Edwin Diaz is having a terrible year to atone for and prove he’s worthy of the richest contract for a reliever in Major League Baseball history. But he also has to prove that he is still the best closer in his own family.
New York Mets flamethrower Diaz, 30, has yet to throw an MLB pitch since signing his record-setting five-year, $102 million contract in November 2022, shortly after the conclusion of his second All-Star campaign.
The following March, in the colors of Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic, he showed why Steve Cohen paid the premium to keep him in Queens, striking out Ketel Marte, Jean Segura and Teoscar Hernandez to lead the Dominican in the ninth. to eliminate the Republic. and send his team to the quarter-finals. He jumped with elation, but when he hit the ground he tore his patellar tendon and his season was over before it started.
To complicate matters further, his brother then proceeded to steal his crown.
Alexis, three years younger than Edwin, worked his way up from a 12th-round pick by the Cincinnati Reds in 2015 to Edwin’s top-shelf closer.
Edwin Diaz is having a terrible year to atone for and prove he’s worthy of the richest contract for a reliever in Major League Baseball history.
Diaz tore his patellar tendon while celebrating a victory in Puerto Rico in March 2023
After his 2022 debut, he ensured there would still be a representative of the Diaz family at last year’s All-Star game when he was named as the Reds’ sole representative in Seattle – the first reliever of the franchise that got a nod since Aroldis Chapman, a month later. Alexis was called up.
“He’s doing fine,” says Edwin. ‘I’m very happy for him. I can’t wait to start the season and see if we can both make it to the All-Star Game. It’s very special, it’s a dream come true for our family. Coming from the bottom up, we played together for the first time in the World Baseball Classic, we faced each other twice in Major League Baseball, it’s really fun.”
On May 17, 2022, Alexis made his first MLB save, hours after Edwin’s 182nd, making them the third set of brothers to record a save on the same day. But while they’re happy to see each other succeed, they’re both competing for the same spot on the National League All-Star team this summer and could become the eighth pair to face each other in the postseason.
It’s safe to say that if there’s any concern about Edwin stepping off the gas now that he has the financial security of a nine-figure deal, he has Alexis to keep him motivated.
“One hundred percent,” says Edwin. “We both think the same way because we like to compete. He’s a closer and I’m a closer. I want to have a better year than him, but at the end of the day I want him to be good too. It was a dream to play in the big leagues. I made it faster than him, but in the end he made it too and I’m very happy with that.’
“We focus on our business, but we talk almost every day. We watch each other’s games and if he has to say something to me, he does. If I see something wrong with him, I call him and tell him “you did this good and this bad” and we try to figure it out every time.”
In his absence, brother Alexis has slowly worked his way up to becoming an All-Star himself
The closer brothers come from a close-knit family, who will fly in from Naguabo, Puerto Rico, this summer to visit them in both New York and Ohio. The Diazes will also be a small but vocal part of the 60,000 fans at London Stadium in June when Edwin’s Mets play a two-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Will they take a leaf out of Travis and Jason Kelce’s book and form the MLB version of? New heights?
“I don’t think so,” says Edwin. ‘I do not like him That a lot of!
“If we ever have to start one, we’re going to have to talk and show people how friendly we are.”
New York Mets will play the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB World Tour: London Series 2024 from June 8 to 9 at London Stadium. Tickets available for purchase at ticketmaster.co.uk/MLB