To settle a bet with closer Edwin Diaz, Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais had a design shaved into the side of his head.
While the Seattle Mariners have seen the Oakland A’s zoom right past them in the AL West to take over the second wild card spot, they still took a little time on Tuesday to have some fun. Back in July, Mariners closer Edwin Diaz was racking up saves like a modern day Bobby Thigpen. Following a 1-0 Mariners win in which Diaz earned his 32nd save of the season, the reliever revealed a bet he made with manager Scott Servais.
The bet was simple. Should Diaz reach 50 saves, Servais would get his hair cut to match the closer. Diaz, as Seattle Mariners fans know, usually has a design shaved into the side of his head. When the bet was revealed in early July, he had a nice wave-like design in the ‘do.
Since that win on July 1 in which Diaz picked up his 32nd save, the Mariners have gone 20-27 and dropped from a half-game out of first place to 7 games out. While the team has struggled, Diaz has continued to shine. In those 46 games, he’s pitched 20 times and has a 0.90 ERA and 18 saves, giving him the magic number 50 for the season.
On Tuesday, Servais lived up to his end of the bet. With the help of Robinson Cano and Jean Segura (who make quite a bit more money than the young relief pitcher), Diaz’s barber was flown to San Diego to take care of the new hairdo for Servais. The Mariners are in the midst of a two-game series with the Padres. Servais got a nice wave-like design shaved into the side of his head.
House That Hank Built
It was a nice, fun moment for a team that is seeing its playoff hopes dwindle by the day. They need a spark, so perhaps this will be it. They once had a nine-game lead on the A’s for the second wild card. Now the A’s lead them by 5.5 games. The team behind the Mariners, the Tampa Bay Rays, are closer to the Mariners than the Mariners are to the A’s.
Despite their recent poor play, the Seattle Mariners .561 winning percentage would be fifth-best in franchise history. This is a team that is in its 42nd year of existence and has just five seasons with 90 or more wins. They famously haven’t made the playoffs since 2001, the longest playoff drought of the four major sports in the U.S. If they’re going to turn things around, now is the time. They play two games in San Diego and four games in Oakland on their current road trip. Unfortunately, they lost the first San Diego game, 2-1.
The finished product. 💇♂️
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 28, 2018
This photo belongs in a museum. pic.twitter.com/LYVoxUJqjl
Individually, Diaz is having a terrific season. It’s the best in team history by a relief pitcher and there’s still more than a month remaining. His 50 saves is already a team record. He’s also just three strikeout away from tying Bill Caudill (1982) for strikeouts in a season by a reliever. Diaz has struck out 108 batters in 64 innings. It took Caudill 95.7 innings to strike out 111.
The 50 saves earned by Diaz makes it one of just 17 seasons in which a major league pitcher has 50 or more saves. His next save will tie him with a group of five relievers who had 51 in a season, a group that includes 1992 Dennis Eckersley. Next up is 2002 Eric Gagne, who had 52, then a group of three relievers with 53 saves. This group includes Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman (1998) and future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera (2004).
If Diaz saves four more games, he will move into the top five among relievers for saves in a season. Five more saves will tie him with 2002 John Smoltz and 2003 Eric Gagne. Seven more saves will tie him at second place with 1990 Bobby Thigpen. And the ultimate goal is 12 more saves, which would put him right there with 2008 Francisco Rodriguez at 62 saves, which is the most ever in a single season. Maybe if Diaz gets to that mark, Servais will shave his entire head.