White Sox's Jake Diekman: Strong start with Pale Hose
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Diekman threw a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts to earn a hold Wednesday against the Royals.
The White Sox have wasted no time utilizing their only acquisition at the trade deadline, as Diekman has pitched both Tuesday and Wednesday. He worked the sixth and seventh innings respectively, tallying a hold on each occasion. Though Diekman won't factor into the saves picture without a number of injuries in the bullpen, it appears that he will have a high-leverage role with his new club.
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White Sox's Jake Diekman: Dealt to White Sox
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Diekman was traded to the White Sox from the Red Sox on Monday in exchange for catcher Reese McGuire, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.
Diekman has been fairly reliable this season outside of a few tough outings, but the Red Sox were willing to part with him in order to acquire another option behind the plate. Diekman has five wins and 12 holds this season, but he may not have as many opportunities to make a fantasy impact with his new squad.
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Red Sox's Jake Diekman: Suffers blown save
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Diekman suffered a blown save after he pitched one-third of an inning Wednesday, allowing an inherited run to score while giving up one hit and a walk in the loss to the Angels.
The 35-year-old was called upon to protect a one-run lead with two on and two out in the top of the ninth inning, ultimately giving up an RBI single to Jared Walsh and walking Kurt Suzuki before getting Max Stassi to fly out to end the frame. The run was charged to Hansel Robles, yet Diekman has now blown two consecutive save opportunities. The left-hander has eight holds on the season, operating mostly as the set-up man for Hansel Robles while posting a 4.15 ERA and 1.73 WHIP over 8.2 innings.
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Red Sox's Jake Diekman: Blows save Tuesday
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Diekman allowed three runs on three hits while striking out two over two-thirds of an inning, picking up a blown save, in Tuesday's 6-5 extra-inning loss to the Blue Jays.
The Red Sox were in position to snap a three-game losing streak, but Diekman served up a two-run, game-tying home run to George Springer in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the second consecutive game in which Diekman was unable to shut the door, though Boston escaped with a win last Friday.
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Red Sox's Jake Diekman: Can't close out Rays
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Diekman allowed three walks and struck out one over a scoreless two-thirds of an inning in Friday's 4-3 win over the Rays.
Diekman started the ninth inning of a one-run game attempting to close out the Rays for his second save of the season, but the left-hander was unable to finish the frame. He walked three of the first four batters he faced before getting Brandon Lowe on strikes. That was it for Diekman. Enter Matt Barnes, who retired Wander Franco on a 100.9 mph groundout to second baseman Trevor Story. Diekman has been an important high-leverage piece in Boston's bullpen and should continue to be an option to close games despite Friday's command issues (12 strikes in 28 pitches).
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Red Sox's Jake Diekman: Picks up third hold
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Diekman struck out two in a perfect eighth inning to earn the hold in Sunday's 8-1 win over the Twins.
Diekman earned a save in last Sunday's win over the Yankees, and he's been credited with holds in his three other outings early in the season. Hansel Robles picked up the save Wednesday against Detroit, but it's been hard to pinpoint Boston's ninth-inning layout due to the team's lack of save situations. While Matt Barnes and Garrett Whitlock are also in the mix for late-inning work, Diekman has shown that he's a trusted high-leverage option for Boston by tossing three scoreless innings in his first four appearances of the year.
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Red Sox's Jake Diekman: Records first save
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Diekman saved Sunday's 4-3 win over the Yankees, striking out the side in the ninth inning.
Diekman was tasked with facing the daunting trio of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo and sent all three back to the dugout. It took a workload of 19 pitches to do so, but the veteran southpaw got the job done. He was also called upon to protect a one-run lead in the 10th inning of the season-opening loss Friday but was charged with the ghost runner scoring after hitting a batter and intentionally walking another. Diekman is worth a look while Boston's closer situation remains unresolved and Matt Barnes is dealing with back issues.
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Red Sox's Jake Diekman: Pens deal with Boston
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Diekman finalized a two-year, $7 million contract with the Red Sox on Tuesday, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports. The contract includes a $4 million club option for 2024.
Diekman and Matt Strahm both reported to Red Sox camp Tuesday, after the two lefty relievers came to terms with Boston on contracts over the weekend. Their additions will give manager Alex Cora some more options in the late innings, as Boston mostly got by with Josh Taylor as its main southpaw reliever in 2021 while Darwinzon Hernandez dealt with injury and ineffectiveness for much of the campaign. Diekman could also factor into Boston's closing picture, though any save chances he might receive would likely come against lefty-heavy lineups. The 35-year-old is coming off a 2021 campaign in which he posted a 3.86 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 83:34 K:BB in 60.2 innings while converting seven saves in 14 chances and adding 14 holds.
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Red Sox's Jake Diekman: Signs with Boston
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The Red Sox signed Diekman on Monday, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
Diekman was one of two left-handed relievers recently signed by the Red Sox, the team's first two post-lockout moves. Addressing bullpen needs was the first item both manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom mentioned when first talking with reporters. Pitching coach David Bush said Diekman figures to be in the mix for key spots late in games. "He's had a pretty good track record in leverage innings, leverage opportunities," Bush said. "I think he can get lefties and righties out. We tend not to view guys as specialists, just the way our bullpen works and he fits that." The Red Sox have yet to declare a closer, although Matt Barnes will be prominent late in games if he can shed whatever issues caused him to blow up in the second half of 2021.
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Red Sox's Jake Diekman: Expected to join Boston
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Diekman is expected to finalize a multi-year contract with the Red Sox during the upcoming week, pending a physical, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.
The exact details of Diekman's deal with Boston aren't known, but he'll give the team a much-needed lefty reliever out of the bullpen. While with the Athletics in 2021, Diekman posted a 3.86 ERA, .211 batting average against and 1.34 WHIP over 60.2 innings while fanning 31.7 percent of batters faced.
