Cincinnati Reds Promote Nate Adcock, Option Jumbo Diaz

After the Cincinnati Reds’ latest bullpen catastrophe, you had a feeling some roster moves could be coming. Sunday morning, the Reds announced that was indeed the case, as Jumbo Diaz was optioned to Triple-A Louisville and Nathan Adcock was promoted. To make room on the 40-man roster for Adcock, reliever Matt Magill was released.

Adcock was signed to a minor league deal in December and had been serving as Louisville’s closer this season, notching 11 saves. In 24.1 innings, he has 20 strikeouts, seven walks, an ERA of 2.96, and a WHIP of 1.23.

The 27-year-old also has major league experience with the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers. He’s appeared in 43 games (5 starts) and gone 1-4 with a 3.86 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 105 innings.

More from Reds News

• Reds vs. White Sox: Pitching preview, prediction, and more
• Reds: Reiver Sanmartin adds another twist to offseason roster construction
• Reds: Signing Tyler Mahle to a contract extension should be a top priority
• Reds: Reiver Sanmartin should get first major league start vs Pirates
• Reds should unquestionably bring Wade Miley back in 2022

Adcock isn’t a high strikeout pitcher (6.8 K/9 in the minors, 5.7 in the majors) and walks have been a concern for him in the past (3.7 BB/9 in minors, 3.8 in majors), but over the last two seasons, his strikeouts gone up while his walks are down this year.

Going to Louisville in Adcock’s place is Diaz, who took the loss in yesterday’s 9-7 Reds defeat at the hands of the Padres. Diaz was brought in with the game tied and couldn’t throw strikes before ultimately giving up the go-ahead hit. (Side note: believe it or not, walks hadn’t been an issue for Diaz this season before yesterday, as he only had three of them in 22 innings.)

Though he throws a fastball which reaches up to 99 mph at times, Diaz struggled to get hitters out this season, giving up 17 runs on 24 hits in 23 innings for an ERA of 6.65. His Achilles’ heel has been the home run ball, as he’s given up five of them on the season already. For a guy pitching primarily in the setup role, numbers like that simply don’t get it done. With the kind of stuff he has, hopefully a stint in the minors will help Diaz get everything back together on the mound.

The final transaction of the day was the release of Magill, who was acquired in the trade for Chris Heisey. Magill only made three starts in Triple-A before he was forced to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery. In those three starts, he went 1-1 with a 7.90 ERA, a 2.20 WHIP, 13 strikeouts, and eight walks in 13.2 innings. I wouldn’t be all that surprised if the Reds re-sign Magill to a minor league deal later.

Next: Reds promote Moscot, Iglesias to the DL