3:15 p.m: Outsider Wenceel Pérez is transferred to the 60-day injured list as a corresponding move of 40 men, per Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group. Perez hit the IL for 10 days last week after a freak accident. The plyo band snapped and hit him near his eye, breaking one of his orbital bones. His full time is unclear but it appears the Tigers don’t expect him to return anytime soon. This change means he will not be reinstated until mid-August.
1:32 p.m: The Tigers wanted a right-hander Yilber Díaz off waivers from the Diamondbacks, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Detroit’s 40-man roster is full, so they’ll need a corresponding move to accommodate their latest addition off waivers.
Díaz, 25, has made just one league appearance this season. To say it didn’t go well would be an understatement. He recorded two outs but was tagged for seven runs on seven hits and a walk, resulting in one of the most outfield ERA marks you’ll see next to a pitcher’s name: 94.50. Of course, that’s just one bad look. Before that fateful day, Díaz owned a 4.31 ERA in 31 1/3 major league innings, dating back to 2024.
Not long ago, Díaz was considered one of Arizona’s top prospects. Baseball America has him ranked third among D-backs pitchers heading into the 2025 season. During that time, he was coming off 104 1/3 innings of 3.80 ERA ball split between Double-A and a more hitter-friendly setting in Triple-A Reno. He also made his major league debut that same ’24 season, pitching 28 1/3 innings with a 3.81 ERA.
Díaz’s 2025 season as a disaster across the board. He allowed three runs in his only three major league frames and was hit in Reno. The Venezuelan-born righty pitched 41 innings with the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A club and rocked an 11.63 ERA while battling poor command and a high home run risk. That brutal season understandably boosted his hopes, though the 2026 season was a little better — at least in the minors.
This year, Díaz pitched 32 Triple-A innings and allowed a 4.50 ERA while striking out 29.1% of his opponents. His 14.2% walk rate is still very high, but he has hit home runs, dropped his walks and hasn’t even been charged in his walks. He threw 10 wild pitches in 41 frames last year with Reno. It’s still a poor command, of course, but Díaz has at least taken a step in the right direction and has a few other interesting features.
Díaz is sitting at 96.8 mph on his four-seamer this year — an offering that has previously been charted and graded from scouting reports. His 12.9% swing rate is more than two percent north of the major league average. Also, a year after allowing a whopping 90.7 mph exit velocity and a 43.1% slugging percentage in Reno, opponents averaged 87.7 mph for a much improved 37.8% strikeout rate.
Díaz is at the end of three years of major league options, so the Tigers won’t need to plug him directly into the big league roster. They can and likely will send him to Triple-A Toledo, where they can work with him in any trade they see fit to improve his command while retaining his strong speed and skill that he lacks. He’s a pure development mover right now, but given that he’s not even a year removed from being ranked in the rear of FanGraphs’ top 100 prospects, there’s little risk in free agency — even after a disastrous calendar year for the hard-throwing righty.
