MLB Network Ranks New York Mets' Closer Edwin Díaz No. 1 Reliever

The right-hander brought home the honors after a dominant 2022 season where he pitched to a 1.30 ERA.

Bring out the trumpets.

New York Mets star closer, Edwin Díaz, has been named the No. 1 reliever in baseball according to MLB Network.

Díaz, who became a phenomenon for entering the ballgame to the song “Narco” by Blasterjaxx feat. Timmy Trumpet, backed it up with an elite season in 2022.

The 29-year-old pitched to a 1.31 ERA, 0.90 FIP, 1.04 xFIP and was worth 3.0 fWAR in 61 games this past season.

Díaz, who was originally acquired from the Seattle Mariners along with second baseman Robinson Canó prior to the 2019 season, didn’t immediately live up to expectations early on in his tenure in Queens.

That 2019 season, Díaz’s ERA was 5.59. However, he rebounded in the shortened 2020 season with a sub-2.00 ERA.

It was really this past year, however, where Díaz gave the Mets what they were hoping for when they initially traded for him.

The right-hander was then rewarded with a five-year, $102 million contract to stay in New York for the near future almost immediately after the World Series concluded this year.

Coming in behind Díaz on MLB Network’s list are Emmanuel Clase of the Cleveland Guardians, Devin Williams of the Milwaukee Brewers, Evan Phillips of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jhoan Duran of the Minnesota Twins, Ryan Pressly of the Houston Astros, Andrés Muñoz of the Seattle Mariners, Liam Hendriks of the Chicago White Sox, Jason Adam of the Tampa Bay Rays and Ryan Helsley of the St. Louis Cardinals. 

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