After two stellar seasons at the plate, hopes were high for Houston Astros' backstop Yainer Diaz heading into 2025. For most of the season, however, the rare power he showed especially as a catcher was conspicuously absent.
For a team that has spent the majority of the season without primary offensive engine Yordan Alvarez, Houston desperately needed other offensive catalysts to step up. Diaz should have been a prime candidate, though some questionable swing decisions held the powerful catcher back.
Those concerns mounted over time, as it looked as if opposing pitchers had figured out the key to getting the walk-averse 26-year-old off balance and away from what makes him most dangerous, generating a lot of outs in the process.