The Blue Jays landed Diaz at the outset of the 2014-15 international period, signing him for $1.6 million one day after they had inked phenom and fellow Dominican native Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Diaz flashed promise early in his career but also produced uneven results as he struggled to throw strikes. While he still has gains to make with regards to his control, Diaz’s stuff has steadily ticked up each year as he’s added strength and logged experience. It all started to click for him in ’18, when he pitched his way up to the Florida State League as part of a breakout campaign and after finding success in Double-A last year, posting a 3.74 ERA over 26 games (24 starts) and 144 1/3 innings with 116 strikeouts, he earned a brief call up to the big leagues.
Diaz’s athleticism and quick arm help him generate easy velocity. He sits in the mid-90s with a lively fastball that he pairs with an above-average breaking ball. He misses bats with both pitches, while the crossfire in Diaz’s delivery gives him natural deception and makes him especially tough on right-handed hitters. His changeup remains a work in progress, though he has made strides in developing the pitch. His control, though still below average, has continued to get better.
After wearing down physically early in his career, Diaz has worked hard to add strength and improve his durability. His efforts have shown in the form of back-to-back seasons in which he’s thrown more than 140 innings. Diaz’s all-around progress continues to give him life as a starter, though many scouts believe he’s ticketed for the bullpen, where his fastball-curveball combo could play up in short bursts and where he made his Major League debut.
Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45
The Blue Jays landed Diaz at the outset of the 2014-15 international period, signing him for $1.6 million one day after they had inked phenom Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Dominican right-hander flashed promise early in his career but also produced uneven results as he struggled to throw strikes. While he still has gains to make with regards to his control, Diaz's stuff has steadily ticked up each year as he's added strength and logged experience. It all started to click for him in 2018, as Diaz pitched his way up to the Florida State League as part of a breakout campaign.
Diaz's athleticism and quick arm help him generate easy velocity. He sits in the mid-90s with a lively fastball that he pairs with an above-average breaking ball. He misses bats with both pitches, while the crossfire in Diaz's delivery gives him natural deception and makes him especially tough on right-handed hitters. His changeup remains a work in progress, though Diaz has made strides in developing in the past year to the point where it's at least usable against left-handed hitters. His control, though still below-average, was markedly better last season as he trimmed his walk rate to 3.2 BB/9 from 4.8 in 2017.
After wearing down physically early in his career, Diaz has worked hard to add strength and improve his durability. His efforts showed in 2018 in the form of 147 1/3 innings, nearly double his workload from the previous year. Diaz's all-around progress continues to give him life as a starter, though many scouts believe he's ticketed for the bullpen, where his fastball-curveball combo could play up in short bursts. Diaz could very well debut in that role in 2019 after the Blue Jays added him to their 40-man roster during the offseason.
Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 45 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45
The Blue Jays landed Diaz at the outset of the 2014-15 international period, signing him one day after they had inked current top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The right-hander pitched well in his pro debut in the Dominican Summer League to earn a promotion to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in late July, and he continued to make progress in the Appalachian League last season before wearing down physically late in the year.
Though he's an undersized right-hander, Diaz's athleticism and fast arm generate a fastball that can reach 95-96 mph, though he typically operates in the low 90s. His heater has better movement -- sinking action, in particular -- in that range, though at times it does linger up in the zone. Diaz's secondaries lag well behind his fastball, but he does have some feel for a breaking ball, and will flash an average changeup.
Diaz's walk rate jumped last season because he struggled to locate his heater, and it also made him vulnerable to the home run ball. His athletic frame and clean, repeatable delivery portends improvement in that regard, and club officials believe he's poised to take a step forward in 2017.
The Blue Jays landed Diaz at the outset of the 2014-15 international period, signing him one day after they had inked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The right-hander pitched well in his pro debut in the Dominican Summer League to earn a promotion to Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in late July, and he continued to climb the ladder in 2016 with Opening Day assignment to the Appalachian League.
Though he's an undersized right-hander, Diaz's athleticism and fast arm generate a fastball that can reach 95-97 mph, though he typically operates in the low 90s. While his heater doesn't have much movement at the moment, he he does a good job of throwing strikes understands the important of pitching down in the zone. Diaz's secondaries lag well behind his fastball, but he does have some feel for a breaking ball and at times will flash an impressive changeup.
Like many of the young arms in Toronto's system, Diaz is all projection right now. He impressed club officials last season with his combination of velocity and pitchability, and they believe he has the makeup to handle whatever challenge they throw his way.
