The Los Angeles Dodgers made an intriguing move to address their bullpen last month when they acquired former All-Star closer Alexis D\u00edaz from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for pitching prospect Mike Villani.<\/p>\n
The right-hander quickly emerged as one of the most dominant relief pitchers in all of baseball, posting a 2.47 ERA with 47 saves and 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings through his first two seasons.<\/p>\n
D\u00edaz took a step back last year and then allowed eight runs in six innings of work this season before the Reds optioned him to Triple-A Louisville. Immediately after being traded to the Dodgers, D\u00edaz started working with the organization\u2019s pitching development coaches at Camelback Ranch.<\/p>\n
During a recent appearance on \u201cDodger Talk with David Vassegh,\u201d<\/a> New York Mets All-Star closer Edwin D\u00edaz expressed confidence the Dodgers can help his brother get back on track:<\/p>\n \u201cI think just fix his mechanics. I think he was a little inconsistent this year. I think they have everything to help him and I think if they can find the problem, he will be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n D\u00edaz\u2019s optimism is in line with Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes\u2019 comments, as he raved about the 28-year-old and said the coaching staff was excited to work with him<\/a>.<\/p>\n One issue is that D\u00edaz\u2019s fastball velocity has declined each season, bottoming out at 93 mph so far this year. He primarily relies on a fastball-slider combination, so perhaps the Dodgers could look to refine his pitch mix as well.<\/p>\n D\u00edaz is 75 for 86 in save opportunities with a 3.21 ERA in 196 MLB games. He has 227 strikeouts in 193.1 innings and is holding hitters to a .180 batting average against.<\/p>\n D\u00edaz reported to Triple-A Oklahoma City this week and pitched a scoreless inning in his debut with the team.<\/p>\n Alexis D\u00edaz \u2018really happy\u2019 with trade to Dodgers <\/p>\n In the same interview, the elder D\u00edaz said his younger brother was thrilled with his trade<\/a> to the Dodgers and believes he will benefit from the change of scenery. <\/p>\n