Yilber Diaz will make his major league debut for the Diamondbacks against the Braves, with his first career pitch coming at 6:40 P.M. MST. Diaz will become the 11th starting pitcher to take the mound for Arizona this season.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The most notable traits from the 23-year-old right-hander are the potential for three “plus” quality pitches between a fastball that sits 94-98 MPH with carry, a big-breaking curveball around 80 MPH, and a sharp slider in the 84-87 MPH range. When he’s hitting the strike zone with all three of his pitches, he can be a tough pitcher to face. That was on full display in his final minor league start, when he struck out 13 hitters in six hitless innings with Triple-A Reno.
The biggest issue in his career has been the ability to throw strikes. He has a career walk rate of 12.6% in the minor leagues, and just a bit over 12% in 2024. At the same time, Diaz also boasts a career strikeout rate of 29.9%. In the last three minor league seasons, it’s been above 30%, including a career-high 33.3% this season.
It should be pretty telling early if the stage is too big for the young right-hander. He began the season with the Diamondbacks’ Double-A affiliate in Amarillo, then four starts with Triple-A Reno before getting the call. Against a Braves lineup that isn’t as dynamic as last season but still capable of crushing mistakes, it will be a tough first test. It won’t be as daunting as Dodger Stadium, like the case for Cristian Mena last week, but it won’t be easy.
He’ll likely get 18 hitters at most in his start. Diaz has never thrown 100 pitches in any start this season, with his season high of 96 coming on June 1. His pitch count has not exceeded 88 in any of his starts with Reno. Additionally, only one of his starts has Diaz faced more than 23 hitters. That came in his second to last start with Reno, when he faced 26 hitters against the Oklahoma City Baseball Club.
The good news for Diaz is most of the Braves lineup has likely not seen him before in any level of professional baseball. That should give him the element of surprise the first time through the order. How he handles their lineup the second time through will likely determine where this start goes.
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, exclusive content, and access to our seasonal magazines! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*
Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
