Indigo Diaz

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Atlanta Braves #21 prospect in 2022
  Track Record: A 27th-round pick in the 2019 draft, Diaz had a strong—albeit brief—pro debut in Rookie ball. In his first full season in 2021 he was one of the best pitchers in the Braves’ system. His 47.4% strikeout rate led all minor league pitchers with at least 40 innings.
  
  Scouting Report: A big, physical reliever, Diaz put in plenty of work over the offseason to get stronger and that resulted in louder pure stuff. The Braves always liked the carry on his fastball and now he’s throwing the pitch in the 93-94 mph range and touching 97. That velocity doesn’t stand out among relievers, but the traits of the pitch are solid and he does a nice job living in the top of the zone where he generates a ton of whiffs. His secondary offering is an 83-84 mph vertical slider that gets slurvy at times, but at its best plays off his fastball nicely at the bottom of the zone. He’ll need to continue sharpening the breaking ball, because he isn’t the sort of flamethrower one typically sees in big league bullpens and he tended to get fastball-reliant in 2021.
  
  The Future: It’ll be hard to replicate the season Diaz just had as he starts to face upper-level bats, but he has a chance to become a medium-leverage reliever with continued progress.
  

• December, 2021 Scouting Report
  Track Record: A 27th-round pick in the 2019 draft, Diaz had a strong—albeit brief—pro debut in Rookie ball. In his first full season in 2021 he was one of the best pitchers in the Braves’ system. His 47.4% strikeout rate led all minor league pitchers with at least 40 innings.
  
  Scouting Report: A big, physical reliever, Diaz put in plenty of work over the offseason to get stronger and that resulted in louder pure stuff. The Braves always liked the carry on his fastball and now he’s throwing the pitch in the 93-94 mph range and touching 97. That velocity doesn’t stand out among relievers, but the traits of the pitch are solid and he does a nice job living in the top of the zone where he generates a ton of whiffs. His secondary offering is an 83-84 mph vertical slider that gets slurvy at times, but at its best plays off his fastball nicely at the bottom of the zone. He’ll need to continue sharpening the breaking ball, because he isn’t the sort of flamethrower one typically sees in big league bullpens and he tended to get fastball-reliant in 2021.
  
  The Future: It’ll be hard to replicate the season Diaz just had as he starts to face upper-level bats, but he has a chance to become a medium-leverage reliever with continued progress.
  
• July, 2021 Scouting Report
  Diaz posted the best strikeout rate in High-A East (18.0 K/9) before being promoted to Double-A Mississippi, and posted a 0.83 ERA with 63 strikeouts and just nine walks in 32.2 innings at the two levels. Diaz was an unheralded 27th-rounder out of Michigan State but worked on his body and his fastball ticked up in response, with a vertical slider that pairs nicely with it out of the pen.