Impact The entire Rays offense has scuffled of late, scoring a total of 14 runs during a just-concluded five-game road trip. However, Toribio points out Diaz is one of the poorest performers at present, and the reasons for his struggles seem to at least partly lie in a lack of authority when making contact. The 28-year-old, who broke out for a career-best 14 home runs in 79 games last season, has an average exit velocity of 82.1 mph, a sharp drop from a figure of 91.7 mph in 2019. Diaz's hard-contact rate has also tumbled from 42.4 percent to 36.0 percent year over year, all factors which certainly seem to be playing a role in an unusually low .200 BABIP. Diaz has yet to log an extra-base hit after lacing 35 last season, but perhaps his 3-for-8 tally over the last two games -- his first instance of hitting safely in consecutive contests this season -- is a sign a resurgence is imminent.
AUGUST 4, 2020 • ROTOWIRE
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