{"id":78556,"date":"2024-06-30T16:12:38","date_gmt":"2024-06-30T20:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=78556"},"modified":"2024-06-30T16:12:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-30T20:12:38","slug":"colorado-rockies-activate-elias-diaz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/30\/colorado-rockies-activate-elias-diaz\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockies Activate All-Star, Designate Former Top Prospect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Colorado Rockies made a couple of intriguing roster moves ahead of Sunday&#8217;s series finale against the Chicago White Sox. First, the Rockies activated catcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/diazel01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-30_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elias D\u00edaz<\/a> from the 10-day injured list. Then, to make room on the active roster, Colorado designated first baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/monteel01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-06-30_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elehuris Montero<\/a> for assignment.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Colorado Rockies announced the following moves today:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Reinstated C Elias D\u00edaz from the 10-day injured list.<br \/>\n&#8211; Designated INF Elehuris Montero for assignment.<\/p>\n<p>The Rockies\u2019 40-man roster is at 39.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rockies Club Information (@RockiesClubInfo) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RockiesClubInfo\/status\/1807441879903940684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>D\u00edaz missed just under three weeks with a strained left calf and returns with enough time to showcase his health to teams interested in trading for him. In cutting Montero, the Rockies officially give up on a big piece of the infamous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/arenano01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nolan Arenado<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2021\/01\/29\/colorado-rockies-trade-nolan-arenado\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Rockies Activate Elias D\u00edaz, Designate Elehuris Montero<\/h2>\n<p>Formerly a long-term backup, D\u00edaz broke out last season in his fourth year with the Rockies. In 141 games, he hit .267\/.316\/.409 with 14 homers and solid strikeout and walk rates. He even earned MVP honors in his first All-Star game.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Elias Diaz is the first catcher in Rockies franchise history to be named an All-Star.<\/p>\n<p>Now he&#8217;s the first Rockies player ever to win All-Star MVP \u263a\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>Couldn&#8217;t have happened to a better guy. A ray of sunshine in a tough Rockies season. This is awesome! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MbsihCDL7g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/MbsihCDL7g<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Romi_Bean\/status\/1678973647552126977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>While he regressed in the second half of the season, D\u00edaz once again got off to a blazing start this year. Prior to the injury, the 33-year-old was hitting .303\/.352\/.439 with five home runs in 216 plate appearances. Paired with solid defense (3 Defensive Runs Saved), D\u00edaz represented a rare bright spot on a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/29\/colorado-rockies-disastrous-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">disastrous Rockies team<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most important aspect of the Rockies activating D\u00edaz is the impact it will have on the team&#8217;s trade deadline strategy. Many evaluators view D\u00edaz as a piece Colorado will be willing to sell at the deadline. There likely will be plenty of suitors due to his expiring contract, affordable salary, and solid production.<\/p>\n<p>The Rockies will activate D\u00edaz now and give him a month to regain any trade value he might have lost on the injured list.<\/p>\n<h3>Elehuris Montero<\/h3>\n<p>Among the five players Colorado acquired for Arenado, Montero might have carried the highest pedigree. He ranked as high as 81st on Baseball America&#8217;s top prospect ranking in 2019 due to his offensive profile. The publication wrote that Montero is \u201ca physical, strong hitter with excellent hand-eye coordination, bat speed and plus raw power.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Elehuris Montero could be a nice stash player for a team needy of depth. He\u2019s really made some strong improvements since 2023.<\/p>\n<p>81% zContact \u2014&gt; 86.8% zContact<br \/>\n40.4% ozContact \u2014&gt; 45.6% ozContact<br \/>\n44.9% GB Rate \u2014&gt; 37.4% GB Rate<br \/>\n36.2% K Rate \u2014&gt; 22.7% K Rate<\/p>\n<p>Only 25 years young. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vuxfAQghPQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/vuxfAQghPQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pat (@PatSullivan05) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PatSullivan05\/status\/1807447149988196470?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This seemed like a great candidate to replace the prolific production that Arenado constantly provided the Rockies. Unfortunately, Montero&#8217;s development stalled as he struggled in the minors following the trade. Furthermore, his struggles followed him to the majors.<\/p>\n<p>Montero made his debut in 2022 and appeared in a total of 204 games. In 738 plate appearances, he hit just .228\/.278\/.388 (76 OPS+) with a massive 30.6 percent strikeout rate. With other players <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/26\/rockies-third-baseman-verge-all-star\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">establishing themselves this season<\/a> and jumping over Montero on the corner infield and DH depth chart, the Rockies ultimately decided to move on.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for the organization, Montero&#8217;s legacy will be another loss for the infamously bad, possibly non-existent, player development system.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Colorado Rockies made a couple of intriguing roster moves ahead of Sunday&#8217;s series finale against the Chicago White Sox. First, the Rockies activated catcher Elias D\u00edaz from the 10-day injured list. Then, to make room on the active roster, Colorado designated first baseman Elehuris Montero for assignment. The Colorado Rockies announced the following moves [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4683,"featured_media":78566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1071,35],"tags":[4639,3068],"class_list":["post-78556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rockies","category-mlb","category-news","tag-elehuris-montero","tag-elias-diaz"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4683"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}