The Diamondbacks are adding right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga to their Opening Day roster, according to a report from Jorge Castillo of ESPN. Arizona’s 40-man roster is full, so a corresponding move will be necessary to officially select Loaisiga’s contract.
Loaisiga, 31, is joining a new club for the first time after spending his first eight MLB seasons with the Yankees. Signed by the Giants out of Nicaragua back in 2013, Loaisiga made just 13 starts for San Francisco’s Dominican Summer League affiliate before suffering injuries that sidelined him for the next two years. He was released by the organization in 2015 and caught on with the Yankees ahead of the 2016 season, where he continued to climb the minor league ladder as a starter and actually began his MLB career in a swing role.
The right-hander didn’t convert to short relief full-time until 2021, but looked utterly dominant once he did. Loaisiga turned in a 2.17 ERA with a 2.58 FIP and 3.01 SIERA in 70 2/3 innings of work for the Yankees that year. He struck out a respectable 24.4% of his opponents while walking just 5.7% and generating ground balls at a 60.9% clip. That dominant showing was enough to push Loaisiga into New York’s high leverage mix, and headed into 2022 it was easy to dream on him as the next dominant Yankees reliever. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way. His 2022 campaign was a struggle and saw him post below league average results (4.13 ERA) with only slightly better peripheral numbers (3.57 FIP, 3.76 SIERA). In the three years since then, he’s managed just 50 total appearances at the big league level due to a laundry list of injuries.
Those 50 appearances work out to a combined 3.51 ERA that’s decent enough, but his grounder rate has dropped to 52.0%, his strikeout rate now sits at a concerning 15.2%, and the righty’s 5.13 FIP (4.09 SIERA) both suggest those solid run prevention numbers are the result more of good luck on batted balls and sequencing than his underlying performance. With so many health and performance related red flags, it wasn’t a shock that Loaisiga needed to take a minor league deal this offseason. The one he landed with the Diamondbacks figured to give him a strong shot to make the roster, however, as the majority of their late-inning mix is set to start the season on the injured list.
A solid showing this spring further sealed the deal, as Loaisiga posted a 3.86 ERA in seven outings with seven strikeouts against just two walks. That’ll be enough to earn him a spot in the Diamondbacks bullpen to open the year, and he should have every opportunity to earn a high leverage role. Paul Sewald, Ryan Thompson, and Kevin Ginkel are among the other arms who will be vying for late inning roles as the season begins, though both A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez are expected back in the mix at some point this year.