Edwin Orlando Díaz Laboy (born March 22, 1994) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners and New York Mets. Díaz was selected by the Mariners in the third round of the 2012 MLB draft and made his MLB debut with them in 2016.
One month after his MLB debut, Díaz set a Mariners franchise record by recording 11 consecutive outs via strikeout. He surpassed Hall of Famer Randy Johnson's previous franchise record of 10, set in 1997. Díaz was subsequently named the team's closer. After recording 18 saves, he finished fifth in the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year voting in 2016. In 2018, Díaz earned his first All-Star selection and won the AL Reliever of the Year Award after leading MLB with 57 saves. Following that season, the Mariners traded him to the Mets, where he played until 2025. During his tenure with the Mets, he earned two additional All-Star selections, won the National League (NL) Reliever of the Year Award twice, and was named to the All-MLB Team twice, all in 2022 and 2025. Díaz currently leads the league in Reliever of the Month honors.
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Early life
Díaz grew up in the Daguao barrio of Naguabo, Puerto Rico. He began playing baseball around age seven, primarily as a center fielder. During his youth in Puerto Rico, Díaz played as an outfielder alongside players such as Carlos Correa and José Berríos. At the insistence of his father, he reluctantly tried pitching as a teenager.
Professional career
Seattle Mariners (2012–2018)
Díaz was selected by the Seattle Mariners as the 98th overall pick in the third round of the 2012 MLB draft from Caguas Military Academy in Caguas, Puerto Rico. He made his professional debut that season with the AZL Mariners. He played in nine games, including one start, compiling a 2–1 record with a 5.21 earned run average (ERA) and 20 strikeouts over 19 innings pitched. In 2013, he pitched for the Pulaski Mariners. In 13 starts, he went 5–2 with a 1.43 ERA and 79 strikeouts over 69 innings. Prior to the 2014 season, Díaz was named the Mariners fifth-best prospect by Baseball America. He spent the season with the Clinton LumberKings and was co-selected the organization's minor league starting pitcher of the year along Jordan Pries. Díaz was 6–8 with a 3.33 ERA in 24 starts.
In 2015, Díaz played for the Bakersfield Blaze and Jackson Generals, pitching to a combined 7–10 record and 3.82 ERA in 27 starts. That year, he was selected as minor league Starting Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season. Díaz started 2016 with Jackson as a starting pitcher and was moved to the bullpen after six starts. He pitched 40+2⁄3 innings over
16 games with a 3–3 record and 2.21 ERA.
Díaz was called up to the majors on June 4, 2016. In his debut game two days later, he retired all three batters he faced against the Cleveland Indians and picked up his first MLB strikeout against Tyler Naquin. Between June 28 and July 3, he recorded ten consecutive outs via strikeout, tying a franchise record set in 1997. On July 6, Díaz broke the record with his 11th consecutive out via strikeout.
On August 1, Díaz replaced Steve Cishek as the Mariners' closer. He recorded the first save of his career the following day, in a 5–4 win over the Boston Red Sox, in which he struck out the side. By reaching his 50th strikeout in only 25+1⁄3 innings, Díaz became the first pitcher to do so in at least 123 years. He finished the season with a 6–3 record, 1.63 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 28 saves in 66+1⁄3 innings over 62 games.
In 2017, Díaz appeared in 66 games, posting a 4–6 record to go along with a 3.27 earned run average and 89 strikeouts in 66 innings pitched, converting 34 of 39 save opportunities.
New York Mets (2019–2025)
On December 3, 2018, the Mariners traded Díaz, Robinson Canó, and $20 million to the New York Mets for Jay Bruce, Jarred Kelenic, Anthony Swarzak, Gerson Bautista, and Justin Dunn.
Díaz recorded his first save as a Met on Opening Day against the Washington Nationals in 2019. In the first half of the season, Díaz surrendered more than twice as many hits per nine innings as in the 2018 season and his ERA+ dropped from 210 in 2018 to 74 in the first half of the 2019 campaign. Writing for Deadspin, David Roth described Díaz's downturn as "arguably the most dramatic and most surprising" of any player's collapse to that point in the MLB season.
