{"id":59430,"date":"2023-07-12T13:00:24","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T17:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=59430"},"modified":"2023-07-12T10:33:21","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T14:33:21","slug":"all-star-game-mvp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/07\/12\/all-star-game-mvp\/","title":{"rendered":"El\u00edas D\u00edaz Proves He Is All-Star Worthy With Winning Game’s MVP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Statistically speaking, El\u00edas D\u00edaz should not have been in Seattle as an All-Star. His nod to go to the game represents a major concern with the current format of the midseason festivities. But he made the most of his opportunity. His go-ahead home run gave the National League the lead late. It proved to be the deciding blow and broke the American League\u2019s nine-game win streak. Diaz enshrined himself in baseball history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[metabet_core_side_odds_tile query=”bbm\/colorado_rockies” size=”350×300″ site_id=”lastwordonsports”]<\/p>\n

El\u00edas D\u00edaz Proves He Is All-Star Worthy With Winning Game’s MVP<\/h2>\n

\u201cUnderserving All-Star\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

D\u00edaz is one of many players in MLB history who benefits from the rule that every team gets representation in the All-Star Game. Despite not having the strongest statistics, he got the nod to represent the struggling Colorado Rockies<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of fWAR (0.5), he ranks as the eighth-ranked catcher in the league and fifth in the NL. His 1.6 bWAR ranks as fourth in the MLB and fourth in the NL. In both metrics, there were better players at his position to pick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even on his own team, there have better producers. Ryan McMahon has been worth 3.0 WAR with a 108 OPS+ and Ezequiel Tovar has been worth 1.6 WAR. D\u00edaz rode the coattails of a great start to the season and All-Star Game rules to make his way to the Summer Classic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scorching Hot Start to Drastic Fall Off\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

After the first month-plus of play, it seemed like a lock that the <\/span>Rockies\u2019 backstop<\/span> was headed to his first career All-Star Game. Month over month, he went from one of the game\u2019s best to quickly becoming a non-factor at the plate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

March\/April: 26 games, .321\/.380\/.464, eight extra-base hits (six HR), 11 RBI, .845 OPS\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

May: 23 games, .321\/.372\/.524, nine extra-base hits (four HR), 16 RBI, .896 OPS\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

June: 24 games, .218\/.271\/.391, eight extra-base hits (three HR), 18 RBI, .662 OPS\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

July: 7 games, .174\/.174\/.174, zero extra-base hits, zero RBI, .348 OPS\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first to go was the contact hitting in June. The power seemed to still be there for the most part, but July was a disaster. Tallying just four total hits, D\u00edaz failed to find any gaps and did not even walk, leading to his slash line featuring the same number three times over. If All-Star rosters were decided after the final game of the first half is played, his 96 OPS+ likely does not make the cut.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All-Star Game MVP\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

D\u00edaz found a way to forget his June and July struggles. He came up big in the game that should be celebrating the best performances to this point in the season. In the eighth inning, he hit a go-ahead two-run HR to give the NL the lead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His clutch home run made sure he went home with All-Star Game MVP honors. Becoming the first in Rockies franchise history to do so, as well as being the fuel to prove that his hot start to the season may not have really been a fluke and he can compete with the best in the league.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Now THIS is a souvenir \ud83d\ude0d pic.twitter.com\/VI1MLuuPlR<\/a><\/p>\n

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) July 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n