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Failure to Launch: How to fix what’s wrong with Yandy Diaz

It seems that the enemies of the Tampa Bay Rays have acquired the deactivation codes for Yandy Diaz, aborting his mission to launch.

The behemoth of a man found his power stroke with the Rays last season as his high exit velocity and regular playing time finally led to a breakout year for him. Even in an injury-marred season, Diaz hit .267/.340/.476 with 14 homeruns over 347 plate appearances.

The key to his success was maintaining his high exit velocity numbers from Cleveland but learning to get his swing started earlier — and consequently pulling the ball — with much more authority, as opposed to slicing everything the other way.