This offseason, Díaz reached a deal with the Rays on a three-year, $24 million guaranteed contract that took him off the year-to-year arbitration schedule. “Because of the strength I have physically, naturally, they didn’t make fun of me,” Díaz said, “but they were like, ‘Swing, swing, swing so the ball will go ‘cause you’re so strong.’” Invigorated by Statcast metrics that showed he did indeed post top-of-the-charts maximum exit velocities, fans, analysts and teammates wondered what it would look like if Díaz adjusted his launch angles, if he bought into the mantra of “ elevate and celebrate.”
The drumbeat of calls for him to add power quieted as Díaz established himself as a productive player, but they never went away. “I think I’ve always been a contact hitter rather than a power hitter,” Díaz told Yahoo Sports in Spanish through Rays communications manager Elvis Martinez, “even though the power is there.” As long as he maintained that, he would be a big-leaguer. That level of plate discipline - which puts Díaz in the realm of Juan Soto, Mike Trout and Brandon Nimmo - combined with his ability to put the bat on the ball gave Díaz a rock-solid baseline that was in many ways more precious than home run power in today’s MLB. 374 on-base percentage that ranked among the top 15 in baseball over that span. Between 20, he hit only 38 homers but walked nearly as much as he struck out and logged a. Since joining the Rays, Díaz has the 10th-lowest chase rate in baseball, swinging at only 19% of balls outside the strike zone. The answer to that was yes, but Mottola found that Díaz took the most pride in maintaining his razor-sharp eye at the plate. In the first 88 games of his career, split across 2017 and '18, he managed one home run, while his unimposing, 5-foot-9 teammate José Ramirez bashed 68 by learning to lift and pull the ball like clockwork.Īfter Díaz landed with the Rays in a three-team trade ahead of 2019, Tampa Bay hitting coach Chad Mottola was initially curious whether Díaz's shredded upper body afforded him the flexibility to get to all the pitches he needed to hit.
(For the record, though, Díaz said he successfully bench-pressed one rep at 400 pounds this offseason.)Īs Díaz broke into the majors, he provided an almost flippant commentary on the sport. But that sort of visible physical potential, which is far from a direct line to success in football, tells you even less about a player’s future in baseball. He was, in essence, baseball’s DK Metcalf.
Rather than go head-to-head with him, Antonetti joked he just finds another part of the weight room if Diaz is in there. Chris Antonetti said that, yes, he's ended up in the weight room at the same time as Yandy Diaz, owner of baseball's best biceps.
0 kommentar(er)
