Yandy Diaz Snub Indefensible by Tribe

As the Cleveland Indians grow ever-nearer to a postseason appearance, it seems the team is missing out on a clear opportunity to improve. As it stands, one of the team’s few weak points lies in their platoon-heavy outfield. The Indians do not have a single outfielder who can be defined as a clear everyday player, which sometimes leaves them with a platoon-disadvantage.

When the postseason arrives, Cleveland is posed to start Rajai Davis, Brandon Guyer and Coco Crisp against strong left-handed starting pitchers like David Price, Cole Hamels and J.A. Happ. While Guyer has mashed lefties in 2016 (168 wRC+), and Davis has been tolerable (89 wRC+ in 2016) with a track record of success (career 116 wRC+ vs. LHP), Crisp has been flat out abysmal against southpaws in 2016, only managing a 56 wRC+.

To date, it hasn’t been much of issue for the Indians, with Abraham Almonte typically hitting where Crisp would and performing admirably with a 112 wRC+ despite a poor career track record against lefties. However, as most fans know by now, Almonte is ineligible for the postseason, leaving the switch-hitting Crisp as the seemingly obvious pick to fill his place despite his immense struggles against southpaws this year. In theory, the Indians could forego lefty/righty matchups and try Lonnie Chisenhall or Tyler Naquin in Crisp’s spot to get better production, but the two have been platooned for a reason. They never have been above-average against lefties in their careers. Further, with both enjoying successful seasons, the Indians wouldn’t want to change either player’s role at such a crucial stage.

However, the Indians don’t have to be stuck with Crisp’s pitcher-like hitting hitting against left-handers. Rather, it seems they are choosing to that route. As it would happen, a 25 year-old, MLB-ready, positionally versatile, lefty-masher is already in the Indians’ system and is sitting at home. His name is Yandy Diaz.

While Diaz wasn’t regarded as a top prospect when he signed with the Indians out of Cuba in 2013, his monster production at AA and AAA quickly turned him into one. In 2015, Diaz posted a 143 wRC+ during 132 games in Akron and went on to put up an even stronger 149 wRC+ in 95 games in AAA Columbus in 2016.

The most impressive part about Diaz’s game is his plate discipline and contact ability, which have combined to give him a career .403 OBP in the minor leagues. For reference: Jose Ramirez and Michael Brantley had very similar numbers and those players have worked out pretty well in Cleveland.

Exactly what is it that makes Diaz such a perfect fit? Firstly, as expected from a right-handed hitter, Diaz has destroyed left-handed pitching this season in AAA to the tune of a .387/.475/.605 slash line in 119 at bats. Further, he can play Crisp’s position in left field. While he only began playing outfield this year, reports from scouts indicate he projects to be fringe-average to average in the outfield corners. At the very least, it would be hard for Diaz to do worse that Crisp’s -11.4 UZR/150 in left this season. To continue to strengthen his case, Diaz is typically regarded as a roughly average second basemen and an above-average third basemen, which would allow him to take away any at bats from utility-man Michael Martinez and his historically bad career 37 wRC+ (ed. note: league average is 100, Martinez ranks 4,708th of 4,718 non-pitchers with at least 500 PA in all of MLB history).

Clearly, Yandy Diaz could provide a tangible improvement to the Indians’ major league roster during September and in the playoffs, so why hasn’t he been called up? Originally, it seemed Cleveland wanted to wait until Columbus’ season ended, so Diaz could continue to receive regular playing time, but the Clippers were eliminated this past Saturday and Diaz remained home despite teammates Jesus Aguilar and Ryan Merritt being recalled by the Indians.

Perhaps the biggest hang up is the fact that Diaz isn’t currently on the 40-man roster, so promoting him would require Cleveland to cut someone currently rostered. From a baseball standpoint, this shouldn’t be an issue, which I wrote about earlier. The team’s reluctance to cut a player currently rostered could be more political, with the team not wanting to cut hard-working players, but with a championship on the line that motivation should be discarded.

Maybe the reasoning could somehow be financial, with the team not wanting to start Diaz’s service-clock. However, even if that were the case, it would be extremely petty given Cleveland’s aforementioned championship aspirations.

All things considered, the Indians snubbing Yandy Diaz is one of their more puzzling moves in recent memory. Diaz has virtually nothing left to prove in the minors leagues and with him sitting at home, he isn’t missing out on any playing time elsewhere. Without question, the Cuban would provide at least some level of improvement for the team, even being limited to a part-time role. While usually Indians’ fans frustrations are misguided, any complaints about the team failing to call up Diaz are perfectly within reason. Should Coco Crisp struggle in October versus lefty pitching, fans maybe be left wondering, “what could have been if Diaz would have been in Crisp’s place?”