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Jake Diekman: Heads to free agency
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Diekman became a free agent Thursday after the Athletics declined his team option, Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports.
Diekman was unable to repeat his remarkable 0.42 ERA from 2020 in 2021, but he finished with a perfectly respectable 3.86 ERA, with his 31.7 percent strikeout rate offsetting a 13.0 percent walk rate. The Athletics apparently viewed that level of production as replaceable, but a competent lefty like Diekman shouldn't face too much trouble finding another big-league contract on the open market.
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Athletics' Jake Diekman: Pair of recent stumbles
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Diekman, who saw his record drop to 3-3 by taking the loss against the Mariners on Thursday, has now allowed three earned runs apiece in two of his last five relief appearances.
That tally actually bumps up to three when widening the sample out to the left-hander's last 10 trips to the mound, an unusual level of vulnerability after Diekman's dominant 2020 season. The long ball did Diekman in Thursday versus the Mariners, as he surrendered a solo home run to Mitch Haniger and a two-run pinch-hit blast to Luis Torrens to blow the 4-3 lead Oakland had begun the sixth inning with. Diekman ultimately recorded just one out in the frame on a strikeout before exiting while seeing his ERA bump up from 3.39 to 3.84.
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Athletics' Jake Diekman: Continues strong run Sunday
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Diekman, who fired a scoreless eighth inning during which he allowed a walk and struck out the side in a loss to the Rangers on Sunday, hasn't allowed a run in nine of his last 10 appearances.
The veteran left-hander seems to be really hitting his stride down the stretch, and he's forged an impressive 13:4 K:BB across the nine innings covering the entirety of the aforementioned sample. Diekman did stumble against the Blue Jays four appearances ago by allowing three earned runs on three hits, but he's otherwise largely invoked memories of the career-best form he exhibited in 2020.
Diekman secured holds in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday against the Giants, firing a total of 2.1 innings during which he allowed two hits and recorded two strikeouts.
Diekman turned in a scoreless 1.1-inning effort in Friday night's win for his 10th hold, with the veteran lefty entering the game immediately behind starter James Kaprielian. Despite throwing 20 pitches in that outing, manager Bob Melvin summoned Diekman again in Saturday's one-run loss, an appearance in which the southpaw was able to preserve a 5-4 lead despite having to work around two baserunners. Diekman is now up to 11 holds on the campaign as a result of his efforts the past two days, and he's posted a 1-1 record, 2.38 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 12.7 K/9 across 11.1 post-All-Star-break innings.
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Athletics' Jake Diekman: Settles down after latest loss
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Diekman has fired three scoreless innings during which he's allowed one hit and posted a 5:0 K:BB across his last three appearances.
The veteran left-hander took his second loss of the season against the Mariners on July 23 in an outing during which he uncorked three wild pitches. The uncharacteristic control issues were yet another reminder that Diekman hasn't been anywhere near as dominant this season as he was during his career-best 2020, but his current stretch, albeit modest in length, has brought his ERA back down to 3.10 across 44 appearances.
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Athletics' Jake Diekman: Stuck with loss Friday
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Diekman (2-2) allowed a run on one hit and one walk while striking out two over an inning as he was handed the loss against the Mariners on Friday.
Diekman pitched the seventh inning for the A's and could not preserve a 3-3 tie. He allowed the go-ahead run to reach on an infield single and would end up giving the Mariners the lead on his second wild pitch of the frame. The left-hander took the loss and now owns a 3.35 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and 51:22 BB:K over 37.2 innings.
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Athletics' Jake Diekman: Tallies seventh save
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Diekman allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save Thursday against the Astros.
Diekman earned his seventh save of the season, but his first since May 26. He was presumably called upon in favor of Lou Trivino due to lefties Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker being due up in the final frame. Given that Trivino has racked up 13 saves to this point in the season -- seven of which came since Diekman's most recent save prior to Thursday -- Trivino should be considered the Athletics' primary closer. However, with Trevor Rosenthal (hip/shoulder) ruled out for the season, Diekman should still see occasional save chances moving forward.
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Athletics' Jake Diekman: Quiet in recent weeks
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Diekman has logged five appearances over the last 14 days, posting a 4.91 ERA and 1.91 WHIP over the 3.2 innings he's logged in that span.
The left-hander gave up a pair of home runs during that stretch as well, leading to the elevated numbers. Diekman's swing-and-miss stuff, while not quite on last season's career-best level, is still among the AL's best (14.4 percent swinging strike rate, 31.0 percent strikeout rate), but a career-high 1.6 HR/9 has been a primary culprit when he has endured some struggles.
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Athletics' Jake Diekman: Racking up holds
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Diekman went into Saturday's game against the Yankees with holds in each of three consecutive scoreless, one-inning appearances.
The veteran southpaw saw action for the first time in four days Friday night in the series-opening win over the Yankees, sandwiching strikeouts of Clint Frazier and Aaron Judge around a DJ LeMahieu groundout to forge a perfect eighth inning. Diekman was nearly unhittable last season (0.42 ERA, 0.94 WHIP), and even though he's fallen back down to earth some in 2021, his 1.35 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 10.8 K/9 over the 6.2 innings covering his last seven outings may be an indication he's started to rediscover his form.
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Athletics' Jake Diekman: Records sixth hold
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Diekman recorded his sixth hold in a win over the Royals on Sunday, firing a perfect eighth inning during which he recorded a strikeout.
The left-hander was particularly sharp, firing six of nine pitches for strikes. Diekman has had some occasional stumbles this season, but he's in the midst of a relatively strong stretch of pitching that has seen him generate a 2.61 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, one save and two holds over the 10.1 innings covering his last 10 appearances.
