Yilber Diaz surrendered one run over six innings on Saturday in a win over the Blue Jays.
Diaz was nearly flawless against Toronto’s struggling lineup in his second big-league start, keeping them off the scoreboard with the exception of a run-scoring sacrifice fly to Alejandro Kirk in the second inning following a one-out triple by former Diamondbacks standout Daulton Varsho. He struck out two and also issued a pair of walks. The 23-year-old righty wasn’t overpowering in this one, as evidenced by just five swinging strikes and a lackluster 24 percent CSW, yet he was able to avoid major damage by limiting the Blue Jays to just a pair of extra-base hits on 10 batted balls with an exit velocity over 95 mph. The minor league numbers have been excellent, and Diaz looks like he’s going to get an extended opportunity for the Diamondbacks after the All-Star break over pedestrian options like Slade Cecconi and Ryne Nelson, but it’s difficult to trust him completely outside of deeper mixed leagues at this juncture. We’re intrigued by the impressive raw stuff, but he’s giving up a lot of hard contact and isn’t missing a ton of bats at the moment, which are some pretty glaring warning signs.