Alexis Diaz injury should expose writing on the wall for his Reds' future

If Alexis Diaz had gone down with an injury at this point last season, the Cincinnati Reds would have been out of sorts. The right-hander was coming off an All-Star campaign and seemed like the closer of the future for the franchise. But 2024 shattered those expectations, and Diaz's hamstring injury could be the last straw.

Diaz opened the season last year in tremendously poor form. By the end of June, his ERA stood at 4.75. To some extent, he righted the ship in the second-half of the season, as his ERA fell to 3.99, but he gave up more hard contact in the latter months.

Opponents slugged .394 from July to September; they had just a .291 slugging percentage against Diaz through June. Signs seemed to be pointing toward trouble.

Alexis Diaz’s hamstring injury may push the Reds to look for a trade partner

Inconsistency is one thing; add in the injury and players such as Graham Ashcraft looking for a role in the ‘pen, and Diaz’s time in Cincinnati may be coming to a close. A controllable relief arm is always of value. He has two years of arbitration left on his contract and is set to make $4.5 million in 2025.

Pitchers on contenders have been dropping like flies this offseason, and while most of those players are starters, a bullpen arm like Diaz could enable a team to shift a long-relief option to the rotation. Clay Holmes, for example, made the jump from relief to rotation and was named the New York Mets’ Opening Day starter.

In fact, the Mets wouldn’t be a bad destination for Diaz. Playing with his older brother Edwin is an obvious draw. The Reds may be interested in a big leaguer, such as Brett Baty, or could trade for prospects. 

Parting ways with Diaz would be a bit painful. After all, he was so good in 2022 and ‘23, but the Reds’ bullpen has plenty of options to pick up the slack. Tony Santillan and Emilio Pagan are both fully healthy, and former touted prospect Connor Phillips could fill the gap as well. Pitching prospect Zach Maxwell is another option. The time has come for the Reds to see the writing on the wall regarding their closer.

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