Jhonathan Díaz was among the 66 players who appeared in a game for the Los Angeles Angels during the 2022 season, which was his second year as a big leaguer.
Díaz originally signed with the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 2013, and after spending five seasons in the Minors, he joined the Angels organization following the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.
Díaz began the 2021 season with Double-A Rocket City before earning a promotion to Triple-A Salt Lake. After pitching well for both affiliates, he was called up to the Angels in September.
Díaz struggled in his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics and ended up making three appearances with the Angels that month. In two starts, he went 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA, 4.63 FIP and 1.39 WHIP across 13 innings of work.
After getting his first cup of coffee, Díaz opened the 2022 campaign with the Bees. It didn’t take long for him to return to the Angels as they promoted him in May.
Díaz made the most of his opportunity as he tossed 9.2 scoreless innings and collected 8 strikeouts across his two starts before being sent back down to Salt Lake.
Díaz would rejoin the Angels for two more appearances in June and but didn’t have the same success as before as he allowed five runs over 5.2 innings pitched. L.A. optioned the left-hander back to Triple-A, where he would remain for the remainder of the 2022 season.
In four appearances with the Angels (three starts), Díaz went 1-1 with a 2.93 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 1.50 WHIP and 6.5 strikeouts per nine across 15.1 frames. The 26-year-old posted a 3-1 record, 4.98 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 8.8 K/9 in 47 innings pitched with the Bees (10 starts).
Jhonathan Díaz 2022 highlight
As previously mentioned, Díaz enjoyed his best stretch during his first stint with the Angels this past season, putting up zeroes in both of his starts.
With the Bees, Díaz had his most dominant start against the Round Rock Express on April 28, when he yielded just one hit and recorded seven strikeouts over eight shutout innings.
2023 outlook
Díaz became a free agent at the end of the year but the Angels quickly re-signed him to a Minor League contract for the 2023 season. He is a quality depth arm for the team as he has the capability of both starting and relieving.
Díaz still has three Minor League options remaining and won’t be eligible for salary arbitration until 2026.
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