Yainer Diaz
25-Year-Old
2024 Stats
AVG
.258
HR
7
RBI
33
R
22
SB
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Despite serving as the No. 2 option in Houston behind Martin Maldonado, Diaz cracked 23 homers and finished as a top-12 fantasy catcher last season. Diaz slashed .282/.308/.538 and Statcast says he actually underperformed in regards to batting average and slugging -- his .287 xBA and .546 xSLG both ranked in the top eight percent of the league. Diaz is not particularly interested in taking walks (2.9 BB%) and his chase rate leaves open some questions about the sustainability of his contact. Further, Diaz's 21.9% HR/FB seems destined to fall, even with the boost provided by the Crawford Boxes. That being said, the Astros have already committed to Diaz being "the main guy" in 2024, and any giveback in the rate stats should in theory be softened by an increase in playing time. He wasn't a big name when he was traded in 2021, but fast forward a few years and Diaz is looking like a key piece on a championship-caliber ballclub. Read Past Outlooks
Keeps slugging Friday
Diaz went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Friday's 7-1 win over the Angels.
ANALYSIS
Diaz opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning and added a two-run homer in the seventh. He's gone yard in four straight contests, an impressive run of power after he went 39 games without a homer prior to this surge. The catcher is at a .258/.285/.416 slash line, seven long balls, 32 RBI, 22 runs scored and 10 doubles over 56 contests. With Kyle Tucker (lower leg) going on the injured list Friday, Yordan Alvarez has seen more time in the field, giving the Astros the option of moving Diaz to designated hitter rather than having him at catcher full-time in the short term.
Diaz opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning and added a two-run homer in the seventh. He's gone yard in four straight contests, an impressive run of power after he went 39 games without a homer prior to this surge. The catcher is at a .258/.285/.416 slash line, seven long balls, 32 RBI, 22 runs scored and 10 doubles over 56 contests. With Kyle Tucker (lower leg) going on the injured list Friday, Yordan Alvarez has seen more time in the field, giving the Astros the option of moving Diaz to designated hitter rather than having him at catcher full-time in the short term.
Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
Minor League Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
2
16
8
6
4
3
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
6
4
4
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
+26%
OPS vs RHP
2024
+12%
OPS vs LHP
OPS | PA | HR | RBI | AVG | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022vs Left | .662 | 167 | 5 | 18 | .234 | ||||
Since 2022vs Right | .832 | 444 | 25 | 76 | .285 | ||||
2024vs Left | .754 | 62 | 2 | 9 | .276 | ||||
2024vs Right | .676 | 163 | 5 | 24 | .252 | ||||
2023vs Left | .620 | 103 | 3 | 9 | .214 | ||||
2023vs Right | .931 | 274 | 20 | 51 | .307 | ||||
2022vs Left | .000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | ||||
2022vs Right | .619 | 7 | 0 | 1 | .167 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
+27%
OPS at Home
2024
+8%
OPS at Home
OPS | PA | HR | RBI | AVG | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022Home | .873 | 318 | 19 | 52 | .301 | ||||
Since 2022Away | .690 | 293 | 11 | 42 | .237 | ||||
2024Home | .721 | 122 | 5 | 17 | .261 | ||||
2024Away | .670 | 103 | 2 | 16 | .255 | ||||
2023Home | .972 | 195 | 14 | 35 | .328 | ||||
2023Away | .708 | 182 | 9 | 25 | .231 | ||||
2022Home | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | ||||
2022Away | .536 | 8 | 0 | 1 | .143 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Stat Review
How does Yainer Diaz compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
BB/K
0.24BB Rate
3.6%K Rate
15.1%BABIP
.274ISO
.155AVG
.258OBP
.284SLG
.413OPS
.698wOBA
.303Exit Velocity
90.6 mphHard Hit Rate
30.8%Barrels/PA
5.7%Expected BA
.273Expected SLG
.419Sprint Speed
22.9 ft/secGround Ball %
53.8%Line Drive %
17.0%Fly Ball %
29.1%Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Yainer Diaz See More
Monday's recommended MLB PrizePicks include Yainer Diaz with Less Than 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBI, as over his last 14 games, he is 8-for-49 with no home runs, five RBI and just three runs scored.
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Yordan Alvarez and the Houston Astros get to take aim at all right-handers next week, and Todd Zola delivers his Weekly Hitter Rankings with some teams having favorable matchups on their upcoming schedule.
The potent Atlanta Braves lineup has underperformed thus far in May, but with seven games this week Todd Zola projects them to break out in his Weekly Hitter Rankings.
Latest Fantasy Rumors
Seeing less time at DH
Diaz hasn't made a start at designated hitter since May 17, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic.
ANALYSIS
Diaz made 11 starts at designated hitter in the first seven weeks of the season, but his .636 OPS has prompted the Astros to prioritize other hitters for the position in recent weeks. The 25-year-old hit .282 with 23 homers as a rookie last season while splitting time behind the plate with Martin Maldonado, and Diaz has been unable to maintain that production while operating as Houston's primary catcher. The Astros are intent on Diaz continuing to see opportunities and are encouraged by his defensive progress, but he'll need to improve offensively to regain at-bats at DH and be a reliable fantasy option.
Diaz made 11 starts at designated hitter in the first seven weeks of the season, but his .636 OPS has prompted the Astros to prioritize other hitters for the position in recent weeks. The 25-year-old hit .282 with 23 homers as a rookie last season while splitting time behind the plate with Martin Maldonado, and Diaz has been unable to maintain that production while operating as Houston's primary catcher. The Astros are intent on Diaz continuing to see opportunities and are encouraged by his defensive progress, but he'll need to improve offensively to regain at-bats at DH and be a reliable fantasy option.
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Diaz is a good enough hitter that he should get backup catcher work this season and beyond. It will be his defensive development that determines whether he becomes a workhorse behind the plate. On lesser teams, he might get work at first base and designated hitter in addition to catcher, but those starts should be few and far between when the Astros are fully healthy. The one major flaw in Diaz's offensive game is how frequently (38% in the minors) he chases pitches out of the zone. He hit .306/.356/.542 with a 31.3 Hard% and 25 home runs in 105 games between Double-A and Triple-A. Despite his propensity to chase, Diaz logged a stellar 17.8 K% at Triple-A, but walked just 5.9% of the time. Diaz was age-appropriate for a catcher in the upper levels.
More Fantasy News
Homers in third straight contest
Diaz went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Cardinals.
ANALYSIS
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Smacks fifth homer
Diaz went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Cardinals.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting in second straight game
Diaz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Twins.
ANALYSIS
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Getting breather Saturday
Diaz is not in the starting lineup Saturday versus the Twins.
ANALYSIS
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Not starting Thursday
Diaz isn't in the Astros' lineup for Thursday's game against the Mariners, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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