Edwin Diaz is helping the NY Mets win by doing what he does best, less

He's back. Although he blew his first save in what would eventually be an extra-inning win for the New York Mets on Monday, Edwin Diaz is looking as elite as he's been since the infamous WBC celebration injury that took him out for the 2023 season. He was awarded the NL Reliever of the Month in May, as he allowed no runs in 11.1 innings of work while striking out 14 and allowing just three hits and four walks in the process.

The key to Diaz's success this season hasn't come in the ways he's utilized in the past; instead, he's using a new strategy to help the Mets this year.

According to Savant, Diaz has relied less on getting batters to chase pitches outside the zone, as his chase rate lies in the 56th percentile, the lowest it's been in his whole career. Another thing I noticed was a higher ground ball rate than we've ever seen from Diaz in his career.

It seems that Diaz is moving away from relying on the chase, and instead is attempting to induce weak contact while still striking out batters at an elite level. His dominant month of May comes after a bit of a shaky April, where he didn't blow any saves but did give up six earned runs and seven walks in 11 innings of work. He's never been a stranger to walking batters, one of the few weaknesses that has plagued him multiple times throughout his nine-year career, so this new approach could be his attempt at curbing that.

It's also important to keep in mind that just because Diaz isn't relying quite as much on his pitches out of the zone doesn't mean he isn't getting as many strikeouts. His strikeout rate remains elite in the 99th percentile, along with his whiff rate.

His hard-hit rate is lower than it was last year, but it remains solid, in the 78th percentile. Interestingly enough, though, his barrel rate has improved heavily from 2024, leaping from the 59th percentile to the 90th. It's clear that Diaz still has some tweaks to make to his new, more contact-heavy style of pitching, but for now, the results have shown themselves. Edwin Diaz is adding a new skill to his arsenal, and he can still strike anyone out.