Isan Diaz Providing Brewers With Offense, Makeup

ZEBULON, N.C.—Carolina second baseman Isan Diaz hit his second home of the season—and second in as many days—on Saturday afternoon. For some of the fans at Five County Stadium, however, their lasting image of him will be because of what he did after the game.

As his team was making the short walk back from their dugout to their clubhouse behind the left field wall, Diaz stopped to greet the small group of fans assembled along the fence. He tossed a ball to fan shouting his name from the upper deck, and he signed autographs on cards and baseballs for anyone who asked. But he wasn’t done there. After he’d finished signing, Diaz retreated to the clubhouse for a few minutes before returning with a bounty of three broken bats. Instead of throwing them out, he gave them to a few select fans who’d been waiting.

That kind of generosity was something he learned from his father, Raul, as he was growing up.

“My dad was a big key in that,” Diaz said. “He taught me that, no matter how your day is going, the fans are the ones coming to watch you play. Kids here, they come watch you and they look up to you. Our job is to be good role models for them and to show them how the game is played and how you should play it. Obviously these kids out here, they’re learning from us just the same as we were learning from other guys when we were growing up.”

Beyond teaching Isan values away from the field, Raul Diaz also helped his son in a more tangible way—as his hitting coach. Raul works for Powerhouse Training in Longmeadow, Mass., and his tutelage helped Isan get taken by the Diamondbacks in the second round of the of the 2014 draft. The younger Diaz made a quick impression in pro ball as a middle infielder with power. In his first full season, Diaz popped 13 home runs in 68 games in the Rookie-level Pioneer League, second in the circuit behind teammate Austin Byler.

The performance opened some eyes, because Diaz was dealt to the Brewers on Jan. 30 as part of a package to get second baseman Jean Segura to Arizona. Diaz of course understood that baseball was a business, but he didn’t expect to be traded at that point in his career.

“I was very surprised. I didn’t think it was going to happen so early,” he said. “I didn’t think it was going to come out the way it came out, but everything happens for a reason and you’ve got to take advantage of every opportunity you get.”

The new organization didn’t change much about Diaz’s performance. He popped 20 more home runs with low Class A Wisconsin, a total good enough to lead the Midwest League. At 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, Diaz’s frame doesn’t necessarily make evaluators think about balls leaving the yard. Make no mistake, though, it’s in there.

“Everything you could want in a swing (he’s got),” Carolina manager Joe Ayrault said. “With his ability, he can hit it to all fields. He’s got the ability to drive the ball out of the ballpark to the opposite field, which is very impressive for a guy like him. You get a lot of comps to Robinson Cano because of his hitting style. He’s got good rhythm and just creates a lot of force on the ball.”

Diaz has hit two home runs so far this season and his hitting just .217/.284/.333 over the season’s first couple of weeks. To avoid taking his early struggles into the field with him, however, Diaz employs a technique taught to him by his hitting coach last year, Al LeBoeuf, that involves more than a little bit of visualization.

“I try to leave it in the dugout,” he said. “My thing is, if I’m not having a good day at the plate I tend to just find a trash can and just look at it and throw it away. Literally, I’ll find a trash can, look at it, not worry about it and throw it away. The inning’s over, and now I’m just trying to focus on defense. (LeBoeuf) was my hitting coach last year and he always used to talk about the things he used to do as a hitter, and I kind of took that from him to try to stay consistent on both ends.”

Now matter how he performs over the rest of this season, the fans at Five County Stadium will see the same player day in and day out. And after the game is over, he’ll make sure to show much he appreciates the support along the way.