On September 26, Díaz allowed his 15th ninth-inning home run of the season, the most ninth-inning home runs given up by a pitcher in one MLB season. He finished the season with 58 innings pitched, 26 saves, and a 5.59 ERA.
In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Díaz converted six of ten save opportunities and recorded a 1.75 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 14 walks in 25+2⁄3 innings.
In 2021, Díaz appeared in 63 games, posting a 5–6 record, a 3.45 ERA, and 89 strikeouts in 62+2⁄3 innings pitched, converting 32 of 38 save opportunities.
On April 29, 2022, Díaz pitched in relief in a combined no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies, pitching the final inning and earning the save. He earned NL Reliever of the Month honors in June, allowing one run in 9+2⁄3 innings, converting all five save opportunities and allowing a 0.93 WHIP.
On July 10, Díaz was named an All-Star for the second time in his career. He entered the All-Star break with 20 saves in 23 save opportunities and a 1.69 ERA. He struck out 75 of the 145 batters he faced in the first half of the season. Díaz closed out the ninth inning of a 1–0 win over Philadelphia on August 13 to earn his 200th career save, the sixth active player to do so. He issued two walks during that game, ending a streak of 50 batters faced without a walk. Díaz finished the season with 32 saves, 118 strikeouts, and a 1.31 ERA, a career-best.
Los Angeles Dodgers (2026–present)
On December 12, 2025, Díaz signed a three-year, $69 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. On March 27, 2026, Díaz earned his first save with the Dodgers against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Díaz began his Dodgers tenure with a 10.50 ERA over his first seven appearances and was placed on the injured list on April 20 due to loose bodies in his right elbow. Diaz made his return on July 29. Diaz continued his Dodgers tenure with a 13.50 ERA since his return but was placed on the 15-day injured list due to neck inflammation.
International career
Díaz was a closer for the Puerto Rican national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) where he won a silver medal. He had 2 saves at the tournament: one against the Dominican Republic and another against the United States, both in the second round. In the semifinal against the Netherlands, he won the game as Puerto Rico scored in the bottom of the 11th inning for a 4–3 win.
During the 2023 WBC, Díaz pitched the seventh inning of an ongoing perfect game versus Israel, which ended by a 10–0 score on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the eighth inning that invoked the tournament's mercy rule. However, it did not qualify as an official perfect game per the Elias Sports Bureau, due to lasting fewer than nine innings. Díaz also closed the final pool play game against the Dominican Republic, sending Puerto Rico to the quarterfinals. However, immediately after the game, he suffered an injury to his right knee during the celebration that ended his participation in the tournament and causing him to miss the 2023 MLB season. Puerto Rico was eliminated in their next game against Mexico. For the tournament, Díaz had a perfect 0.00 ERA with four strikeouts over two innings of work.
Díaz pitched in three games for Puerto Rico in the 2026 WBC, again allowing no runs and earning one save.
Player profile
With a sidearm delivery, Díaz throws three pitches. His most common pitch is a hard four-seam fastball (60% usage) that has averaged 97.7 miles per hour (157.2 km/h) in his first nine MLB seasons. His breaking ball is a slider (40%) at an average 89.4 miles per hour (143.9 km/h). He also has a changeup that he uses very rarely.
Díaz has been a strikeout pitcher, compiling an average of 14.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched through March 2026, which is one of highest rates for a reliever in major league history.
Díaz is known for his walk-up song, "Narco" by Blasterjaxx and Timmy Trumpet.
Personal life
In the offseason, Díaz spends time in his native Daguao in the Naguabo Municipality in Puerto Rico, where most of his family lives. Díaz has organized baseball clinics for the children in his hometown as part of his Edwin Díaz Baseball Academy. Robinson Canó and Martín Maldonado have attended these clinics.
Díaz's nickname, "Sugar," was given to him by teammates in school who believed he resembled the fictional star pitcher Miguel "Sugar" Santos in the 2008 film, Sugar.
Díaz's younger brother, Alexis Díaz, has also pitched in MLB. Alexis's first save, on May 17, 2022, made them the third set of brothers to both earn an MLB save on the same day.