Yandy Díaz was in the news last week when he recorded his 1,000 career hit, making him the 20th Cuban-born MLB player to reach that milestone. The plaudits he received were well deserved, and they were also relatively uncommon. Playing in a lower-profile market, the Tampa Bay Rays stalwart flies under the national radar. Be honest. Outside of when he captured the American League batting title with a .330 average in 2023, when was the last time you paid more than a modicum of attention to the player who is arguably the top hitter in Rays franchise history?
You’re excused if you weren’t aware of just how good Díaz’s numbers are. Now in his eighth season with Tampa Bay after parts of two in Cleveland, he boasts a 133 wRC+ with the Rays, the highest in team annals among hitters with at least 1,000 plate appearances. Over 3,627 plate appearances with his current club, the 34-year-old corner infielder/DH has a .291/.373/.447 slash line and 104 home runs.
Díaz was admirably humble when asked about his milestone the following day.
“I never thought I’d get to 500, let alone 1,000,” he told reporters. “When I signed with Cleveland, I honestly never really thought I was going to get to the major league team. I thought, yeah, I was going to be a professional, but maybe I was going to get cut — specifically because it’s a different style of play over in Cuba. I thank God that I made the team and have been able to do it for so long.”
I asked the Sagua la Grande native how much he’s changed — and how much he really hasn’t changed — since coming stateside to play professionally in 2013.
“I think I’m the same hitter,” Díaz replied through interpreter Kevin Vera. “I think I’m the same kind of contact hitter like I’ve always been. The way I was able to produce in the minor leagues is how I’ve tried to produce here in the big leagues.”
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Following up, I asked Díaz if he has ever tried to hit for more power. While he went deep a career-high 25 times a year ago, he’s averaged just 13 home runs annually while wearing a Rays uniform.
“No, no, no,” he replied. “I’m a contact hitter first. I’m not trying to hit for more power necessarily. I’m a guy that looks for contact and line drives. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
What he’s done so far this season is largely par for the course. Even with a recent downturn — he is just 1-for-17 over his last four games — Díaz is slashing .293/.374/.433 with a 127 wRC+. He’s gone yard five times, which brings us back to the amount of thump he brings, or doesn’t bring, to Tampa Bay’s lineup.
According to Rays hitting coach Chad Mottola, the 6-foot, 235-pound Díaz actually does have some hit-for-more-power efforts in his rearview.
“Through the years, he has explored a little more, at the beginning of the year, to try to find that ceiling of power, where there’s a little more in there,” Mottola told me. “That’s why he usually has a slow start. But this year it’s been, ‘You know what? I’m just going to be me from day one.’ Even in spring training, he came in being Yandy Díaz.”
Regardless of intent, the erstwhile batting champion got off to a better start this season. His March/April numbers included a .330 batting average and an .899 OPS, whereas last year those numbers were .254 and .694. Moreover, in 2024, they were just .220 and .578.
As for “being Yandy Díaz,” just who is he in the eyes of the veteran hitting coach? What makes him the hitter that he is?
“He sees the ball deep, so he uses the other side of the field exceptionally well,” replied Mottola. “That doesn’t usually lead to much power, so while he’s able to pull some homers, that’s not in his DNA.
“He also covers so many different pitches,” Mottola added. “There is all this data out there now about guys’ swing paths and what they naturally cover. He has the ability to let the ball travel and catch it on whatever plane. A guy like Vladdy comes to mind. Most guys have certain zones they cover, whereas Vladdy covers the whole zone. Yandy is similar. There are a certain amount of hitters, probably a handful, that can cover whatever the pitcher is throwing that day.”
The Vladimir Guerrero Jr. comp was unprompted. Two others surfaced via my asking if any hitters, past or present, come to mind when watching Díaz do his thing.
“Not really, but he’s a probably a younger version of… maybe Miguel Cabrera,” said Wade Boggs, a Tampa resident who happened to be on hand when Díaz recorded hit no. 1,000. “Maybe. He uses the whole field, and everything like that. The kid that’s really impressive is the one in Houston, Yordan Alvarez — he’s moving up the list — but Yandy Díaz is… yeah, he’s a dynamic player too. Using the whole field makes him a very difficult out. It really does.”
Díaz’s manager also offered an eye-opening comp.
“Look, this is a high praise, but there is some Manny Ramirez in there,” said Kevin Cash. “Maybe not with the power, but the consistency of the approach and the simpleness, and knowing what the pitcher is trying to do. His being able to go up there and stay with himself and execute his game plan. I’m not saying he’s Manny Ramirez. He hits the ball as hard as Manny Ramirez, maybe just not at the same angles.”
Again, clearing fences with regularity isn’t what makes Díaz a prolific, albeit widely underappreciated, hitter.
“He’s won a batting title,” said Cash. “He has a lot of really cool things that he’s accomplished in a Rays uniform. How has he evolved? I think he’s evolved by showing the ability to be consistent and not letting… there has been a lot of outside noise about his approach. How he hits, what he does, too much on the ground, blah blah blah. He just goes up and is on time and hits the ball really hard. He’s stuck with that approach and found a way to have a great career.”