Alexis Díaz's latest meltdown just pushed Reds fans past their breaking point

There is absolutely no way that Alexis Diaz can be on the Cincinnati Reds active roster after his pathetic performance during Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Diaz entered during the ninth inning with the Reds trailing 1-0. By the time the inning came to a close, Cincinnati was down 6-0 and all hope of a rally was lost. Diaz allowed back-to-back-back home runs in the top of the ninth inning and didn't record a single strikeout.

The life of a reliever is a fickle one, but the writing is on the wall. If Diaz's confidence wasn't shot before he stepped onto the mound during Wednesday's game, it certainly was once he walked off of it. In six outings this season, Diaz has an unsightly 12.00 ERA and just three punch outs in six innings pitched. What Reds fans are seeing right now is a far-cry from the pitcher who was named to the NL All-Star team in 2023.

Alexis Díaz's latest meltdown just pushed Reds fans past their breaking point

Nick Krall and the Reds front office should be on the horn to Triple-A Louisville in between Game 1 and Game 2 of the doubleheader. There's no way Diaz is going to pitch during the second game, and he has no business on the active roster going forward.

The righty hasn't been the same pitcher since the Midsummer Classic in 2023. Diaz has completely lost his command, and as such, his walks have skyrocketed. While Diaz always struggled to stay in the strike zone, it's much more pronounced this season.

Diaz has already lost the closer's role — Emilio Pagán has that spot now under lock and key — so what's the motivation to keep Diaz on the active roster? He's been used as little more than middle reliever since the season began, and Wednesday's performance definitely proved that he's not ready for high-leverage spots at this stage of the game. Even Ian Gibaut's Opening Day meltdown wasn't this bad.

The Reds need to do the right thing for the organization, their fans, and Diaz himself. Cincinnati needs to send the right-hander down to Triple-A and hope that he finds a way to regain his confidence. At this point, he's the most unreliable arm in the Reds bullpen.

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