Sound the trumpets: The secret to Edwin Daz turnaround

When the Mets first traded for Edwin Daz in 2018, they acquired the best closer in the game at the time. He won the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year award after an incredible year in which he saved a league-leading 57 games with a 1. 96 ERA. He set a new Mariners record for saves with his blazing fastball that touched 100 mph while also unleashing a wipeout slider. What the Mets didn realize at the time, however, was that they acquired the closer with one of the best, if not the best, entrance music in the game. With the trumpets sounding from arco by Blasterjaxx and Timmy Trumpet, the Seattle fans went crazy for their electric closer. Of course, when we at Amazin Avenue first heard it, we played it, and then we played it again, and again and again, to get us hyped up for the elite closer that had long been missing from this organization. Then the unthinkable happened. Daz changed his entrance music. It wasn the same. There were no trumpets heralding his arrival. There was no electricity in the stadium. To say it was a letdown is putting it mildly. Fans became more focused on the loss of prospect Jarred Kelenic, and Daz became the target of their frustration, hearing boos regularly. His miniscule ERA ballooned to 5. 59 and he saved just 26 games which was less than half from the previous year high. Of course Michael Conforto Hoodie, it has been documented that the ball was juiced that year and coincidentally he was victimized by the long ball. He gave up 15 home runs for a rate of 2. 3 HR/9 which was a far cry from his previous year low of 0. 6 HR/9. His fly ball percentage also jumped from the previous year. In 2019 it was 43. 8% compared to 35. 3% in 2018. Giving up more fly balls in a year the balls were juiced was a recipe for disaster. That disaster ended up taking the form of seven blown saves, the highest of his career. Thankfully he still showed flashes of his former self with strikeouts which remained on par from his time with the Mariners. Knowing those results couldn continue we decided to take matters into our own hands at the first annual FanFest https://www.newprostoreonline.com/Stephen_Tarpley_Pet_Jersey-366. We sent in our own David Capobianco as a sleeper agent to tell Daz to change the music back to Narco when he met him, which he did. Daz seemed to already be hinting at the change when he posted a picture on Instagram stories of him listening to it in his car. Baseball players are notoriously a superstitious bunch, but with the change in music, the results followed. He also used his sinker more, and it became an effective pitch for him throughout the year. In a season where not much went right for the Mets, Diaz looking like an elite closer was certainly encouraging, despite the small sample, going into the 2021 season. During spring training he once again confirmed he would be keeping arco, which he specifically mentioned had given him success in the past. This time fans would be there to experience it and have responded accordingly. Even Blasterjaxx himself acknowledged Daz use of his song. Of course you only get entrance music at home and Daz does have splits at home versus the road. At home this season he has five saves two of which were multi-inning saves. His ERA is 1. 42 at Citi compared with 4. 15 on the road. His only blown save came on the road but he does have more saves with seven away from Citi. Granted the ball is seemingly ejuiced this year but once again he has done an excellent job of keeping the ball in the ballpark. He has yet to give up a home run https://www.newprostoreonline.com/Sid_Fernandez_Pet_Jersey-362, although Rhys Hoskins might beg to differ, and his fly ball percentage is down yet again to 32. 7%. The hard hit rate is the lowest of his career and he has given up just three barrels according to Fangraphs.