Braves Claim Alexis Diaz

The Braves have claimed Alexis Diaz off waivers from the Dodgers, according to David O’Brien of The Athletic. Atlanta has space available on its 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary to bring Diaz into the organization.

Diaz, 29 later this month, was traded to the Dodgers by the Reds earlier this year after surrendering eight runs in six innings of work prior to the deal. Los Angeles stashed Diaz at Triple-A to try and get him right, but he struggled to an 8.10 ERA in 11 appearances with Oklahoma City and posted a 5.00 ERA in nine outings for the big league club before being designated for assignment last week to make room for Ben Rortvedt on the 40-man roster. In all, Diaz has made 15 appearances in the majors this year with a 7.80 ERA, a 16.9% strikeout rate, and a 9.9% walk rate across 15 innings of work with the Reds and Dodgers.

Those lackluster numbers are a major fall from grace for the right-hander, who burst onto the scene with Cincinnati back in 2022 when he posted a dazzling 1.84 ERA in 59 outings and finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He followed that up by making an All-Star appearance and recording 37 saves as the Reds’ primary closer in 2023, and after two seasons in the big leagues Diaz had an exceptional 2.47 ERA with a 3.42 FIP, a 31.2% strikeout rate, and a 12.8% walk rate. Despite that shaky control, Diaz’s overpowering strikeout stuff was enough to blow past hitters and get elite results.

All of that made him one of the most impressive young relievers in the sport during the first few years of his career, but cracks began to show last season. Diaz surrendered three runs while recording just one out in his first outing of the year, and things didn’t improve much from there as he posted an 8.68 ERA in the month of May. A strong September where he did not allow an earned run helped to salvage his overall season numbers, and he finished the year with a 3.99 ERA and 4.28 FIP. Even that final month of the year saw him strike out just 24.2% of his opponents, however, and his season-long strikeout rate of 22.7% suggested a real step backwards in terms of raw stuff.

Given the question marks raised over the past two years, it’s fair to wonder whether the right-hander will eventually be able to turn things around and live up to the promise he showed in his first years with the Reds. The Braves will try to unlock that previous form through he rest of the year ahead of the offseason, when Diaz will be eligible for arbitration for the second time after making $4.5MM last season. Perhaps Diaz will wind up being a non-tender candidate, though it’s also certainly possible that Atlanta will be intrigued enough by his track record to keep him in the organization. Atlanta has been quite active on the waiver wire this year as they look to add talent in the midst of a lost season, with Ha-Seong Kim standing out as their most notable addition by far.