Alexis Omar Díaz (born September 28, 1996) is a Puerto Rican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. The Reds selected Díaz in the 12th round of the

2015 MLB draft The 2015 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks finished the 2014 season ...

and he made his MLB debut in 2022.

Career

Cincinnati Reds

Díaz was drafted by the

in the 12th round of the

2015 Major League Baseball Draft The 2015 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks finished the 2014 season ...

. He made his professional debut for the

Arizona League Reds The Arizona Complex League Reds are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is composed ...

that same year, appearing in nine games. Díaz underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

in May 2016, which kept him sidelined for the entire season. He returned to the Arizona League in 2017 and pitched to a 4.94

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

with 40

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

in 13 appearances. In 2018, Díaz was promoted to the rookie-level

Greeneville Reds The Greeneville Reds were a Minor League Baseball team of the Rookie-level Appalachian League. They represented the town of Greeneville, Tennessee, though Pioneer Park, their home stadium, was located in the nearby city of Tusculum on the campus ...

, where he posted a 3–3 record and 3.02 ERA with 67 strikeouts in 11 games (nine of them starts). In 2019, with the Single-A

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark. In 2011, they broke the record for most ...

, he logged a 7–4 record and 5.18 ERA with 74 strikeouts in

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

across 25 appearances. Díaz did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, he played for the Double-A

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

, posting a 3.83 ERA with 70 strikeouts in innings across 35 contests. The Reds added Díaz to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

following the 2021 season on November 19, 2021. On April 7, 2022, it was announced that he had made the Opening Day roster out of Spring Training. Díaz made his major league debut the following day against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

, tossing a scoreless inning and collecting his first two strikeouts ( Adam Duvall and Travis d'Arnaud). He earned his first save on May 17, 2022, in the tenth inning against the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

. He finished the season with a 7–3 record, 1.84 ERA, 83 strikeouts and 10 saves in 59 games. In 2023, Díaz became entrenched as the Reds closer and was selected to the

2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 93rd Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held between the American League (AL) and the National League (NL) of Major League Baseball (MLB). The game was played on July 11, 2023, and was broadc ...

. He pitched in 71 games, with a 9–6 record, 3.07 ERA, 86 strikeouts and 51 saves. In 2024, he saved another 50 games in 60 appearances with a 3.99 ERA. However his strikeout totals were down, with only 55 in innings. After the 2024 season, Díaz and the Reds agreed to a $4.5 million contract for the following season in his first year of

salary arbitration Free agency in Major League Baseball (MLB) concerns players whose contracts with a team have expired and who are therefore eligible to sign with another team. Free agents may be eligible for pendulum arbitration, also called "salary arbitration" ...

. He suffered a hamstring injury early in

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

and began the 2025 season on the injured list. He struggled in his return to the lineup, allowing eight runs, including four home runs, in just six innings of work, while walking five and only striking out three. He gave up three of those home runs in one inning on April 30 against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

and was optioned to the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, wi ...

the following day. In innings in the minors, he allowed 14 hits while issuing 12 walks, surrendering seven runs for a 4.61 ERA.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On May 29, 2025, the Reds traded Díaz to the

in exchange for minor league pitcher Mike Villani. The Dodgers sent him to their training complex in Arizona to work on his mechanics. After a short stretch there, he pitched in six games for the Triple-A

Oklahoma City Comets The Oklahoma City Comets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their ho ...

before being called up to the Dodgers on July 8. He did not pitch that day and was optioned back to Triple-A the following day.

Personal life

Díaz's older brother, Edwin Díaz, is a professional baseball player who currently pitches for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

. Edwin earned a save on the same day that Díaz earned his first save, making them the third set of brothers to both earn a save on the same day in MLB history.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Alexis 1996 births Living people Arizona League Reds players Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Cincinnati Reds players Criollos de Caguas players Dayton Dragons players Greeneville Reds players Louisville Bats players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico National League All-Stars Oklahoma City Comets players Sportspeople from Humacao, Puerto Rico 2023 World Baseball Classic players