Elias Diaz

34-Year-Old CatcherC

San Diego Padres

2024 Stats

AVG

.265

RBI

2025 Projections

AVG

RBI

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2025 Fantasy Outlook

Diaz had a decent first half for Colorado last season, slashing .286/.330/.403 with 30 RBI over 67 games, but he batted just .196 without a long ball over 17 contests following the All-Star break and was ultimately released. The veteran backstop resurfaced with San Diego and got some run in September, but he hit just .191 with one homer over 24 plate appearances. Diaz is still a pretty good defender behind the plate, but in recent years he's been below average in virtually every offensive metric aside from strikeout rate (which was a palatable 19.7% last season). Now that he's out of Colorado, even double-digit homers could be hard for him to reach, and that would necessitate Diaz having regular playing time, which isn't likely regardless of where he ends up. He re-signed with the Padres on a one-year contract, setting him up to split time behind the plate with Luis Campusano. Since Campusano has yet to establish himself as a reliable big-league catcher, it's a solid landing spot for Diaz in terms of potential playing time, though he still has a limited ceiling even with decent volume. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

From Preseason

#419

ADP

League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'1"

Weight 223

DOB 11/17/1990

Born Maracaibo, Venezuela

College None

Drafted 2008 PIT

Remains with San Diego

CSan Diego Padres

January 28, 2025

Diaz signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Padres on Tuesday, Daniel Alvarez-Montes of ElExtraBase.com reports.

ANALYSIS
Diaz joined the Padres on a minor-league deal in late August after being released by the Rockies. After being promoted, the former All-Star appeared in 24 games for San Diego, but he recorded just four hits across 21 at-bats. He became the team's number two catcher behind Kyle Higashioka following Luis Campusano's demotion to Triple-A El Paso in September. Diaz would remain the backup catcher for the postseason roster. With Higashioka now on the Rangers, Diaz has a shot to be in the Opening Day lineup for the Padres. His new contract includes a mutual option for 2026 and is pending a physical.

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Batting Stats

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2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

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2023 MLB Game Log

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2022 MLB Game Log

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2021 MLB Game Log

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2020 MLB Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2022

+8%

OPS vs RHP

2024

+14%

OPS vs RHP

2023

+33%

OPS vs RHP

2022

+28%

OPS vs LHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2022vs Left	.657	385	31	9	39	0	.237	.286	.372
Since 2022vs Right	.709	873	73	20	123	1	.262	.313	.397
2024vs Left	.631	102	6	1	9	0	.253	.294	.337
2024vs Right	.721	249	21	5	30	0	.270	.321	.400
2023vs Left	.583	143	15	4	14	0	.185	.252	.331
2023vs Right	.778	383	33	10	58	1	.298	.339	.438
2022vs Left	.750	140	10	4	16	0	.278	.314	.436
2022vs Right	.587	241	19	5	35	0	.197	.261	.326
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Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2022

+27%

OPS at Home

2024

+35%

OPS at Home

2023

+8%

OPS at Home

2022

+51%

OPS at Home

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2022Home	.776	624	59	19	99	1	.280	.325	.450
Since 2022Away	.613	634	45	10	63	0	.230	.284	.329
2024Home	.798	180	15	4	27	0	.294	.350	.448
2024Away	.590	171	12	2	12	0	.235	.275	.315
2023Home	.755	258	24	8	38	1	.277	.318	.437
2023Away	.696	268	24	6	34	0	.258	.313	.383
2022Home	.783	186	20	7	34	0	.270	.312	.471
2022Away	.517	195	9	2	17	0	.186	.251	.266
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Stat Review

How does Elias Diaz compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.29

BB Rate

5.7%

K Rate

19.7%

BABIP

.317

ISO

.117

AVG

.265

OBP

.313

SLG

.382

OPS

.695

wOBA

.306

Exit Velocity

87.1 mph

Hard Hit Rate

28.4%

Barrels/PA

3.4%

Expected BA

.242

Expected SLG

.343

Sprint Speed

21.2 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

51.9%

Line Drive %

18.2%

Fly Ball %

29.8%

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

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Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Elias Diaz See More

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172 days ago

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

If Diaz could simply only play when the Rockies were playing at home and facing righties, he would be more rosterable. Diaz hit .293 in those situations last season with seven homers and 34 RBI which was an overwhelming amount of his overall volume last season. He did hit .258 on the road, but struggled to hit lefties in any location while receiving the majority of the time behind the dish for Colorado. Diaz is in the final year of his contract with the Rockies and there are few signs the club is interested in re-signing the veteran backstop whose last above-average offensive season came in 2018. The upside with Diaz would be him catching the perfect storm of contract year breakout combined with late catcher career breakout, but both theories require a bit of Jobu's rum to truly believe in them. The best thing we can say about Diaz is that he starts at catcher and can give you 15-ish homers. Everything else is a dart throw given his numbers over the years.

Diaz inked a three-year, $14.5 million extension with Colorado after he hit 18 home runs with a .774 OPS in 2021, but he was unable to build on that success last season. The 32-year-old had a .228/.281/.368 slash line with nine homers in 105 games during 2022, and his defense also took a major step back with minus-15 DRS. Brian Serven made his MLB debut but didn't impress offensively with a 52 wRC+, but he provided strong work behind the plate. Diaz should open 2023 with a slight edge for playing time, but his playing time is hardly secure given last season's production, and his fantasy outlook is similarly trending in the wrong direction.

