But how will he be used?
Alexis Díaz has been the de facto closer for the Cincinnati Reds dating back to the end of the 2022 season. In that time, he’s compiled 75 saves – good for the 6th most by any reliever in the game – though it hasn’t exactly been all smooth sailing along the way.
Díaz had a fastball that averaged 95.8 mph during the 2022 season, but that’s declined each year since, with the heater sitting at just 94.1 mph last year. His overall K/9 plummeted from 11.73 to 8.79 in that time, and predictably the frequency with which he allowed both dingers and runs began to rise.
Things reached a head in spring camp this year, and Díaz ended up being shut down in Goodyear with a hamstring issue and landed on the injured list to begin the season. The thought – or the hope, at least – is that the hamstring issue was impacting his delivery and release point, thereby throwing off the entirety of his ability to destroy hitters the way he did when he first broke in.
Díaz was back in the Reds clubhouse on Sunday, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed, presumably having completed enough in his rehab stint with AAA Louisville to be ready to be activated. Then, the Reds placed reliever Sam Moll on the 15-day IL this morning with a left shoulder impingement without announcing a player who’d be joining the roster on the other end of the transaction.
The #Reds today placed on the 15-day injured list, retro to 4/11, LHP Sam Moll (left shoulder impingement).
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 14, 2025
The question at this juncture isn’t whether Díaz will be activated prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners. The question is whether he’ll immediately resume his duties as the team’s closer, or be eased back into the mix by manager Terry Francona (who has not yet been his manager before).
To date, the bulk of the closing duties have fallen to Emilio Pagán, who has 4 saves and 7 games finished so far in his 8 appearances. He saved 20 games for the Tampa Bay Rays back in 2019, but had only picked up more than 2 saves in a season once across the next handful of seasons.
Presumably, this will be a boost either way to the team’s bullpen. Cincinnati has leaned hard on excellent collective starting pitching so far this season, the 47.1 IP they’ve logged from their bullpen so far the second fewest innings pitched of any relief unit in the game. Still, their 6.85 K/9 ranks as the second worst and their 4.25 xFIP 23rd, so the unit has hardly been dominant while Díaz has been sidelined.
We’ll find out beginning tomorrow whether a healthy hammy can help him rediscover his 2022-2023 form.