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Friday, July 20, 2007
Diaz is Braves’ hidden gem
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If he’s not the most underrated player in the National League, Matt Diaz is certainly on the short list.
We don’t want to overstate his importance to the Braves, but without this Tampa Bay/Kansas City castoff, where would the Braves be this season?
The man is hitting .358, which would lead the NL batting race if he had enough plate appearances to qualify (he’s not even close, and won’t be as long as he’s playing in a platoon and pinch-hitting role. You gotta have 3.1 plate appearances per team game to qualify, and he’s got barely two-thirds that many).
Diaz went 3-for-4 with a single, double, homer and three RBIs last night in the series-opening rout against the Cardinals.
He leads the majors by a wide margin with his .399 average since April 24, but again almost nobody knows that because his name isn’t listed among league leaders in anything and because he plays in a left-field platoon and doesn’t hit homers on a team that’s got plenty of bigger-name players who do.
All of that should assure Diaz remains off the national radar and on the most-underrated list, as it were. Just the fact that he doesn’t put up big power numbers in an age when being a singles hitter is roughly akin to wearing a scarlet letter “S” on your jersey.
But the Braves know how valuable he’s been to them since they got him for an obscure minor league pitcher in a trade with Kansas City two winters ago, a trade that was relegated to one line in the “transactions” section in the agate (small type) results section of every major newspaper in the country, except maybe this one and the Kansas City Star. If it even made the transactions.
The Braves know his worth to them, which is far greater than his $395,000 salary, for sure.
Andruw Jones told me as much when I asked him after the game last night, told me how much Diaz busts his butt whenever he’s called upon, how much Diaz strives to get better all the time, offensively and defensively, etc.
“He’s one of the top ones,” Andruw said, when I asked if he was one of the most underrated players in the game.
After Ryan Langerhans floundered early and got traded, Diaz put his foot on the gas and hasn’t taken it off, not on the days he plays in the left-field platoon with Willie Harris, or when Diaz is merely pinch-hitting (he’s been the Braves’ only productive pinch-hitter, and one of the league’s best).
After hitting .217 in 46 at-bats through April 24, Diaz has hit .399 (63-for-158) with 10 doubles, four homers and 21 RBIs in his past 61 games, with only two errors (did I mention his defense isn’t anywhere near as bad as it was rumored to be when the Braves got him; in fact, it’s not bad at all).
How would he do playing every day? I honestly don’t know. I’m sure a lot better than I figured he would the day the Braves traded for him, when I was told how well he hit lefties and how he would compete for a roster spot in the outfield.
Diaz has hit .355 with four homers in 124 at-bats vs. lefties this season, but he’s also hit .363 with a homer in 80 at-bats against righties.
He’s been steady as they come since late April, and for the season he’s hit .358 at home and .357 on the road.
He’s hit .360 with none on base, .354 with runners on, and .333 with runners in scoring position. He’s hit .324 in the late innings of close games, and he’s hit in seven spots in the batting order - and has a plus-.300 average at every one of them.
“He’s always hit,” Bobby Cox said after Thursday’s game. “He guy has always hit. He had a beautiful night.”
Frenchy pleased with progress: Speaking of hitting, I talked to Jeff Francoeur yesterday about his stated goal in spring training of being more consistent and how he thought there was no reason he couldn’t hit .280-.290 on a consistent basis.
Have to admit, I thought he was dreaming, at least for the foreseeable future. This is a kid whose “Caveman” approach (Chipper’s words) yielded a .260 average with 29 homers, 103 RBIs, 132 strikeouts and a puny .293 OBP last season.
But look at him now. Francoeur is hitting .291 with a .330 OBP after 96 games, and even though his home runs are down (10) and he still has plenty of strikeouts (73), he’s also got 21 doubles, 65 RBIs and a lot more hits.
He’s on pace to hit .291 (obviously) with 35 doubles, 17 homers and 106 RBIs, and he ranks seventh in the NL with a .360 average with runners in scoring position.
He’s hit .302 in his past 45 games, and .365 (27-for-74) with two homers and 19 RBIs in his past 18 games.
Everybody likes the long ball, but that’ll come as Francoeur gets stronger. For now, don’t you think this is a better hitter than we saw last season, a guy hitting 30 points higher, with an OBP nearly 40 points higher, slightly more RBIs and a far more disciplined approach?
Francoeur thinks so. “Absolutely,” he told me, conceding that there were stretches last season when he was slumping and went to the plate feeling clueless, like he had very little chance of hitting the ball. He doesn’t have many moments like that anymore.
That’s progress, in my book. Also, he hasn’t made nearly as many careless defensive mistakes or overthrows, though it’s still early and we’ll see how that goes as the long season wears on for a kid who plays every freakin’ day.
Salty’s slippage: Anybody getting concerned about Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s little slump? Hey, I think the sky’s the limit with this big kid. But pitchers are making adjustments to him, and now we’ll see if he can do the same.
(By the way, Yunel Escobar just keeps on hitting, which should tell us something about what a dynamic talent that dude is, and also might be an indication of how much relatively high-level experience he had with the Cuban junior national team before he ever came over here. Remember, he’s a bit older than other prospects.)
Anyway, Salty hit .329 (26-for-79) with four homers and 10 RBIs in 29 games through June 26. Since then he’s hit .204 (11-for-54) with no homers and two RBIs in 15 games.
Hey, hardly the end of the world, and like I said, Salty’s going to be a very good player, no question in my mind. But it’s a reminder that rookies are going to struggle at times, and Salty, despite his confidence and swagger and immense talent, isn’t immune. He’s a rookie.
The return of Julio Franco. Thought about using Neil’s “Old Man” as a tribute to the 48-year-old first baseman, who had a two-run single and a couple of big ovations last night in his first game back with the Braves.
But “Old Man” seemed too obvious, and besides, the lyrics don’t really fit, other than the title. Then I thought of one that makes a lot more sense, at least to me. I know these lyrics don’t fit exactly, but look close and think about it, and tell me if this song doesn’t sound a lot like Julio’s return to the Braves.
(And Julio will probably be upset at me for even using a song that has references to bars and such, but hey, to me it speaks of the situation.)
“ALL THE WAY HOME” by Bruce Springsteen
I know what it’s like to have failed baby/With the whole world lookin’ on
I know what it’s like to have soared/And come crashin’ like a drunk on a bar room floor
Now you got no reason to trust me/My confidence is a little rusty
But if you don’t feel like bein’ alone/Baby I could walk you all the way home
Well now our old fears and failures/Baby they do linger
Like the shadow of that ring/That was on your finger
Those days they’ve come and gone/Baby I could walk you all the way home
Love leaves nothin’ but shadows and vapor/We go on, as is our sad nature
Now it’s some old Stones song the band is trashin’/If you feel like dancin’, baby I’m askin’
It’s comin’ on closing time/Bartender he’s ringin’ last call
These days I don’t stand on pride/And I ain’t afraid to take a fall
So if you’re seein’ what you like/Maybe your first choice, he’s gone
Well that’s all right
Baby I could walk you all the way home
Baby I could walk you all the way home
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