two strikes. Then, the Mets’ closer came back with an elevated 98.6 mph fastball to get the Yankees’ slugger swinging for strike three and the final out in the Mets’ victory.
The strikeout of Judge wasn’t the only of Diaz’s perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning. Díaz also struck out the inning’s first batter, Austin Wells, on a foul-tip. Sandwiched in between the two strikeouts, Ben Rice awkwardly popped up to Brett Baty at third base.
On the season, Díaz now has now struck out 26 over 18 innings lowering his ERA to 3.00. This was after his ERA maxed out at 7.94 back on April 11. Over his last eight outings, Díaz has not allowed a run and has struck out 11. He has allowed a run only once over his last 13 appearances.
The underlying metrics are all once again sparkling for Díaz as well. According to Baseball Savant, Díaz owns an xBA, strikeout rate, and whiff rate all above the league’s 95th percentile. His hard-hit rate against, average exit velocity against, and xERA are all above the league’s 85th percentile.
Relying on a once against elite slider (.135 xBA, 44.8% whiff rate), Díaz has regained the form of one of the best closers in the game.
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