With the Mariners' series finale against the Astros tied in the top of the ninth, Seattle's closer Edwin Diaz turned to bullpen coach Brian DeLunas and asked him to make a very important phone call.
Upon Diaz's request, DeLunas called the dugout and told Mariners manager Scott Servais that even though that game was supposed to be Diaz's day off, if the M's got the lead, Diaz wanted to close.
Diaz ultimately closed the game and earned his 46th save. And you can bet he used some of the tricks DeLunas has shown him in the process.
If you'd told DeLunas a year ago that he'd be coaching a major-league team and acting as conduit between one of baseball's best closers and the skipper, he wouldn't have believed you.
DeLunas took an unlikely route to the Mariners bullpen. He's a biomechanics specialist, and he's also one of the only active MLB coaches who has never previously coached or played professional baseball.
But his story is also unique because of the many twists and turns in his relationship with baseball. A career in the pros once seemed all but guaranteed, back when DeLunas was a high-school pitching prospect in St. Louis with pro scouts tracking his career.
Then, with one errant pitch, an injury derailed DeLunas' career and shattered his MLB dreams. It took years before he found his way back to his first love, and then, in his words, baseball nearly killed him.
But looking back, DeLunas realizes how baseball took him places he never imagined he could go, and where few, if any, like him have gone before.
