If it's right, the reasonable confidence upgrade of foreign hitters, a formidable season begins
Mar 15, 2025
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From camp to exhibition games, he has been producing positive hits, signaling a fundraising performance.
Diaz is raising his batting sense in time for the opening without overdoing it too much. He is a solid central hitter and a key first baseman. There is no reason to hurry.
He recently hit three consecutive exhibition games and five hits, signaling that the opening is imminent. As of the 14th, he has a batting average of 375.
There is no home run yet, but the batting quality is unusual. Strong balls such as foul home runs have been made since camp practice games. He struck out only two in 18 at-bats. He is preparing for a steady performance in a long season, focusing on accurate contacts rather than long balls.
Diaz wore a Samsung uniform in mid-August last year, signing a total of $170,000 ($50,000 per year, $20,000 in options, $100,000 in transfer fees, etc.). He was an unusual replacement for David McKinnon (30), who was forced out due to his lack of slugging power, and Ruben Cardenas (27), who packed his bags due to injury.
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After starting his professional career by signing with the Minnesota Twins in 2013, he made his major league debut only in 2020 when he was a member of Miami after a long minor career. He hit .181 with 13 home runs in 112 games during three big league seasons. Compared to foreign hitters from other teams who are entering the KBO League with stellar careers, the performance is somewhat inferior. He expected outstanding first baseman defense and long hit, but filled the vacancy without being sure that he will stay with him until next year.
It came late in the season, but in the warm atmosphere of the Samsung squad, Diaz quickly adapted to the new league.
He performed well against unfamiliar KBO pitchers with a batting average of 0.282 in 29 games, seven homers, 19 RBIs and a slugging percentage of 0.518. He played 118 at-bats and finished his search for other team's main pitchers.
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He had three homers and six RBIs in four playoff games against LG. He had .350 in five games, two homers and four RBIs in the Korean Series against KIA. He had five homers in nine postseason games. He had a home run pace of more than one in every two games. An accomplishment against the two main pitchers of the best teams in fall baseball. My confidence has grown. Samsung manager Park Jin-man also diagnosed that `Diaz's confidence has grown as he went through the postseason.'
Confidence in his performance in the following year. He renewed his contract after the season. The contract was completed for a total of $800,000, including a down payment of $100,000, an annual salary of $500,000, and incentives of $200,000.
The success of foreign hitters is not in the order of big league performance. Diaz, who will lead Samsung's challenge to win the title at the center of the lineup, is about to prove it.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
