Yainer Diaz

Yainer Diaz

26-Year-Old CatcherC
Houston Astros
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
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#103
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Astros in March of 2024.
Taking seat Saturday
CHouston Astros
September 28, 2024
Diaz isn't in the Astros' lineup for Saturday's game against the Guardians.
ANALYSIS
Diaz will get a rare off day Saturday as the Astros elect to rest many of their regular starters with the postseason just around the corner. In his place, Victor Caratini will pick up a start behind the dish and bat third.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
19
45
18
9
6
4
3
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
7
15
11
4
4
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+12%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+7%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+50%
OPS vs RHP
2022
 
 
-100%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .730 275 35 9 34 1 .268 .302 .428
Since 2022vs Right .817 730 86 30 111 1 .300 .323 .493
2024vs Left .806 170 22 6 25 1 .306 .341 .465
2024vs Right .751 449 48 10 59 1 .297 .318 .432
2023vs Left .620 103 13 3 9 0 .214 .243 .378
2023vs Right .931 274 38 20 51 0 .307 .332 .599
2022vs Left .000 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
2022vs Right .619 7 0 0 1 0 .167 .286 .333
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+33%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+29%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+37%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
-100%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .901 510 75 24 81 1 .333 .353 .548
Since 2022Away .680 495 46 15 64 1 .247 .281 .399
2024Home .860 314 45 10 46 1 .337 .357 .503
2024Away .667 305 25 6 38 1 .260 .292 .375
2023Home .972 195 30 14 35 0 .328 .349 .624
2023Away .708 182 21 9 25 0 .231 .264 .444
2022Home .000 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
2022Away .536 8 0 0 1 0 .143 .250 .286
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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.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.22
 
BB Rate
3.9%
 
K Rate
17.3%
 
BABIP
.338
 
ISO
.142
 
AVG
.299
 
OBP
.325
 
SLG
.441
 
OPS
.766
 
wOBA
.333
 
Exit Velocity
90.2 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
31.7%
 
Barrels/PA
6.0%
 
Expected BA
.300
 
Expected SLG
.465
 
Sprint Speed
22.4 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
51.2%
 
Line Drive %
22.4%
 
Fly Ball %
26.3%
 
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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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
Three straight multi-hit games
CHouston Astros
September 23, 2024
Diaz went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and one run scored Sunday against the Angels.
ANALYSIS
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Three hits Sunday
CHouston Astros
September 9, 2024
Diaz went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI in Sunday's loss to the Diamondbacks.
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Sitting out matinee
CHouston Astros
August 28, 2024
Diaz is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's game in Philadelphia.
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Goes deep Sunday
CHouston Astros
August 26, 2024
Diaz went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Sunday's win over the Orioles.
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Homers in three straight games
CHouston Astros
August 20, 2024
Diaz went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 6-5 loss to the Red Sox.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Option at first base?
CHouston Astros
July 20, 2024
The Astros could consider giving Diaz some playing time at first base, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic.
ANALYSIS
The 25-year-old has seen most of his playing time behind the plate this season but also has 24 starts at designated hitter. The Astros don't have a clear answer at first base since the release of Jose Abreu, as Jon Singleton likely isn't a long-term solution. Diaz has carried a hot bat since the start of June with an .834 OPS, and seeing some time at first base could help keep him in the lineup while keeping the DH spot open for Yordan Alvarez or other position players. Victor Caratini is closing in on a return from a hip strain, and once he's healthy it could open up a more versatile role for Diaz.
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