'I know I can do this': Reds' Alexis Díaz shows his potential during first MLB save

CLEVELAND –– Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Alexis Díaz is a rookie who spent all of last season in Double-A. Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez is a perennial MVP candidate who leads MLB with 33 RBI this season.

When Diaz faced Ramírez with the bases loaded and two outs in a one-run game in the bottom of the 10th inning on Tuesday, Díaz had never had a save opportunity before in his big league career. Heading into the at-bat, Ramírez had struck out less often than any qualifying hitter in baseball.

The odds were already in Ramírez’s favor, and then Díaz fell behind 1-0 in the count.

“I said, ‘OK, I know I can do this,’” Díaz said via interpreter Jorge Merlos. “I had to refocus and get the job done. Right there I just told myself, ‘OK, let’s go. Here we go.’ So it happened.”

Díaz got the strikeout to clinch the Reds’ 5-4 win over the Guardians on Tuesday at Progressive Field. He picked up his first career save, and Díaz ended it with a strikeout against one of the best hitters in baseball.

After he fell behind 1-0 in the count, Díaz made it a 1-2 count with two fastballs that jammed Ramírez on the right side of the strike zone. Then, Díaz threw a slider that tailed toward Ramírez’s knees, and Ramírez swung and missed.

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Díaz, a 25-year-old right-hander, got the strikeout and the save. He slapped his glove twice, pounded his chest twice, flexed and hugged Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson.

“It’s his first save, so obviously there’s a lot of emotion with it,” Stephenson said. “His stuff is unbelievable. It’s (about) attacking the zone and forcing guys to hit it. It’s almost like he got better against Ramírez when the moment was bigger for him.”

There were a few moments when Díaz could have stumbled, but Stephenson helped guide Díaz through the biggest moment of his young career.

Díaz earned the opportunity to pitch the 10th inning because of how well he has done all season. He was one of the last players to make the roster out of spring training, but Díaz gradually earned the opportunity to pitch in higher-and-higher leverage situations.

“With the way he has pitched all year, he has shown he’s not fazed,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Obviously he had a lot of adrenaline tonight, but he handled that really well. He came after some really good hitters in a tough spot.”

Díaz entered Tuesday’s game with a 0.55 ERA through 15 appearances, and he kept that momentum at the beginning of the bottom of the 10th inning. With the automatic runner on second base, Díaz began the inning with two consecutive strikeouts.

Díaz’s fastball is a unique pitch that cuts in all four directions and has the highest spin rate in baseball. After the 2019 season, when Diaz’s professional career was nearing a plateau, he worked with a new pitching coach in Puerto Rico and found the fastball with “a mind of its own” that eventually got him to MLB.

Against the Guardians, Díaz opened the 10th inning by throwing his fastball on eight of his first nine pitches. He got two strikeouts and was one inning away from ending the game.

Then, the inning was starting to unravel. He walked Guardians center fielder Myles Straw in an at-bat that included a wild pitch that rolled into the Reds dugout. Then Díaz walked Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan on four pitches.

During that stretch, Díaz got a mound visit from Stephenson and a mound visit from Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson.

“They told me to just relax,” Díaz said via interpreter Merlos. “You have all the stuff in the world to get the last batter out. So relax, go after the next hitter and get him out.”

It wasn’t long ago that Stephenson was in a similar situation as a rookie on the Reds. Stephenson had the opportunity to relate his recent experiences to Díaz.

At one point in the 10th inning, Stephenson lifted up his face mask, looked at Díaz and told him to take a deep breath. From behind the plate, Stephenson simulated using his arms to lift his lungs to exaggerate the point, encouraging Díaz to do the same thing.

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“You have to slow this game down,” Stephenson said. “The second that this game starts speeding up, nothing really good goes your way. Just take a deep breath, know that you deserve to be in that spot, and he executed.”

Díaz then faced Ramírez, a three-time Silver Slugger. Díaz’s first pitch was a high fastball that landed well outside the strike zone. After that, Díaz threw two perfect fastballs and a slider that forced Ramírez to take an off-balanced swing.

It was only Díaz’s first save, but with how much he has improved over the last year, Bell said he expects Díaz to get another opportunity in the near future.

“The thing that was really impressive was how he walked a couple guys and then, against one of the best hitters in the game, he got behind and made incredible pitches,” Bell said. “He has great stuff. But to keep his composure and make pitches and trust what he was doing was so impressive.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Alexis Diaz gets first save for Cincinnati Reds vs. Guardians