Mariners 25-Man Roster Ultimate Preview: Roster-Projected Bullpen


RHP- Edwin Diaz
IP- 66 W- 5 L- 6 ERA- 2.92 WHIP- 1.20 K-88 WAR- 1.7 40 SV
Edwin Diaz. Mariner Legend. Puerto Rican Legend. Rookie Legend. My point is, he’s a legend.
A 23-year-old, out-of-the-blue legend. Exactly one year ago, how many people could honestly say they had heard of Edwin Diaz? Despite not making his major league debut until June, I would say he was the MVP of the 2016 Mariners.
In his first month in the big leagues, Diaz pitched 13 innings, gave up three runs, and struck out a dazzlingly 23 batters in that span.
Now it’s common for a young pitcher to dominate the league at first, but then once hitters figure him out, he usually starts to get rocked.
In July, Diaz’s second month in the majors, he decided to pitch even better. 11.2 innings, two runs, and 26 strikeouts! That’s over two per inning.
Diaz continued to be the best option out of the pen the whole year, and he gave the Mariners hope of a bright future. Despite just missing out on a playoff spot, Diaz made the disappointing year a little bit easy to swallow.
Next: Mariners Seeing Great Things From Dillon Overton
Diaz is a young flamethrower, who seems to only be getting better at the back-end of the bullpen. That may be exactly what the Mariners need to finally break the playoff drought!