Video: Mariners’ Edwin Diaz hits 101 mph during stellar MLB debut
Jun 7, 2016, 12:20 PM | Updated: Jun 8, 2016, 1:53 pm
Major-league debuts don’t get much more impressive than the one Mariners reliever Edwin Diaz turned in Monday night, when he worked a perfect inning with the help of some triple-digit heat.
Diaz provided some highlights in the Mariners’ 3-1 loss to Cleveland when he took over in the seventh and sandwiched a strikeout between two groundouts. Diaz hit 100 mph on the radar gun to strike out Tyler Naquin then topped out at 101 against Rajai Davis.
As seen in the video embedded above, Diaz got a standing ovation after retiring the side.
According to STATS, seven of Diaz’s 11 pitches were fastballs and they ranged between 96 and 101 mph for an average velocity of 99.1 mph (his other four pitches were sliders).
The Mariners called up the 22-year-old Diaz over the weekend from Double-A Jackson, where earlier this season he began his conversion from starter to reliever. In 10 relief appearances since that switch, Diaz had allowed just one unearned run with 16 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings.
A native of Naguabo, Puerto Rico, Diaz was a third-round pick by the Mariners in 2012.