The Royals announced that they have recalled outfielder Tyler Tolbert. To open a roster spot for him, catcher Elias Díaz has been designated for assignment. Kansas City’s 40-man count drops to 39.
Díaz, 35, signed a minor league deal with the Royals in the offseason. He had his contract selected to the big league roster just over a month ago. That gave the Royals a three-catcher setup, with Díaz backing up Carter Jensen and Salvador Perez. In that limited role, Díaz has done fairly well, hitting two home runs in 23 plate appearances.
Getting bumped off the roster is probably more about other players on the roster than it is about anything Díaz has done. At the time Díaz was called up, Perez was dealing with some hip soreness and was in need of some extra rest. That has seemingly helped, as Perez hit .200/.236/.350 over March and April but has a .231/.297/.400 line in May so far.
In the outfield, Lane Thomas is dealing with a sore hamstring, per Jaylon T. Thompson of The Kansas City Star. Thomas hasn’t hit the injured list but also hasn’t started a game since Tuesday. By bringing up Tolbert and cutting Díaz, the Royals have sacrificed their three-catcher arrangement in order to add some extra outfield depth.
Díaz now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Royals could take five days to explore trade interest. As a 35-year-old backstop, he won’t have a ton of value, but they might get some calls. Atlanta just lost both Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin to the injured list recently, so they could really use some extra catching depth. Cal Raleigh, Francisco Alvarez and Ryan Jeffers also hit the IL this month, leaving the Mariners, Mets and Twins without their starting catchers.
Thanks to his two homers, Díaz has a .227/.261/.591 line and 128 wRC+ this year, though in a tiny sample of 23 plate appearances. He has a .246/.300/.385 line and 78 wRC+ in his career. Defensively, he has received good grades for his throwing and blocking. He has mostly been graded as a poor framer but has been around average in recent years.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
