The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired former All-Star Alexis Diaz from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for minor league reliever Mike Villani.
In order to make room on the 40-man roster, reliever Evan Phillips will be placed on the 60 day IL. The move comes at a time when the Dodgers once mighty bullpen has faced multiple injuries over the last few weeks.
Currently on the injured list are Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen and Kirby Yates. In addition those established relievers, Edgardo Henriquez and Michael Grove has also been dinged up and find themselves out of action as well.
Diaz had a brilliant debut to his Major League career, posting a 1.84 ERA and 10 saves in his rookie year, followed up by a 9 win, 37 save performance in 2023. That was good enough to earn him an All-Star selection for an 82 win Cincinnati roster which looked like it was ready to turn a corner in their rebuild.
However, Diaz’s 2024 campaign was a step backwards in virtually every statistical category, and his 2025 debut was even worse still. After logging an ugly 12.00 ERA across 6 appearances where he gave up 4 home runs and 5 walks across 6IP, the Reds optioned the 28 year old to Triple-A on May 1st in an effort to get him sorted out.
While the results have been as disastrous, they’ve still been a far cry from the elite stuff the righty flashed across his first 2 seasons at the MLB level. With a 4.61 ERA, and 12 walks across 13.2IP for the Louisville Bats, Los Angeles is clearly banking on a change in scenery being the key to returning Diaz to his former self.
Heading back the other way is 6’2″ right hander Mike Villani, who was the Dodgers 13th round selection in last year’s MLB Draft. The 22 year old has struck out 5 batters across 2 innings in the ACL rookie level league, earning a hold and save in the process.
LA is currently off on Thursday, but will play host to the Yankees in a 10:10pm ET showdown on Friday evening.
Photo: Latinos En Pelota. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.