Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Edwin Diaz has been named the 2022 Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year following a historic season for the New York Mets.
Diaz, who won the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award in 2018 while with the Seattle Mariners, joins Craig Kimbrel as the only players to win the Reliever of the Year Award in each league. It should come as no surprise that Diaz has officially been recognized as the best reliever in the NL given how dominant he was.
In what was a season for the ages, Diaz was prime time viewing every time he stepped on to the mound in 2022 with a stellar 1.31 ERA. He struck out 50.2% of the batters he faced and secured 32 saves in 35 opportunities. The righty struck out a ridiculous 118 batters in 62 innings, which amounts to a stunning 17.1 strikeouts per nine innings. That’s the highest single-season rate by any pitcher in MLB history with at least 60 innings pitched.
Diaz also held batters to a slash line of .160/.230/.216/.446 and he found a lot of success using his filthy slider, upping the usage to 51.8% with a run value of -22, which was the fifth best mark of any pitch in the major leagues last season. Diaz threw his electric slider 539 times and batters could only hit .114/.134/.154 against it with a whiff rate of 54.7% and a strikeout rate of 54.3%.
Diaz established himself as the best closer in all of baseball in 2022 and he was arguably one of the most important players for the Mets. He was absolutely money all season long and he was absolutely un-hittable at times. It continued a trend of the 28-year-old riding an upwards trajectory for the past couple of years. And, as a result of his dominance in 2022, Diaz signed a record-breaking five-year, $102 million deal earlier this offseason with the Mets determined to keep their elite shutdown arm in Queens. And the accolades keep on coming for Diaz with this latest honor.
