Jake Diekman announced his retirement in a lengthy social media post this evening. The longtime reliever appeared with nine major league teams during a career that spanned parts of 13 seasons. His announcement is worth a full read, as he went on to thank his former organizations, teammates, family, fans, representatives at Beverly Hills Sports Council and more.
Now 38, Diekman entered professional baseball as a 20-year-old back in 2007. The Phillies drafted the lanky lefty in the 30th round out of a Kansas junior college. He’d been committed to attend the University of Nebraska the following spring but elected to sign with the Phils. Diekman moved to the bullpen a couple seasons into his minor league career and received his first MLB call in May 2012.
Diekman made 191 appearances over three and a half seasons for the Phils. Philadelphia was rebuilding for most of that run, but he was part of a combined no-hitter in 2014 and tallied a cumulative 3.84 earned run average. The Rangers acquired him alongside Cole Hamels in a massive 2015 deadline deal.
While that was primarily the Hamels trade, Diekman was a significant part of the Texas bullpen for the next few years. He tallied 124 1/3 innings of 3.18 ERA ball over parts of four seasons as a Ranger. He appeared in the postseason in 2015 and ’16, firing six innings of one-run ball in his first October action during the former season.
Diekman was on the move at the 2018 deadline. Texas was headed to a 95-loss season and he was ticketed for free agency, making him an obvious trade candidate. The D-Backs picked him up for the stretch run, though he struggled during his brief stint in the desert. Diekman signed a one-year contract with the Royals during the winter. Kansas City flipped him to the A’s at the 2019 deadline, and he impressed the team enough to re-sign on a two-year deal the following offseason.
After three seasons in Oakland, Diekman firmly moved into journeyman territory for his final few seasons. He played for another four teams between 2022-24, concluding his big league run with 43 appearances for the Mets last year. The Nebraska native returned home on a contract with the independent Lincoln SaltDogs a few weeks ago, but he’s now decided to wrap up his playing days.
Diekman finishes with a 3.91 ERA in a little over 600 big league frames. He recorded 764 strikeouts, fanning almost 29% of opposing hitters throughout his career. He never had pristine command, but he reliably missed bats behind a fastball that got into the 97-98 MPH range at his peak. He recorded 187 holds, a mark topped only by Tony Watson and Adam Ottavino since his 2012 debut, and secured 19 saves in scattered closing opportunities. Baseball Reference calculates his career earnings north of $28MM. MLBTR congratulates Diekman on a strong career and sends our best wishes for his post-playing endeavors.
Made over 28m as a set up man. No wonder he thanks his agent!
He also thanked his former organizations, teammates, family, and fans too. An ERA just under 4.00 and 13 years in the big leagues. Congrats, Jake!
And needs to thank mother nature or his parents for making him left-handed!
Definitely the parents who provided the genes as well as the environment.
“Mother nature” not so much. That’s quite the esoteric entity.
“Mother Nature” includes the genes of the beings living it. Your “ummm AcTuAlLy” schtick is so fudging tired. You changed your pfp to a meme because your dorky red glasses made everyone know you were an insufferable turd crumb.
Dooper: ummm AcTuAlLy then, it seems you have a few options.
1. If you find something tiring and you are fatigued, you might lie down and take a nap.
2. If my opinions and comments bother you so much that you feel the need to behave like a mindless 12-year-old schoolyard bully and call me stupid names, you may feel free to ignore them.
Or you can just mute me.
But thanks for allowing me to live in your head rent-free, I guess.
3. If the rod you’ve managed to push so far up inside hurts so much, you can simply take it out.
4. Consider therapy to work on your obvious anger issues and mental problems.
5. Start drinking. Heavily.
6. All of the above.
You’re welcome. Happy to be of assistance.
Dawg, you are the one that bullies people because you have an unfounded sense of superiority over the dumbest things. You aren’t important enough to “live rent free”, and anyone that still uses that term is a loser.
You didn’t address you changing your pfp for a meme because you looked like an insufferable dbag in your giant red glasses. Looking like you explain to the waitstaff why they didn’t deserve a 15% tip when you go out to dinner with “mother”.
3.2 career WAR for $30M. It’s a good gig if you can get it. Ahahahahahaha!
Classy
Also went through a very tough gastrointestinal surgery during the height of his career and came out better on the other side, providing many who suffer from the same illness a glimmer of hope and someone to look up to. Congrats on the fine career Jake!
Jake, your retirement announcement was pretty terrific. All the best to you and your family.
Agreed. It is a very classy retirement announcement.
No mention that he was on the mound when Odor and Bautista had punches. I don’t know why, but I remember him for that.
Earned about $28 million in his career, 11 seasons, career ERA 3.91,, about 600 innings pitched in 700 games. Never made more than $4 million in a season. Only had 2 or 3 very good seasons. Played a lot of seasons before the must face 3 batters rule was in effect. Several left-handers made a career out of being left-handed and a good reliever gave you a less than one inning pitched per appearance.
Hitters retired him a few years ago
Could he not still start for the Orioles?
Those A’s years were very underrated and phenomenal. Take care of yourself. And enjoy your retirement, best of luck.
Could’ve been one of the most dominant relievers of this era if he could just throw strikes.
11.4 K/9, but 5.3 BB/9
Lots of guys could have been MLB pitchers if they could just throw strikes.
Jim Bouton told a story about one of his Yankees’ pitching coaches giving this pearl of wisdom: “The key to pitching, boys, is throwing strikes.”
Thanks, Captain Obvious!
BB, the beauty of that is that it works for bowling, too. I’ll spare you the details.
LOL
Yeah, no, don’t be purposefully obtuse. There aren’t that many pitchers with the swing and miss stuff Diekman had and from a lefty. His K% was 7% higher than the MLB average over his career. He was way closer to being a dominant reliever than the vast majority of pitchers in the league.
Always had a soft spot for the guy as he not only was a Phillie, but a fellow sufferer of Crohns disease.
Congrats to Diekman on a solid career
I wish he’d been on the Red Sox longer, they’ve had a knack with lefty pitchers, but they always seem to trade them away.
Sweeping lefty. Congrats dude nasty slide piece and a nightmare for fellow lefties. All the best of Irish luck to you 💚🍀💚
There goes my hero, watch him as he goes…
The pride of Wymore, Nebraska. Population 1,408. Enjoy retirement, Jake. Solid career.
Class statement. Happy trails.
Saw him a ton in the AL West and he almost always did his job quite well
This is the kind of news that makes me feel so old and aware of how time just slips away in big chunks….it was just yesterday when Jake was the young gun coming on the Phillies scene. Seriously feels like just a couple years ago…damn.
He’s not a hall of fame by any means but still very nasty. Especially mlb the show. Congrats on a good career
I wouldn’t sell him short in the Hall of Fame just yet…
Funny, but watching relief pitching this year in baseball, he still could be useful, he just got tired of the grind… the travel, and the roster juggling the modern GM does on an everyday basis, especially for a journey man reliever. A lefty always has a job with all the injuries. Congrats!
Great Loogy…maybe a top 10 Loggy of all time?