Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: Law Gives Thoughts on Yusniel Diaz

A couple days ago, we reported about how Keith Law of ESPN was stoking the flames of debate over who should start in center field between Joc Pederson and Trayce Thompson. Law’s not all bad, though, and recently he did talk about some of the younger players the Dodgers have in their system.

Among the players that Law talked about was Yusniel Diaz, whom the Dodgers paid $15 million to acquire this offseason. Law seemed to give glowing praise to Diaz, and it was quite impressive to hear an industry insider give his thoughts on someone that the team has high hopes on for the future.




ICYMI: Happy Birthday, Clayton Kershaw


From Keith Law, senior writer at ESPN dot com:

Diaz looks highly athletic, with quick-twitch actions and good running speed, and a swing that looks geared for all-fields contact right now rather than big power.

As Law notes in the article, Diaz got to face Chicago White Sox ace and left-hander Chris Sale. In the two at-bats that Diaz faced Sale, Law says that Diaz “showed tremendous bat speed.” The evidence of that? Seeing a 91 to 93 mile per hour fastball that was on the outer half and lining it over the second baseman.

Law definitely seems impressed with Diaz, and you can sort of understand why. Diaz is a 6-foot-1, 185-pound outfielder who is very athletic and can hit. Those are the types of players that teams are going after these days, and it’s one that the Dodgers seem to have hit on at least for the time being.

There’s no telling what Diaz could eventually turn into if (or when) he makes the majors, but the fact that he looked good against an elite starting pitcher does bode well for him in the development department. Diaz profiles as a center fielder, but he can also play the corner spots if needed.

Dodgers News: Andre Ethier Carted To Clubhouse

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

4 Comments

  1. As he was 19 when signed in November he will fit in nicely once the outfield jam is loosened up in a couple of years… Thanks for the article do you have anything on young (17 year old) Estevez that was signed at the same time? Estevez was supposedly a second base prospect.

  2. I’m curious if there is any video floating around of these match-ups.  I’d love to see his swing in action against someone like Sale.  It’ll be awesome to see how some of our prized international signings progress this year.  I’m also curious about any new progress with Lazarito.  I’ve been hoping the Dodgers could sign him as we seem to have success signing outfielders who have really raw, but impressive, tools and turning them into gold!

  3. yarritsblake I don’t believe there’s any new information about Lazarito, unfortunately. Been perusing the internet and elsewhere to find out stuff about when he might sign, but there’s nothing out there now. Also, as far as I know, there’s no video from the Sale-Diaz matchup. But Diaz did just hit an RBI single in the spring training game against the Padres today. Quick, line drive swing was very evident.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button