Northport, Fla. — Somehow, with all the pitchers that were either injured or ineffective last season, all the pitchers the Tigers went through (30 of them), Miguel Diaz pitched in just three games and none before Sept. 30. Position players Kody Clemens (7 innings) and Harold Castro (4 innings) threw more innings than Diaz (3.2).
Made no sense. But that’s been his fate.
“In this game, you have to stay strong in your mind,” Diaz said. “That is key. That’s something I learned when I got surgery on my knee. I spent a lot of time trying to get my mind right so it stays strong.”
The right-handed Diaz is 28 years old and pitched well for the Padres in 2021, holding hitters to a .204 average with a 1.12 WHIP. But he was abruptly optioned back to Triple-A after two rough outings back-to-back at the end of August and never called back up.
He was released after that season, eventually signing a minor-league deal with the Tigers.
“I just keep fighting because I know I can do the job in the big leagues,” Diaz said.
From September on last season, Diaz dominated Triple-A hitters at Toledo. With his firm four-seam fastball (95-96 mph) and elite changeup, he limited hitters to a .178 average (10 for 58) with 25 strikeouts and three walks in 17.1 innings.
And yet, the Tigers didn’t call him up until Sept. 30, then he was sent back down immediately after that game. He was brought back for the final series in Seattle and pitched two scoreless innings.
“They know the potential that I have,” Diaz said. “I’m clear on that.”
And in case they don’t, he’s reminding them again this spring. He’s pitched 4.1 scoreless innings, allowing two hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.
“For me, his pitch usage is pretty unique,” manager AJ Hinch said. “Everybody has tried to get him to spin the baseball and he’s more of a front-to-back, fastball-changeup guy. I don’t know what his career path has been before he got here, but when he got here, we just wanted to make sure he uses his pitches in the right percentages and to the right hitters.
“Pitch to his strength. You don’t have to spin the ball just for the sake of spinning the ball.”
As Hinch said, there’s a reliever in the Hall of Fame who earned 603 saves throwing only fastballs and changeups – Trevor Hoffman.
Diaz, before he had knee surgery in 2019 and missed the entire pandemic year of 2020, threw a four-seam changeup. It was good, but not great. Once he switched to a two-seam grip, his career took a jump. In 2021, opponents hit .190 off it and last year, in his brief time with the Tigers, they were 0 for 7 against it.
Armed with that changeup, Diaz can be tougher on left-handed hitters than right-handed hitters. In 2021, lefties hit just .172 against him and last season, six of the seven outs he got with the changeup were by left-handed hitters.
It’s a good weapon to have, especially if the final roster decision comes down to Diaz or the need to carry a second left-handed pitcher.
“It’s always nice to have (righty-lefty) balance,” Hinch said. “But there are some right-handed pitchers that can be left-handed hitter specialists. Miguel Diaz is an example of that. You could consider him just as good a matchup against a left-handed hitter as some left-handed pitchers.
“Ideally, you have multiple options that can be a little different.”
Credit to president Scott Harris for giving Hinch multiple options. He’s brought to camp a batch of bullpen contenders, each with a unique matchup weapon.
Among the right-handed pitchers in the hunt, Brendan White and Matt Wisler have dastardly sliders. Kervin Castro has an elite curveball that he throws off a 96-mph heater. Trey Wingenter, at 6-7, has a power slider. Edwin Uceta has a funky arm angle with a sinker-hard changeup combination.
Among the lefties, Chasen Shreve has a splitter, Tyler Holton can keep hitters off balance with changeups, cutters and curveballs, while Jace Fry can move the ball to all quadrants with cutters, sliders, changeups and curves.
Diaz, though, stands alone with the front-to-back, four-seamer and changeup mix.
He has worked to develop a slider-cutter hybrid, but Hinch doesn’t think he necessarily needs it.
“Just use your pitches to get outs,” he said. “We’re not trying to make everybody the most well-rounded pitcher imaginable. He can dominate with the fastball and changeup and the occasional breaking ball. Getting him to buy into that is very key.
“If he can do that, there’s a spot for him in the big leagues somewhere.”
Diaz wants it to be in Detroit.
“I’m just trying to get better and better,” he said. “I want to help this team win. I think with this team, we have good motivation this year. I think this is going to be a good year for us. I’m just going to keep fighting and fighting and do my best.”
Twitter@cmccosky