The Dodgers are taking a flier on a former All-Star closer being able to help their injury-depleted and overworked bullpen.
The Dodgers sent a minor-league pitcher to the Cincinnati Reds in a trade for right-hander Alexis Diaz. Diaz, 28, will not join the Dodgers immediately but will go to the team’s spring training complex in Arizona where he will work with the team’s player development staff.
Diaz is the younger brother of New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz and made his big-league debut with the Reds in 2022, finishing fifth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. He saved 75 games over three seasons with the team, highlighted by a 2023 season during which he converted 37 of 40 save opportunities with a 3.07 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 67⅓ innings. Diaz was named to the NL All-Star team that year.
Diaz was less reliable in 2024 and lost his closer job entirely this season. A hamstring injury delayed the start of his season and he allowed five runs (and three homers) in one inning of a Reds’ loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 30. He was demoted to Triple-A the following day and posted a 4.61 ERA in 14 appearances for Louisville, walking 12 in 13⅔ innings before the trade.
Diaz is a two-pitch pitcher, relying on his fastball and slider almost exclusively. But his fastball velocity has dropped each of his four seasons in the major leagues, from 95.7 mph in 2022 to 93 mph this season. Certainly related to that – his strikeout rate has plummeted from 11.7 per nine innings as a rookie to just 8.8 last year. This year, he struck out just three in six innings for the Reds.
The Dodgers will pay approximately $3 million of Diaz’s $4.5 million salary this season. If they can return him to some version of his 2022-23 self, the Dodgers would have found low-cost help for a bullpen missing five high-leverage relievers on the injured list – Blake Treinen, Kirby Yates, Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech and Brusdar Graterol.
Phillips was moved to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster for Diaz. Phillips received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his flexor/elbow earlier in May and has not started a throwing program. He won’t be eligible to be activated until early July now.
In exchange for Diaz, the Dodgers sent right-hander Mike Villani to the Reds. The 22-year-old Villani was the Dodgers’ 13th-round pick out of Long Beach State in 2024. He made his professional debut this month with two relief appearances in the Arizona Complex League.