In his second season with the Rockies, Diaz posted a .774 OPS, the second-highest mark of his career. He also graded out as a strong defender. As a result, he was rewarded with a three-year extension from Colorado. The backstop slashed .246/.310/.464 with a career-best 18 homers, 52 runs and 44 RBI across 106 games. Part of his success can be attributed to his improved 40.1 FB%, which is particularly important for hitters playing in Colorado's altitude. The 31-year-old also generated a career-high 16.1% HR/FB. Although Diaz continued to split time behind the dish in 2021, he appears to be the favorite for playing time over Dom Nunez, who hit .189 across 81 appearances last year. Diaz has the advantage of playing his home games at hitter-friendly Coors Field, which gives him a fairly high batting-average floor relative to others at the position. If the power gains he showed last year hold, he could be a steal in leagues where two catchers are started.

Following a disappointing 2019 campaign, Diaz had the opportunity to get a fresh start with the Rockies. Even though he got to play his home games at hitter-friendly Coors Field, the catcher was unable to establish himself as the team's primary catcher during most of 2020. His wOBA crept up to .302, but his BABIP fell to .275, while his Z-Contact% dropped to 84.3%. Diaz did put more balls in the air, which is certainly promising for a player in Colorado. He had a 35.8% flyball rate, and his hard-hit rate (39.6%) and barrel percentage (11.3%) both jumped during his first season with the Rockies. However, he struggled with patience once again, posting a 6.8 BB% and 20.5 K%. Diaz has shown glimpses of promise in his career and could provide late-round value if he consistently starts, but he's been unable to produce on a regular basis and should compete for playing time with Dom Nunez next year.

After a promising 2018 campaign, Diaz was unable to put the pieces together in 2019. Francisco Cervelli was released due to lingering concussion issues in August, and Diaz was unable to lock down the role of an everyday catcher. Diaz hit just .241/.296/.307 with two home runs in 101 games, down from the season before in which he hit .286/.339/.452 with 10 home runs in 82 games. The 29-year-old has above-average contact skills -- he had an 88.7 Z-Contact% and 16.9 K% last season -- but Diaz struggled with patience (6.9 BB%) and the quality connections simply were not there after he found a groove in these areas the year before. The 29-year-old showed what he was capable of in 2018 by flashing his power potential and ability to produce runs in limited opportunities, but the Pirates moved on over the winter and Diaz will have to start essentially from Square 1 with the Rockies.

Despite playing in just 82 games while serving primarily as a backup to Francisco Cervelli, Diaz was a top-20 earner at the catcher position. It was a big improvement on his previous season -- Diaz walked more (7.6%) and shaved nearly five percentage points off his strikeout rate while adding more than 10 percentage points to his hard-hit rate. With that, his power numbers and batting average improved dramatically. Statcast suggests the numbers could have been even better given the quality of his approach and contact. Diaz uses the whole field well (just a 37.7 Pull%), and while there's little in his track record to suggest this level of power is sustainable, catchers typically take longer to develop offensively, so who knows? Cervelli has another year left on his deal and will presumably remain the starter, but Cervelli has dealt with a variety of injuries. Even in a backup role, Diaz has appeal as a low-cost catching option.

After appearing for a sip of latte each of the past two seasons, Diaz received extended playing time in 2017 as regular catcher Francisco Cervelli endured an injury-riddled season. Diaz began the season with Triple-A Indianapolis before being recalled May 1. He'd ride the Pitt-Indy shuffle three more times before being called up for good on Aug. 28. Diaz makes good contact, sporting a strikeout rate in the mid-teens throughout his minor-league career, whiffing at a 19 percent clip last season in 200 plate appearances with the Pirates. Unfortunately, with little power and even less speed, Diaz doesn't take advantage of the balls he puts in play, slugging just .314 with a .091 ISO. Considering Diaz's defense is nothing special, his career path looks to be that of a backup receiver. However, with the fragile Cervelli back for the Bucs, Diaz could be pressed into action again in 2018.

Diaz missed a golden opportunity to make an impact in 2016 as he instead made two separate trips to the disabled list. First, he underwent elbow surgery in early May and didn't make his minor league season debut until July 4. He then caught one game in Pittsburgh, throwing out a baserunner in late July, before returning to the minors and later developing a season-ending bacterial infection in his leg. Diaz was a defense-first catcher until 2014, when he hit a combined .312 between Double-A and Triple-A. He doesn't hold a ton of power but he could see significant action in the big leagues in 2017 if Francisco Cervelli once again misses time due to injury.

Diaz was unable to follow up a breakout 2014 (.328/.378/.445) in 2015 (.271/.330/.382), but he did advance from Double-A to Triple-A. The 25-year-old made his major league debut in September as catching insurance but appeared in only two games as a pinch-hitter. His stock dropped a bit and 2013 No. 1 draft pick Reese McGuire looms large in the organization’s long-term plans. Still, Diaz threw out 30 percent of baserunners and offers Pittsburgh a solid potential backup to Francisco Cervelli, depending upon fellow catcher Chris Stewart’s plans.

More Fantasy News

Swats first homer with new club

CSan Diego Padres

September 22, 2024

Diaz went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk Saturday in a 6-2 victory versus the White Sox.