Edwin Diaz was officially introduced to the local media on Friday afternoon by the braintrust of Brandon Gomes and Andrew Friedman.
Friedman, in particular, spoke highly of his new weapon in the back of the bullpen. He also illustrated that being the closer for this ball club comes with a responsibility – and that Diaz’s selflessness fits in wonderfully with the team’s culture.
“Yeah, I think it’s more of an opportunity to get Sugar and add him to our mix. I mean, for us, it’s just a high bar to call someone closer. You have to be one of the best, you have to be elite and dominant at what you do. Sugar is that. And I think watching him compete over the years, seeing the unselfishness in the postseason or on the last weekend of last year, in the fourth inning, the fifth inning, when the match is possible. And it fits very well with our culture and the selflessness of many of our superstar players. So there are a lot of boxes checked in our minds, but again, the bar is very high to say that this person is our neighbor and Sugar checks all those boxes.
Friedman constantly referred to Diaz as “Sugar” throughout the press. Where does that nickname officially come from?
Diaz got the nickname in high school because his friends thought he looked like star pitcher Miguel “Sugar” Santos in the 2008 film. Sugar.
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Echoing what Friedman said about clubhouse culture, ‘Sugar’ admitted it was an integral factor in signing with the Boys in Blue.
“Yes, I’ve heard great things about this clubhouse. I already have my brother.” [Alexis Diaz] play here. So he told me great things about the Dodger clubhouse. They treat every player the same. And that is something very nice. I know they have a lot of great players pitching from all over the world. And I heard they treat the young guys like they’re the same guys, which is a good thing because I think that’s what a winning clubhouse is like.
Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn images
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