Jake Diekman: Former Mets Relief Pitcher (2024)

 Jacob Tanner Diekman was born January 21st, 1987, in Wymore, Nebraska. His small high school had no baseball team, so Jake would focus his time playing golf there. 

In summertime he joined an American Legion baseball league where his baseball career stared.  The six foot four, left hander attended college in Kansas where he was be drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 30th round of the 2007 draft.

Just before Jake was drafted, his mom passed away at age 57. She was his biggest supporter & the family took the loss hard. Jake credits his father with helping him thru the loss as he calls him his best friend. 

MLB Career: Diekman became a journeyman pitcher would pitch for nine teams in his 13-year career. In 2012 he debuted with the Phillies making 32 appearances with a 3.95 ERA. He showed promise & was being considered as a closer for the team over the next couple of years.

Combined No Hitter: On September 1st, 2014, he was one of four Phillies pitchers along with
Cole Hamels, Ken Giles & Jonathan Papelbon to combine for a no hitter over the Braves at Turner Field. Diekman pitched the 7th inning striking out two batters.

In 2015 he was traded to the Texas Rangers & became a big part of their bullpen over the next two seasons where the Rangers finished in first place but were eliminated in the ALDS.

Post Seasons: Diekman made four appearances in the 2015 ALDS loss to Toronto allowing one
run over six innings over work. In the 2016 ALDS loss to Toronto, he made two appearances giving up a Game#1 three run HR to Jose Bautista in the 9th inning to put the Jays up 10-0.

Diekman would pitch for the Rangers for parts of three seasons (2015-2018) then move on to Arizona (2018) Kansas City (2019) & Oakland (2019-2021).

MLB Holds Record: In 2019 he tied the MLB record with 31 holds in a season. That year he was 1-7 with a 4.65 ERA in 76 appearances (2nd most in the AL).

Post Seasons: In Oakland he made two more post season appearances getting as far as the ALDS both times. In seven appearances he allowed two runs on three hits all coming against Houston in 2020.

He then moved on to Boston (2022) Chicago White Sox (2022-2023) Tampa (2023) & the Mets (2024).

Mets Career: Diekman made his Mets debut in the second game of the season, pitching a scoreless 6th inning in the loss to Milwaukee. In his next two appearances he earned credit for holds against the Tigers & then against Reds, although he gave up a pair of runs.

On April 8th, he gave up another run as his ERA rose to 8.10 but he earned his first win in a victory coming over the Braves in Atlanta. 

In his first 18 appearances Diekman did not surrender a HR. But On May 19th, he served up his first to the Marlins Christian Bethancourt & then in his next outing on May 21st he gave up a 6th inning game tying HR to the Guardians David Fry in Cleveland. In the dugout he was seen tossing a water cooler in frustration as his teammates looked on.

On May 14th, he came on in the bottom of the 11th inning after the Mets had just gone ahead of
the Phillies in Philadelphia. He gave up a run but ended the game striking out Kyle Schwarber with two men to earn his first save.

On June 2nd, he gave up a 9th inning HR to Arizona's Ketel Marte, taking the loss against the Diamondbacks at Citi Field. The Mets fell to their lowest point of the season but from the next day on turned things around to be one of the winningest teams the rest of the way. 

Thru the rest of June, Jake earned saves against the Nationals in D.C. & the Cubs at Chicago,
while nothing two more holds to reach seven by the end of the month. On July 1st, he pitched a scoreless 9th inning holding a 3-3 tie in Washington. The Mets put up six runs behind HRs from J.D. Martinez & Jose Iglesias giving him his second victory.

Subway Series Save: On July 23rd, in his biggest moment with the Mets on the big stage of the subway series sweep, Diekman struck out Aaron Judge with the tying run on second base in the bottom of the 9th inning for the second out. He then got Ben Rice to ground out to end the game, earning the save in the 3-2 Mets win.

But Diekman gave up runs in his next two outings, which were important games in Atlanta. As the Mets strengthened their bull pen with the additions of Ryne Stanek & Phil Maton, Diekman was released in early August. For the Mets he was 2-3 with a 4.53 ERA, earning four saves with eight holds. He struck out 40 batters walked 24 in 32 innings in 43 appearances.

Career Stats: In a 13-year career, Jake has made 705 appearances, going 27-34 with 19 saves posting a .3.91 ERA. He struck out 764 batters while walking 358 in 602.1 innings of work.

Family: On New Years Eve 2017 Jake married Amanda Soltero Diekman in Lincoln Nebraska. Among the festivities were chocolate baseballs & McDonalds cheeseburgers delivered to the tune of Jimmy Buffet's " Cheeseburger in Paradise". 

Amanda Soltero was the 2014 Miss Kansas in the Miss USA pageant. Amanda's father Saul was a minor league pitcher & coach. She was also a former Miss Nebraska Teen US title holder. 

She was just the second contestant from Nebraska to show in the Miss USA Pageant since 1980. In 2024 she made number six in the Mrs. America contest. 

Amanda is a wellness, fitness & pageant coach. She also had worked as a TV reporter & owner of a clothing shop in Lincoln, Nebraska. Together they have two daughters.