The power returned in a big way for Lewin Diaz in 2019. What happened?
- Born: November 19, 1996
- B/T: Left/Left
- 6’4″, 255lb
- Signed by the Minnesota Twins in 2013 out of the Dominican Republic.
The Numbers
Those are his raw numbers, and they are already aggregated by level, but let’s focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
Boy, was 2018 a bad year! He came over to the Marlins in the Sergio Romo deal in 2019, and the Marlins got a guy on the rebound. Actually, Diaz was hitting .302/.341/.587 at the time of the trade, so the Twins have no excuse.
The Twins asked him to lose some weight before 2018, and it really affected his power output, and then he broke his right thumb. It truly became a lost year for him.
He has always been good at limiting the strikeouts, and it would be nice to see him take a few more walks in order to boost that OBP, but the Hard% shows us that he has his muscle back, and that .250 ISO will play in any park. This is 30-HR power in the majors if he makes it.
He hit righties just fine, and for the Twins he was hitting Double-A lefties good too, then he was traded and lefties in the same league (though different team) wiped him out in the same number of PAs. He had a .188 BABIP after the trade, so some back luck is involved there.
That’s a lot of HRs! Yes, most are to his pull side, but I see quite a few the opposite way. Same with doubles which are to all fields. In short, his power will work anywhere, and his approach could help him keep his BA above water while he is hitting those home runs.
In 2017 he was having a good year at A-ball, then faded in summer. Bounced to High-A in 2018, he really had a poor year, then was injured. 2019 saw the same start, and maybe the Twins were now primed to trade him because of that, but he bounced back big time, achieved new career heights and looked good all year long until a late, post-trade fade. He did enough damage before then to make it a good year.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: #158 on their Top 400 prospects.
- BaseballHQ: Not on their Top 100.
- Fangraphs: #119 on their Top 120 and a 50 FV.
- Fantasy Six Pack: #470 on their Top 750 Dynasty list.
- Prospects365: #145 on Ray Butler’s Top 200.
- Imaginary Brick Wall: #151 of the Top 487.
Warnings
Can he keep his all-fields approach against major league pitching?
He needs to walk more.
He needs to walk more.
Conclusion
Lewin Diaz is known for his good defense at 1B, and we see his power, and his approach should lead to at least a decent BA, perhaps after some adjusting. He looks like a future regular at first base, and he will hit some nice looking home runs. I think he found his home with the Marlins.