Last August, the Mariners gave the most stressful job in baseball to a rookie who began the season as a Double-A starter. Edwin Diaz was 22, owner of a fastball commonly called “electric,” a somewhat less reliable slider, and the kind of supreme confidence that differentiates closers from the rest of us.
Diaz was an immediate revelation, posting a strikeout rate — 15.33 per nine innings — that set a club-record. The Mariners had found their closer of the future.
Less than a year later, the future has become a day-to-day proposition for Diaz. Some days are wonderful.