329 replies to this topic

[Mackus]

If we could put a statline on his 2020 time, I would feel a lot more confident in any projection of Diaz. 

 

If his 2020 was similar to 2019 (or better), then I would think his terrible production so far this year is an aberration.  If his 2020 was a down season, then sliding even further in 2021 is a much worse sign even if it's a small sample.  But we have no real ideas about how his2020 actually went.  Only thing we know is that the team did not call him up to Baltimore from the alternate site.  That could mean they didn't think he was playing well and they preferred to see Santander and Mullins and Hays and Stewart and Mountcastle get OF time in Baltimore (preferring Mullins and Stewart a year ago is a bad sign for Diaz, IMO).  Could mean nothing more than they didn't want to start his clock and otherwise they'd have called him up.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Mullins produced at AAA and even in a small taste of MLB before falling into a deep funk in 2019.  Showing you can do it at the higher levels is a pretty big difference.  Diaz has produced at AA but not AAA.

 

He's still got time, but not much.  I don't know if I can agree that I think it's more likely than not that he gets out of this funk and produces, but I think it's likely enough that he still gets every possible opportunity.  Even into next season, unless the AAA outfield is more crowded than I'm expecting.

 

My point with Mullins was basically...

 

- When he ascended in '18, he was basically thought of as a 4th OF with a potential starting upside...
- That was followed by 64 poor ab's to begin '19 which had everyone bury him (even though it was just 64 ab's)...
- That was then compounded by him really struggling back in AAA, and being moved to AA, at-which point everyone was off of him...
- Then of course he rebounded last year over 140 ab's, and showed excellent defense...  and most of us (or at-least me) still thought of him as a 4th OF type.... then wondering can he be a .750 OPS guy with the plus defense? If so you have a starter.... and then all of a sudden he's got 16 homers, and an OPS over .900 at the AS break. 

 

Obviously Mullins was able to make adjustments, stop switch hitting, etc.   But he was also allowed time to fail, and after earning his way back... was able to get consistent playing time, and take advantage of that. 

Your point about producing at higher levels is spot on. Totally agree. 

Diaz has to produce at AAA, and stay on the field... and earn his way to any opportunity he gets. 

I'm just mainly saying instead of completely bailing on the guy when he is 'failing'...  give him the chance to see if he rebounds from this. 

[BSLChrisStoner]

If we could put a statline on his 2020 time, I would feel a lot more confident in any projection of Diaz. 

 

If his 2020 was similar to 2019 (or better), then I would think his terrible production so far this year is an aberration.  If his 2020 was a down season, then sliding even further in 2021 is a much worse sign even if it's a small sample.  But we have no real ideas about how his2020 actually went.  Only thing we know is that the team did not call him up to Baltimore from the alternate site.  That could mean they didn't think he was playing well and they preferred to see Santander and Mullins and Hays and Stewart and Mountcastle get OF time in Baltimore (preferring Mullins and Stewart a year ago is a bad sign for Diaz, IMO).  Could mean nothing more than they didn't want to start his clock and otherwise they'd have called him up.

Wasn't there, so I don't know.  And coach / executive speak can be coach / executive speak... but the reports last summer were pretty glowing.

[BaltBird 24]

I'll be shocked if he ever plays a game in Baltimore.

[BobPhelan]

I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t.

[makoman]

Yeah that kind of take, that he’ll never make the majors, seems silly. He probably could have been there by now if they didn’t care about service time, like I said above his track wasn’t all that different than Hays. Same with the DFA takes, you do that and 29 teams will claim him.

He may never be any good, but he’s basically a few decent weeks and some injury bad luck on the MLB team from the majors.

[Slidemaster]

I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t.

Correct me if I'm mischaracterizing you, but you seem like an eternal optimist.

[BobPhelan]

Correct me if I'm mischaracterizing you, but you seem like an eternal optimist.

I am certainly on the optimistic side. At the same time Diaz is 24, is already on the 40 man roster, still has top 15 prospect status, and has tools that will at least get him a look like DJ Stewart has (great arm, hits the ball very hard). So again, I would be shocked if he never made his major league debut. I’m not saying he will be good at the major league level but I won’t rule that out at this point either.

[makoman]

I am certainly on the optimistic side. At the same time Diaz is 24, is already on the 40 man roster, still has top 15 prospect status, and has tools that will at least get him a look like DJ Stewart has (great arm, hits the ball very hard). So again, I would be shocked if he never made his major league debut. I’m not saying he will be good at the major league level but I won’t rule that out at this point either.

I don’t think it takes much optimism to think that a guy who was once highly touted and is still a prospect in AAA is very likely to at some point get called up to an awful MLB team. If Kelvin Gutierrez and Domingo Leyba can come up…the main hinderance IMO (besides his health obviously) is the OF is actually somewhat deep.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

He's going to get a look in Baltimore. Thats obvious.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

I'll be shocked if he ever plays a game in Baltimore.

If we were talking about a competitive team, then I think this would be correct. But given the O's suck its much more likely that they'll give him a shot.

[makoman]

Going back to Bowie to rehab. Again.

[BSLChrisStoner]

MASN:
https://www.masnspor...n-and-more.html

 

Yusniel Diaz was expected to occupy an outfield spot this summer, but he couldn’t avoid the injured list again and his development path had another bend.

“Well, the injuries certainly haven’t helped, but honestly, it hasn’t really gotten off the ground, even going back to spring training and the alt site,” Elias said. “It just hasn’t been characteristic of what we’ve seen from the past, so it’s been really hard to work with him to get him going offensively because of the injuries, so I think that’s compounded it, and you just can’t really get the momentum going and the work that we’re trying to do with him on the hitting side there. It has not been on the success side of the leger in 2021 so far. And he still has a ton of talent. I’ve always been a fan of his talent, as I’ve said, and we’ve got to keep pushing with him.”

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Injuries aside, hes been complete trash this year. Im sure his inability to find any kind of rhythm because of the injuries play a part but ultimately he's just another guy at this point.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Injuries aside, hes been complete trash this year. Im sure his inability to find any kind of rhythm because of the injuries play a part but ultimately he's just another guy at this point.

He's certainly forgotten about at this point until (if) he does something to make you take notice.

[Mackus]

Would be nice to see him have a good final month and end the year on a positive note.

Very hard to recover from a completely disastrous season when you're already 24. Not impossible (Mullins), but certainly doesn't bode well at all.

[Mike B]

I am curious about what they have him working on.   The clock is definitely ticking on him at this point.  The Orioles have invested a lot of draft capital on the outfield so his time to break through is running out.  

[TwentyThirtyFive]

I am curious about what they have him working on. The clock is definitely ticking on him at this point. The Orioles have invested a lot of draft capital on the outfield so his time to break through is running out.

Yup. You could argue he's not a top 5 OFer in our system

[Mackus]

He's got time until there are 2 or 3 guys at Norfolk more intriguing.

Neustrom is already there. Not sure he counts but it's debatable. Others at AA will be there next year. He's gotta get off to a good start in 2022 or he'll get buried.

[makoman]

Next year, between the majors and AAA assuming no trades, you're going to have Mullins, Hays, Santander...McKenna and maybe Stewart. Neustrom has performed alright at AAA. Stowers will likely move up. Watson is starting to look like a prospect, walk rate be damned. It's getting crowded and Diaz will need to earn time.