Edit: It’s official, Jumbo Diaz has been called up. Sean Marshall and Trevor Bell have been sent to the 60-day disabled list. Brett Marshall was activated and sent to Louisville. Tony Cingrani has also been optioned to Triple-A Louisville.
The move for Tony Cingrani to Triple-A is a good one in my opinion. I never liked the idea of using him out of the bullpen, so sending him to the minors to work as a starter (this is my assumption anyways) is a good plan. Well, it’s a good plan if they plan to force him to use his secondary pitches more to help develop them rather than just let him throw a ton of fastballs and dominate players with that pitch. He should be given a strict gameplan that includes 40% offspeed stuff.
Early this morning C. Trent Rosecrans tweeted this out:
I'm hearing Jumbo Diaz may be in Cincinnati today #Reds
— ctrent (@ctrent) June 20, 2014
If the Reds are indeed calling up Jumbo Diaz, they will need to make a 40-man roster move. That move could be as simple as placing someone on the 60-day disabled list in order to clear a spot, and there are a few players on the 40-man roster who are injured so that could be a possibility. Another option could be to just remove someone from the 40-man roster and add Diaz.
Either way though, if he is added to the roster, what can be expected from him?
Scouting Report
Diaz had been incredible when it comes to limiting runs down in Triple-A for Louisville over the last two seasons. He has posted a 1.54 ERA in 87.2 innings since the start of the 2013. Throughout his history though he has battled with control. In 2014 he has lowered his walk rate, but has also seen his strikeout rate drop some as well.
He works with a sinking fastball in the 92-96 MPH range that can touch 98 MPH and can sit 94-97 at times. It is his best pitch and one that he relies on. He mixes in a breaking ball that isn’t always consistent and can be anywhere from a below-average offering to an average one.
The Reds have been hesitant to call up Diaz, and there could be several reasons for that, but I think it comes back to his breaking ball as much as it has been his lack of a spot on the 40-man roster. The inconsistency with the pitch could understandably leave some questions about how he would transition to the big leagues. With that said, that fastball will play at the big league level. Not only does it have movement, it has velocity.
If Diaz is able to avoid bouts with control and lean on the fastball enough, the breaking ball shouldn’t be much of a hindrance.