Yusniel Diaz - failed prospect?

[yark14]

3 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

While I agree with the rest of this I wouldn't say that Stewart was ever thought of as a power hitter.  I don't think anyone ever expected him to be say a 30 HR guy.

Given DJ's build, you'd expect more power out of him.  I think he should give rugby a try.

[Jammer7]

22 hours ago, panick said:

How do you know this?

Because they are there every day with him. I do not mean to say there is a definitive diagnosis or anything like that. I do not mean to speculate, only an example of what may be an issue. They know whether his attitude is good or not. They know what his effort is. They know if he is putting in his work or not, or whether he has other issues.

If they do not know what is going on there, at least in a general way, then they are not good at their jobs. The front office needs to make decisions based on what is going on. 

[Jammer7]

23 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

While I agree with the rest of this I wouldn't say that Stewart was ever thought of as a power hitter.  I don't think anyone ever expected him to be say a 30 HR guy.

Maybe not a finished product, but I believe that was the expectation. DJ was thought of as a projected power hitter when drafted by DD. Big strong guy who would grow into his power after some mechanical adjustments with good plate discipline. Power, to me, is more than home runs. Extra base hits add into that equation, but maybe that is just me these days. They projected him to become that guy. He sure wasn’t drafted in round 1 for his speed, arm strength and defense. 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Jammer7 said:

Maybe not a finished product, but I believe that was the expectation. DJ was thought of as a projected power hitter when drafted by DD. Big strong guy who would grow into his power after some mechanical adjustments with good plate discipline. Power, to me, is more than home runs. Extra base hits add into that equation, but maybe that is just me these days. They projected him to become that guy. He sure wasn’t drafted in round 1 for his speed, arm strength and defense. 

I guess everything’s relative.   I’m not disappointed in his .189 ISO, that’s about what I would have expected.   I’m not disappointed with his 13.2% BB rate; that’s as good or better than I expected. It’s the .214 BA and 26.7% K rate that have disappointed me.  This is a guy who batted .344 in the ACC and struck out 14.3% of the time.   His contact skills are not what I thought they’d be.  

[SteveA]

22 hours ago, yark14 said:

Given DJ's build, you'd expect more power out of him.  I think he should give rugby a try.

He gets hurt a lot playing baseball, a non-contact sport.  Rugby?

[Jammer7]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

I guess everything’s relative.   I’m not disappointed in his .189 ISO, that’s about what I would have expected.   I’m not disappointed with his 13.2% BB rate; that’s as good or better than I expected. It’s the .214 BA and 26.7% K rate that have disappointed me.  This is a guy who batted .344 in the ACC and struck out 14.3% of the time.   His contact skills are not what I thought they’d be.  

All good points. I have watched most of the games this year. I have seen the hitters ahead of him pitched around several times, and it seemed like pitchers did not mind facing him because he could not catch up to average fastballs often. If he cannot bring good hard contact, along with his walk rate, he has no other real value. It’s too bad, but as a fan, I look forward to the guys like Neustrom and Stowers. They have earned their shots. Diaz is on his last shot for me. 

[connja]

On 9/1/2021 at 1:07 PM, interloper said:

I think you can keep both Stewart and Diaz easily next year. 

But why?

[wildcard]

DJ career numbers vs righhanders are not terrible except for his average.  

In 423 career AB he has a 206/329/428/757 with 25 homers and  66 RBI.  That shows power and a decent OBP.   He is a platoon player with little defensive upside.     He has an option left for 2022 and he will make the minimum.    Elias may see him fitting on someone's bench so he may protect him this  off season as trade bait.   He could be worth a low A prospect in trade.   Elias values that.   However, I don't see him making it through the off season on the O's roster.  

Diaz will be 25 in about a week.  Still young  enough to turn it around  if he can get healthy. He still has an option left.  He too may be worth a low A player.  He is on the bubble for being protected this off season.   Guys like Bannon, Mattson, Abad, Eshelman, Greene, Wade, Burdi, Matt Harvey, Ciuffo, Martin, and Valaika will all come off the roster before  Diaz IMO.

[Aglets]

Don't forget that we have the following guys on the 60 man IL too tho.  I'll exclude Matt Harvey since he is almost certainly gone.

Mateo, Stewart, Lakins, Jorge Lopez, H. Harvey,  Akin.

So that is 6 spots we need just to potentially bring these guys back.  Not saying all of them will return.

[interloper]

12 hours ago, connja said:

But why?

Because there's room on the 40-man and depth is a thing. These are young guys with a ton of control left. We didn't DFA Mullins when he got knocked back to AA and that's essentially what you're advocating here. These guys aren't Renato Nunez in their 2nd arbitration years, etc. Is Stewart in danger of becoming that? Yes, absolutely - but not quite yet. 

[Ripken]

He gets one more chance from me but I'd bet against him.  McKenna is only 24 so he can stick around but I'm really not optimistic there either.  

I'm done with Stewart.  He hits righties okay but that's all he does.  Can't be part of a platoon if you can't run or play defense.

[pdiddy]

On 9/28/2021 at 4:44 PM, SteveA said:

He gets hurt a lot playing baseball, a non-contact sport.  Rugby?

He actually played both ways for a good football program in HS. He’s an athlete - he just doesn’t look like one!

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, pdiddy said:

He actually played both ways for a good football program in HS. He’s an athlete - he just doesn’t look like one!

A lot of guys are less athletic at 27 than they were at 17.

[Jammer7]

1 hour ago, pdiddy said:

He actually played both ways for a good football program in HS. He’s an athlete - he just doesn’t look like one!

A few years ago, he was certainly more agile and faster underway. That time has come and gone, unfortunately. Al Bundy was an all-state running back in HS, and he ended up a lousy shoe salesman. 

[Philip]

No reason to keep Stewart. 25 guys are going to be designated in the next month who have as much ability or more.

Mckenna stays, he’s a splendid outfield defender and runs lickety-split. And that’s something worth keeping.