Reliever Slade Cecconi Recalled, Yilber Diaz Optioned

In need of bullpen depth and available arms, the Arizona Diamondbacks announced a roster move and recalled RHP Slade Cecconi while optioning young starting RHP Yilber Diaz to Reno.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Slade Cecconi (43) delivers a pitch on July 10, 2024 at Chase Field in Phoenix. / Owen Ziliak/The Republic / USA TODAY

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced a roster move prior to their game Monday evening against the Washington Nationals. They optioned starting pitcher Yilber Diaz to Triple-A Reno while recalling new reliever Slade Cecconi to the Major Leagues.

Yilber Diaz pitched well yesterday, throwing five innings of one-hit ball but did have four walks to go with seven strikeouts. However, the team exhausted all of it's bullpen depth due to extra innings, and the only fresh arm available tonight was Miguel Castro prior to this move.

This was not because of how Yilber Diaz was doing. He bounced back strong after a tough outing against the Royals in which he gave up seven runs in three innings. On the season, he pitched 20 innings across four starts and had a 4.05 ERA and 4.25 FIP with 18 hits, nine runs, eight walks, and 14 strikeouts.

Diaz will not be eligible to return to the Majors until 15 days have passed unless there is an injury. That means that Arizona will need to figure out a starter later this week for the Pirates series unless they acquire one at the deadline.

Slade Cecconi is back with Arizona but this time, he's a reliever and not a starter. The D-backs transitioned him to the bullpen for the rest of the season and he is a fresh arm capable of going multiple innings with high velocity.

Over his three outings out of the bullpen, he twice pitched two innings. Over the five innings, he give up six hits, two runs, one walk, and seven strikeouts.

His fastball averaged 96.1 mph and topped out at 99 MPH. Batters whiffed on it 33.3% of the time. His slider averaged 86.4 MPH but just a whiff rate of 16.7%. Still, the D-backs wanted that slider above 85 MPH and he is achieving that. He has a curveball that averaged 83.5 MPH and had a whiff rate of 17.6%.

Expect to see Slade Cecconi return to the Chase Field mound for the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.