Edwin Díaz

By reaching his 50th strikeout in only 25 and a third innings, Díaz became the first pitcher to do so in at least 123 years.

Edwin Orlando Díaz Laboy (born March 22, 1994) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He previously played for the Seattle Mariners.

Within two months of his MLB debut, Díaz broke the Mariners' record for consecutive strikeouts and was named the team's closer.

After saving 19 games, he finished fifth in the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year voting.

Between June 28 and July 3, he recorded ten consecutive outs via strikeout, tying a franchise record set in 1997.

Roberto Hernández had 43 in 1999.

With a win on August 12 against the Houston Astros, the Mariners were 26–0 when Díaz was handed a one-run lead.

In those games Díaz had 24 saves, a 0.68 ERA, 26.1 IP, 13 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, and 49 strikeouts.

The previous club record was 29 saves by Kazuhiro Sasaki in the 2001 season.

In the All-Star Game, Díaz was the winning pitcher even though he also had a blown save in the process as the NL team tied the game in the 9th inning.

He ended up with two strikeouts and two earned runs including a home run in one inning pitched.

Díaz received the AL Reliever of the Month Award for April, June, and July.

Also, with the save on August 12 (his 46th of the season), Díaz became the first pitcher to record four saves in a single series since 2004 as Seattle completed a four-game sweep of the Astros.

"'I got a welcomed call from our closer. He said, 'If we got the lead, I'm in the game.' Sometimes you've got to do that. That's kind of how Eddie's wired and how this team is wired.'" Díaz's 24 saves when entering a game with a one-run lead broke the record for most in a season, which had been 23, set by Francisco Rodríguez for the Angels of Anaheim in 2008.

On August 10, Díaz recorded his 44th save, thus breaking the record for most saves by a Puerto Rican MLB player.

The Seattle Mariners selected Díaz in the third round, with the 98th overall pick, of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft out of Caguas Military Academy in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

He made his professional debut that season for the Arizona League Mariners.

In nine games (one start) he went 2–1 with a 5.21 earned run average (ERA) with 20 strikeouts in 19 innings.

Between July 19 and 22, 2016, he recorded 8 consecutive strikeouts, tying him for second place with four different American League pitchers (Doug Fister set the AL record, with 9, on September 27, 2012).

In 2013, he pitched for the Pulaski Mariners.

In 13 starts, he went 5–2 with a 1.43 ERA and 79 strikeouts over 69 innings.

Prior to the 2014 season, Díaz was named the Mariners fifth best prospect by Baseball America.

He spent the season with the Clinton LumberKings and was co-selected the organization's minor league Starting Pitcher of the Year along Jordan Pries.

In 2015, Díaz played for the Bakersfield Blaze and Jackson Generals.

That year, he won the recognition of minor league Starting Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Díaz started 2016 with Jackson as a starting pitcher and was moved to the bullpen after six starts.

Díaz was called up to the major leagues for the first time on June 4, 2016.

On July 6, 2016, Díaz broke the record with his 11th consecutive out via strikeout.

On August 1, 2016, Díaz replaced Steve Cishek as the Mariners' closer.

He recorded the first save of his career the following day, in a 5–4 win over the Boston Red Sox, in which he struck out the side.

In 2018, he recorded 57 saves to lead the American League, was an All-Star, and was named AL Reliever of the Year.

The Mariners traded him to the Mets after the season, where he earned his second All-Star honor during the 2022 season.

Díaz grew up in the Naguabo neighborhood in Naguabo, Puerto Rico.

He started playing baseball around age 7, playing mostly as a center fielder.

While growing up in Puerto Rico, Díaz played as an outfielder during his youth along players like Carlos Correa and José Berríos.

At the insistence of his father, he reluctantly tried pitching as a teenager.

Owning a 2.25 ERA, 36 saves, and 76 strikeouts in 48 innings, Díaz was named to the 2018 All-Star Game, his first All-Star appearance.

Díaz became the holder of the Seattle Mariners Club Record for saves before the All-Star Break, finishing with 36 saves before the break.

His save number 46 of the season was part of 27 straight saves; he had a 0.39 ERA in games that he had saved in the 2018 season.