Mets right-hander Yennsy Diaz went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Syracuse, per the team’s transactions page. He’ll remain with the organization but will no longer occupy a place on the 40-man roster.
Diaz was one of three pitchers acquired from the Blue Jays in exchange for Steven Matz during the 2020-21 offseason, coming to the organization alongside righties Sean Reid-Foley and Josh Wincowski — the latter of whom has since been traded to the Red Sox as part of the three-team deal that netted outfielder Khalil Lee. The Mets designated the 25-year-old Diaz for assignment last week after acquiring righty Adonis Medina from the Pirates.
Diaz appeared in 20 games with the Mets last season, pitching to a 5.40 ERA with lackluster 18.8% strikeout and 10.7% walk rates. Diaz did average a robust 95.5 mph on his heater during that time, but his four-seamer also had bottom-of-the-scale spin rate and was hit hard by opposing batters. The 6’1″, 210-pound righty was also hit hard in a small sample of 17 Triple-A frames last year, but prior to 2021 he’d posted solid results as a starter up through the Double-A level in the Blue Jays’ system.
Baseball America regularly ranked him near the back end of Toronto’s top 30 prospects, praising his fastball velocity but noting that a lack of plus secondary pitch limits him. Diaz leaned on a changeup in the minors and in last year’s 20 big league frames, and he’ll now be able to work to refine that offering or perhaps experiment with some new offspeed options as he works back toward the Majors. He’s the second righty to clear waivers and stick around as depth in as many days; the Mets outrighted Jordan Yamamoto to Syracuse yesterday.
