{"id":84210,"date":"2024-08-26T23:23:17","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T03:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=84210"},"modified":"2024-08-26T23:23:17","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T03:23:17","slug":"padres-sign-elias-diaz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/26\/padres-sign-elias-diaz\/","title":{"rendered":"Padres Add Veteran Catcher Ahead of a Crucial September"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The San Diego Padres signed catcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/diazel01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elias D\u00edaz<\/a> to a minor league deal on Monday. After prolonged struggles, the Colorado Rockies <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/18\/rockies-should-have-traded-not-released-elias-diaz\/\" target=\"_self\">released D\u00edaz<\/a> a little over a week ago. The veteran <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/21\/sf-giants-elias-diaz-rumor\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">drew interest<\/a> from various teams across the league, but reportedly sought an opportunity that <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/susanslusser\/status\/1827062070288044336\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">came with playing time<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Padres signing catcher Elias Diaz <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DanielAlvarezEE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@DanielAlvarezEE<\/a> on it<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonHeyman\/status\/1828229543468949544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In 84 games this year, D\u00edaz hit .270\/.315\/.378 (89 \u00a0OPS+) with five homers and 18 doubles. It marked a disappointing follow-up to a breakout 2023, especially in the hitter&#8217;s haven Coors Field. That said, San Diego could use improved depth at the catching position.<\/p>\n<h2>San Diego Padres Sign Elias D\u00edaz<\/h2>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/higasky01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Higashioka<\/a> has claimed the starter role behind the plate due to a breakout season. Known as a defense-first backstop with the New York Yankees, Higashioka has found his power stroke in San Diego. His 15 homers, 42 RBI, and 118 OPS+ are career highs.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Kyle Higashioka has done everything asked and more for this team<\/p>\n<p>Hell of an acquisition<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zyCG3NQa4c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/zyCG3NQa4c<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Padres Nation (@NationPadres) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NationPadres\/status\/1827168726363611272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 24, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Despite his success, it&#8217;s fair to expect some regression. Higashioka is not producing good exit velocities and his strikeout and walk rates rank among the worst in the league. Higashioka shouldn&#8217;t have to provide great offense for San Diego to make a postseason run. Still, his success this season has certainly helped.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the main reason that the Padres decided to sign D\u00edaz stems from the struggles of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/campulu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luis Campusano<\/a>. The former top prospect has hit just .231\/.274\/.373 (81 OPS+) while providing just as little with the glove. Amongst backstops with at least 100 innings behind the plate this season, Campusano ranks second to last with -10 Defensive Runs Saved.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Elias Diaz has more caught stealings this season than Luis Campusano has in his career. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xtoxLsWhtE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/xtoxLsWhtE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Padres Data Daily (@PadresDataDaily) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PadresDataDaily\/status\/1828240857734226183?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Comparatively, D\u00edaz ranks 13th with 5 DRS, while Higashioka is league-average with zero DRS. However, Campusano is the youngest among the trio and features the most upside. The 25-year-old ranked as high as third on San Diego&#8217;s top prospect list as recently as 2022. That year, MLB Pipeline listed him as the 44th-best prospect overall in Major League Baseball.<\/p>\n<h3>D\u00edaz&#8217;s Role with San Diego<\/h3>\n<p>However, the Padres signed D\u00edaz as a move to help the team now, not in the future. There is immense pressure on San Diego&#8217;s front office to make the postseason this year. D\u00edaz will help the Padres achieve that goal better than Campusano will.<\/p>\n<p>The 33-year-old will likely report to the club&#8217;s Triple-A affiliate for a few days to get back into baseball shape. D\u00edaz should then supplant Campusano on the depth chart when San Diego promotes him to the majors. That said, it will be interesting to see if the team carries three backstops in September or demotes Campusano.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The San Diego Padres signed catcher Elias D\u00edaz to a minor league deal on Monday. After prolonged struggles, the Colorado Rockies released D\u00edaz a little over a week ago. The veteran drew interest from various teams across the league, but reportedly sought an opportunity that came with playing time. Padres signing catcher Elias Diaz @DanielAlvarezEE [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4683,"featured_media":84225,"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":[30,1071,35],"tags":[3068,3006,3318],"class_list":["post-84210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-padres","category-mlb","category-news","tag-elias-diaz","tag-kyle-higashioka","tag-luis-campusano"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84210","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=84210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}