The 2020 campaign was supposed to be a breakout year for Diaz, and it was, but maybe not in ways we expected.
Diaz came to the Rays in a trade before the 2019 season, and he was something of a batting enigma. The well-built Diaz could definitely hit a ball hard. The problem had been that those balls were pounded right into the turf, evidenced by a 56.6 groundball percentage. Could the Rays help him lift those balls just a tad higher, turning ground ball outs into line drive hits?
Many thought the Rays had found a way to fix Diaz’s swing as his power numbers grew during his debut season with the team.