Unsung Hero: Díaz does it all in season rarely seen from a Colorado catcher

Steve Reed represented the Colorado Rockies through their first five seasons of existence and pitched in more games than any other for the franchise, spending half his 14-year career in purple. His 140 ERA+ is often overlooked, and remains a staggering figure during era pitched mostly before the advent of the humidor.  

Steve Reed Award for Unsung Hero

Elias Díaz

At various points in the season, just about any member of the 2021 Colorado Rockies was deserving of the unsung hero label. 

Austin Gomber pitched like an ace from May 12 through June 14 (1.28 ERA) and made people reconsider a certain offseason trade. Connor Joe was a fan favorite and had the 10th-best Wins Above Replacement (1.3) for any qualified player in the National League, according to FanGraphs, from July 20 until a right hamstring strain abruptly ended his season. Brendan Rodgers emerged as the next star of the franchise in his first big league season with 15 home runs in his final 92 games of the season, tied for 6th-most in the NL during that span.

With the most walk-off wins in franchise history – 12, making up for 16% of their victories – it took the entire 26-man roster to pull through and win a ballgame on any given night. Charlie Blackmon and Elias Díaz led the way with three decisive swings to put Colorado on top at Coors Field. Though the former has been a hero since owning the moniker of Chuck Nazty, the latter is an overlooked player deserving of accolades.

Díaz was signed during the 2019-20 offseason after being cast aside from the Pittsburgh Pirates. He arrived late to Spring Training 2.0 in the summer of 2020 and managed only 73 plate appearances during the shortened season.  

As a 30-year-old with parts of six-seasons in the Show, he seemed a lock to get the majority of the playing time as the starting catcher. Then, Dom Nuñez slugged .611 with five home runs and 15 RBI during the first month. It wasn’t until the rookie began to struggle that the door opened a crack and the veteran began to get more opportunities. Even still, he was hitting just .165 with six extra-base hits in 109 at-bats entering the June 16 game against San Diego. 

Díaz went 3-for-4 that day, including only his second home run of the season. From this point forward, he was the 3rd-best catcher in the National League by Fangraphs’ WAR (2.5) trailing only the Dodgers’ Will Smith and Giants’ Buster Posey, the two field commanders of baseball’s most winningest clubs in 2021.

In the process, he also put together a highlight reel of walk-offs. Two in four days sunk the St. Louis Cardinals and ol’ pal Nolan Arenado on Fourth of July Weekend. Another came on August 21 after trailing Arizona 2-0 going into the bottom of the 8th. A pinch-hit two-run dinger from Garrett Hampson was capped by a three-run shot by Díaz that was Colorado’s sixth-straight victory at home.

ELIAS DÍAZ WALK-OFF 3-RUN HR!
385 ft, 102.8 mph, 21° pic.twitter.com/hkUD6BMj7a

— RoxGifsVids (@RoxGifsVids) August 22, 2021

There’s also his contributions as a defender and pitch-caller to the best starting rotation in in the club’s 29-year history. His pitch framing and pop time – the roughly two seconds between the pitched baseball hitting the catcher’s mitt until it reaches second base – were both rated as favorable this season, too. 

Perhaps most unsung of all is what he was able to do for a franchise not often known for offensive productivity at the position. While Díaz was one of nine backstops to hit 18 or more home runs this season – led by Salvador Perez who hit 48, most for a catcher in a single-season – only two men have hit more in a year while wearing purple pinstripes: Wilin Rosario and Charles Johnson.

For an organization that has never had a catcher in the All-Star Game, Díaz has been the closest thing as of late. With another year of club control, he has a chance to be the first, which would leave Rockies fans singing his praises.