The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Yilber Diaz has been designated for assignment. This is the corresponding move to create space on the 26-man and 40-man rosters for Jose Cabrera, whose previously reported contract selection is now official. Arizona also called up left-hander Kohl Drake from Triple-A Reno and optioned southpaw Philip Abner to Triple-A.
Diaz was just called up for his first MLB game of the season on Friday, and things couldn’t have gone much worse as the righty was torched for seven runs in two-thirds of an inning in the Diamondbacks’ 16-8 loss to the Twins. After posting a 3.81 ERA over 28 1/3 innings (starting four of seven games) with the Snakes in 2024, Diaz’s big league work has been limited to a single relief appearance in each of the last two seasons.
Diaz has been working as a full-time reliever all season in Reno, with mixed results. He has a 4.50 ERA and a garish 14.2% walk rate, but he is striking out batters at a strong pace (29.1K%). He has a minor league option remaining which might be of interest to another team in terms of a waiver claim, but it’s probably more likely that Diaz clears waivers and remains in Arizona’s organization.
Drake will be making his big league debut the first time he appears in a game. The southpaw was one of the three prospects acquired from the Rangers in the Merrill Kelly trade at last year’s deadline, and the Diamondbacks added Drake to their 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft. MLB Pipeline ranked Drake as the 12th-best prospect in the Arizona system, while Baseball America was less bullish with a 28th-place ranking.
The struggles Drake experienced at the Triple-A level in 2025 have carried into this season, as he has a 7.83 ERA over 54 innings for Reno. While many pitchers’ stats are inflated in the batter-friendly Pacific Coast League, Drake hasn’t helped himself with a modest 18.5% strikeout rate, or a 10% walk rate.
Pipeline and BA feel Drake has potential as a back-end starter in the majors, but even though the D’Backs are hurting for rotation help with Ryne Nelson and Michael Soroka both injuries, the team’s plan is to use Drake as a long reliever in his first taste of the bigs. It’s not a bad strategy given how Drake has yet to show that he can thrive even at the Triple-A level, so the D’Backs can try to ease Drake in against big league hitters and perhaps limit his exposure to right-handed hitters.
