The Tale of Two Elias Diaz'

It was the worst of times. And then it was the best of times.

In the tale of two Elias Diaz’ truer words were never spoken.

Baseball is a vehicle for chaos. It is a game of slumps and streaks for every individual and every team. And yet still somehow, it is a game where everything tends to come back to an average and balance out.

Every once in a while, though, even after 150 years of this game being played professionally, we are still in awe of the extremes that baseball can take us all through.

The 2021 campaign for the Colorado Rockies starting catcher could not be a better example of this.

Diaz came into the year as the presumptive regular starter behind the dish. He was acquired before the 2020 season after a few years with the Pittsburgh Pirates and his excellent contact abilities ultimately won him the job over fan-favorite Tony Wolters.

With no other veterans in the mix last Spring Training, it quickly became clear that rookie Dom Nunez was going to slot in as the backup. With both performing well in the spring, it just made sense to stick with the Diaz as starter since he had just proven himself a bit the year before and also had more experience.

So that’s how it lined up as we began play on April 1. And Diaz proceeded to get off to one of the most disastrous starts in recent memory.

It wasn’t just bad, he was one of the worst hitters in MLB.

Over his first 24 games, he hit .125/.179/.153.

That’s nine hits and five walks in 78 plate appearances. Two doubles accounted for the only extra-base hits and he struck out 21 times.

He lost the starting gig to Nunez who sprinted out of the gates with five early home runs before falling into a deep slump of his own.

Then, on May 24th in New York City in a game against the Mets, something strange happened… Diaz drew a pair of walks and hit his first home run of the season.

It was a moment that could have gone by largely unnoticed. It was mostly funny at the time for viewers. And considering he went his next two games plus a pinch-hit appearance without any additional hits, the homer in the Big Apple seemed destined to be a final happy memory for a player whose days in MLB were looking numbered.

As it turned out, it was the start of a new lease on life for Elias Diaz.

Now, over his last 42 games, he has hit .279/.348/.600 with six doubles, 13 home runs and 25 RBI striking out only 17 times in 155 plate appearances.

While in the grand scheme of baseball, this absolutely constitutes a small sample size, it is also true that it has been quite some time since Colorado has seen this kind of production at the plate from their catcher in any stretch of games.

Consider that Chris Iannetta, the last Rox backstop to bring a heftier swing, hit 17 home runs combined between 2018 and 2019 and that Wolters, who spend five years with the club, has a grand total of seven in his career. So 13 dingers in 42 games is quite the sudden change of pace.

The Rockies have not seen a catcher hit 20+ home runs since Wilin Rosario did in 2013.

But Rosario’s undoing was his inability to work well defensively, making him essentially the polar opposite of Wolters.

With Diaz the team may finally have found a nice solid balance here.

According to Fangraphs, Diaz has posted 4 DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) placing him in a tie for 10th place among MLB catchers.

Certainly, that doesn’t place him into the category of “elite” but it does mean that the team is still getting above average defense when getting Diaz’ suddenly surging bat into the lineup.

Of course, it remains to be seen if this is just a blip on the radar, a bit of market correction for such an awful start. But even then, the ability to break out so profoundly cannot be ignored moving forward.

If Diaz can continue his hot stretch through the end of the season, not even necessarily maintaining this pace but cementing himself as a consistent threat, he becomes a vital part of Colorado’s future.

He is unlikely to turn into a star player (though he is playing like one right now) and even that may ultimately be a good thing for the Rockies if they intend to try to sign him long term and go looking for upgrades elsewhere.

For now, though, it’s just fun to enjoy the Elias Diaz show.

He is a living, breathing reminder that sometimes the margins between not belonging in the league and dominating it can be infinitesimally small.

Especially if it can all turn around in one night in New York.