For anyone who’s been watching the Tampa Bay Rays the past couple of years, Yandy Díaz has been a clear mainstay and almost a centerpiece-like player in the team’s offense. The hard-hit balls, the giant biceps, and the brilliant wildcard and postseason performances are among the memories most have of him. But it’s odd when really looked at though because Díaz has been a big part of the offense despite only appearing in 126 games so far in his three-year career with Tampa Bay. If Díaz has been this much of a contributor to the lineup when he’s been healthy, imagine what a full breakout — close to a 162 game season — would be like.
What follows is what makes our beloved, super-jacked, corner infielder so good, and how his game can be taken to new heights.
Part 1: The Eye and Plate Discipline
The main component of what makes Díaz such a nightmare for opposing pitchers would be with just how crazy good he is at controlling the plate and strike zone. As a pitcher, you’re already having to face one of the strongest men in baseball, who would make you pay on any mistake. But the added factor of also not being able to throw deceptive offspeed to make the hungry hitter chase is doubly frustrating.
Díaz has one of the lowest chase rates on pitches outside the zone (21.7% across his career, 16.4% in 2021), forcing pitchers to throw to him more on the inside part of the plate, where he makes most of his contact. It’s also worth noting that he is almost always making contact when he does swing (87.0% Z-Contact% for his career, 79.4% Z-Contact% in 2021) also attributed to his great eye. He has one of the lowest whiff rates (7.4% SsStr% for his career, 7.9% SwStr in 2021) to go along with a low strikeout rate (16.5% K% for his career, 11.7% K% in 2021), meaning he is able to avoid the strikeouts while walking and hitting — a talent that assures more balls will be put in play, with that contact being considerably harder than most major leaguers can hit them (43.3% HardHit% for his career, 38.1% HardHit% in 2021). Put all that together and an absolute, pure on-base machine is created.
The one complete part of Yandy Díaz that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere is how good he can control an at-bat and make a pitcher work for an out. That type of rare discipline for such a strong hitter is astounding and is seen in only some of the most elite hitters in the game such as the Bellingers and Harpers of the world. If I’m comparing our platoon, top-of-the-lineup hitter’s ceiling to those greats, why does he still look only above average at best? The following components of his game explain why and how maybe it can be fixed.
Part 2: The Swing
The ongoing tale of Díaz’s swing is perhaps the most confusing and frustrating thing as a fan to try to explain. When the Rays acquired him, they, as well as the rest of the league, knew that he possessed BIG time power. An article on his gym regiment, and the accompanying photos of him sleeveless, had Rays fans in awe and dreaming about “Judgian” like power as John Sterling would say. Tampa Bay discovered a player with huge power potential and the need to only change his swing path for him to unlock the 30+ home run capabilities, which had fans hyped for him.
Yet, the type of player we’ve seen Díaz become the past three seasons has not been that of amazing power … although had he played more games in 2019, he probably could’ve had more homers. At any rate, 2020 was probably the best example of what anti-home run Díaz looked like. He still hit the ball hard … but, always into the ground? That’s right, Díaz was walloping balls, yet they mostly went for ground balls which of course still lead to him hitting for a great average and on-base percentage. However, the extra bases were now missing.
If there’s one case that reminds me of the current struggle Yandy is dealing with, it’s with another big-time power guy north of the border in Vlad Jr. The power Vladdy has was evident from his incredible minor league seasons and a stellar Home Run Derby performance. The problem he has, much like with Yandy, is the fact that they both can’t lift those hard-hit balls into the air against live Major League pitching. With just a slightly elevated launch angle, both of these players would line into outs less often, and instead hit line-drive home runs!
There’s a reason the past five or six seasons have been tagged with the “launch angle revolution” description. The emphasis on more lift on balls led to more home runs and unlocked so much potential in a number of players. That being said, you’d expect Díaz to be the next in line to reach new heights with an elevated swing path. The earliest examples were Donaldson and Turner. Later on, there was J.D. Martinez, and now more recently this is Vlad Jr., who is off to a torrid start to the season and seems to have discovered that long ball stroke. That is the added component of Yandy’s game that he’s missing right now. If he can figure out a way to change his swing without sapping the contact or power, you have a big-time slugger on your hands.
Part Three: The Injury Bug
The numbers Díaz has produced so far don’t really indicate what is to come, as it’s just been consistent on-base skills with not much slugging. I do believe that a breakout is a-coming. He also needs to stay healthy so the Rays can keep his bat in the lineup. Díaz has already been prone to the injury bug, as he’s been out for parts of the past two seasons mostly due to hamstring maladies, which always are at risk with the large, muscular body he has. That being said, the final step in the Yandy Díaz 2021 Breakout Tour — after elevating his launch angle without losing power — is staying healthy.
Part Four: The Conclusion
And there you have it. Díaz is already one of the most underrated players in baseball due to his plate discipline and on-base percentage, but his power potential remains untapped this far into his career. If he can start to hit more extra-base hits, Díaz could reach new levels of gameplay.