Who was the last Reds reliever to be named to the All-Star team?
Reds reliever Alexis Diaz is headed to the 2023 All-Star Game. But who was the last bullpen arm from Cincinnati to go to the Midsummer Classic?
This season, the Cincinnati Reds had just one player, relief pitcher Alexis Diaz selected to the All-Star Game.
Diaz has been, arguably, the best closer in the game. The right-hander has been manager David Bell's go-to guy late in games and has converted all but one save all year.
Diaz owns an impressive 2.13 ERA and a WHIP just north of 1.00, showing how truly unhittable the 26-year-old has been this season. Diaz's All-Star appearance is well deserved, and the Reds closer represents that first Cincinnati reliever to appear in the Midsummer Classic in nearly a decade.
Who was the last Reds reliever to be named to the All-Star team?
The last Cincinnati Reds reliever to make an appearances on the NL All-Star roster was the club's flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman. The left-hander was a four-time All Star while in with the Reds, with 2015 accounting for his final All-Star season with the Reds.
While Chapman, a lefty, was the last Reds relief pitcher to appear in the Midsummer Classic, Alexis Daiz will be the first right-handed Reds reliever to appear in an All-Star Game since Francisco Cordero in 2009.
With Diaz making the squad this season, that ends an eight-year drought of the Reds failing to send a bullpen arm to the All-Star Game. In 2015, Aroldis Chapman brought the entire stadium, and both dugouts, to their feet as he introduced the American League to his 103-mph fastball.
Chapman compiled a 1-2-3 ninth inning performance in front of his home crowd at Great American Ball Park, striking out the likes of Mark Teixeira, Mike Moustakas and Brock Holt without a hiccup.
Alexis Diaz, like Aroldis Chapman, relies mainly on a fastball/ slider combo. Diaz has a chance to surpass Chapman's 2015 save total (34), as he trails the southpaw by only nine. Diaz is 13 behind Chapman's highest save total as a member of the Cincinnati Reds which he posted in both 2012 and 2013.