A 13-year veteran of Major League Baseball, Jake Diekman joins the Lincoln Saltdogs pitching staff in 2025.  A Southeastern-Nebraska native, Diekman played collegiately at Doane, in Crete, Nebraska, before moving on to Cloud County Community College, in Concordia, Kansas.  Drafted in the 30th-round of the 2007 MLB June Amateur Draft by Philadelphia, Diekman debuted with the Phillies in 2012.  A middle-relief and set-up pitcher, Diekman spent time with nine big-league clubs.  With 705 game appearances, the southpaw has recorded 764 strikeouts in MLB.  Five times Diekman has tasted the experience of playoff baseball.  2015 and 2016, Diekman pitched in the post-season with the Texas Rangers, and did so as well with the Oakland A's in 2019 and 2020, plus the 2023 season with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Diekman spent the 2024 season with the New York Mets, where he struck out 40 batters over 32 innings in 43 appearances, while collecting four saves.