Dominant Edwin Diaz Burying Nightmarish Memories Of Closers Past For The New York Mets

The 2000 Subway Series memory that triggers the most sports-related PTSD from Mets fans isn’t the Fall Classic’s last image— future Hall of Famer Mike Piazza crushing an offering from fellow future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera to straightaway centerfield, where the potential game-tying homer perished in the cold October air and landed harmlessly in Bernie Williams’ glove just shy of the warning track at exactly 12 midnight and set off a raucous celebration by the Yankees in the Mets’ home park.

Nor is it the series’ lasting image: Could-have-been future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens chucking Piazza’s broken bat at him in the first inning of Game 2. Even almost 22 years later, Mets fans wonder what might have been if the two teams had brawled or if Clemens had actually been punished for his actions.

For the Mets and their fans, the most painful memory remains the ninth inning of Game 1, when Armando Benitez was two outs away from closing out a one-run win before he walked Paul O’Neill on 10 pitches to spark a Yankees rally that subsequently included a pair of singles and Chuck Knoblauch’s game-tying sacrifice fly. The Yankees recorded the walk-off win three innings later.

Almost 22 years later, Mets fans wonder what might have been if Benitez got those final two outs in the ninth. How would the Yankees, who hadn’t trailed in the World Series since 1996, respond to being in a 1-0 hole? More importantly, how would the famously frothed up Clemens react to pitching in a near must-win affair?

After this week, the question might be: What might have been if Benitez was Edwin Diaz?

For much of his first three years in New York, the Benitez comps were inescapable for Diaz, who was too often pairing his A-plus stuff with a propensity for giving up the big hit at the most inopportune time. Diaz gave up a whopping 15 homers and blew seven save opportunities while posting a 5.59 ERA during the juiced ball season of 2019 and never seemed to gain the trust of manager Luis Rojas in 2020-21, when he went 7-7 with 38 saves, a 2.95 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 88 1/3 innings.

But Diaz has emerged as a Cy Young contender this season by recording 23 saves, a 1.51 ERA and a whopping 84 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings. His strikeout rate of 18.1 per nine innings would be the highest of all-time.

Diaz has been particularly dominant since his most recent blown save opportunity May 24, when he gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning as the Mets fell in walk-off fashion to the Giants, 13-12. In 23 subsequent innings, Diaz has given up just one run on 11 hits and three walks while striking out 50 of the 83 batters he’s faced. He is whiffing so many batters that his FIP — fielding independent percentage — is a this-must-be-broken NEGATIVEIVE
-0.70.

“I’ve played with a lot of great relief pitchers,” Mets reliever Adam Ottavino said. “But the run he’s on right now, it’s different. The striking everybody out — he’s making it look really easy. We all know it’s not easy. It’s fun to see.”

On Friday night, Diaz came within one pitch of an immaculate inning in recording the save against the Marlins in the Mets’ 6-4 victory. But his most impressive performance came Tuesday night, when he got the final four outs — all by strikeout — as the Mets began their current winning streak by beating the Yankees 6-3.

Mets manager Buck Showalter emerged from the dugout like he’d been shot out of a cannon and signaled for Diaz when his Yankees counterpart, Aaron Boone, sent the struggling Joey Gallo up to pinch-hit for Isiah Kiner-Falafa with the Mets up 5-3 and a runner on in the eighth. In perhaps the most unfair matchup of the season, Diaz whiffed the strikeout-prone Gallo on five pitches — the last a 91 mph slider — before navigating a ninth inning that certainly triggered unpleasant memories for Mets fans.

Jose Trevino led off with an infield single and Diaz struck out DJ LeMahieu before Aaron Judge hit a weak comebacker. Diaz, looking to start the game-ending double play, tried throwing to second, but the ball slipped out of his hand, conjuring up images of Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres following with the game-tying and walk-off homers.

But Diaz produced the pitching equivalent of a gentlemen’s sweep, striking out Rizzo and Torres on seven pitches to preserve the win.

“Maybe the focus crept up there a little bit because you know it’s crunch time and he made a little error there on the dribbler,” Ottavino said “But it’s hard to dial it up beyond 100.”

As good as Diaz’s stuff has been, the most encouraging sign for the Mets heading toward October has been his demeanor. Benitez — who also suffered ill-timed blown saves against the Braves in the 1999 NL Championship Series, against the Giants in the 2000 NL Division Series and against the Braves down the stretch of the pennant chase in 2001 — was the outlier in the early 2000s as the 100 mph-throwing closer, but his confidence always seemed one bleeder, bloop or blunder away from completely evaporating.

On Tuesday, though, Diaz responded to his error on Judge’s comebacker by laughing to himself before dominating Rizzo and Torres. Such confidence doesn’t guarantee a better result for the Mets should they see the Yankees or anyone else in the World Series in October, but it’ll have them better-positioned than in 2000.

“I’m thinking I’m the best on the mound, so they’ve got to be ready when I come into the game,” Diaz said. “I’m thinking I’m the best out there every time.”