In a season of firsts for Yandy Díaz the infielder from Villa Clara, Cuba added something else to the list, he became a batting champion. Díaz, who is a key protagonist to the success of the Tampa Bay Rays has had a transcendent season heading into his prime years.
The 32-year-old first baseman hit a robust .330 on the campaign edging out Kyle Seager (.327) for the crown giving a Cuba its second AL batting champion in the last three years, Yuli Gurriel won the title in 2021 with the Houston Astros. Díaz joins a list that also includes him, Tony Oliva and Gurriel as the only three Cubans to win the title in the junior circuit.
Now getting back to a year of firsts for Díaz he also made his first All-Star appearance, hit his first longball in the mid-summer classic and also hit more than 20 homeruns in a campaign. His 78 runs batted in were also a career for the slugger as was his .522 slugging percentage, this placed him fourth in the AL in that statistical category.
The Antillean also placed in the top 10 of the American League in OPS (.932), runs (95) and OBP (.410), but to top it all off he had his greatest first, he became a father for the first time when his wife gave birth to a child the day after this year’s All-Star game. Heading into the playoffs Díaz is looking to add a championship ring to his trophy case as the icing on the cake in his monumental season.
El villaclareño @YandyDiaz72 es el campeón de bateo de la Liga Americana en el 2023.#pelotacubana #AL #championbate pic.twitter.com/Mj8xzLO9Ef
— Yusseff305 🇨🇺🇺🇲 (@yusseff305) October 1, 2023
After last year, how excited are you to start a postseason series at home with your fans supporting you?
We are happy to be able to start at home. Everyone knows that we are a little more comfortable at home. Hopefully we can give the fans a spectacular show this postseason.
How is your hamstring doing? Are you limited and do you think you will be for this series?
Everyone knows that in the playoffs you have to work through pain, you have to play. We want to try to be here at 200 percent, I’m going to work and do whatever it takes to stay on the field.
Given how last year’s playoffs went, how motivated do you think your teammates, are to go further in the postseason?
Sometimes that’s how the game is; you can’t score many runs. I hope this year we can score many more runs. We are going to come out with a little more focused and hope to score many more runs in this series.
Given how last year’s playoffs went, how motivated do you think the players, your teammates, are to go further, obviously, and score more runs and all that kind of stuff?
Sometimes that’s how the game is; you can’t score many runs. Hopefully this year we will get many more races. We came out with a little more focus and we hope to score many more runs in this series.
You’ve always been a very good hitter, but what did you emphasize this offseason that may have taken your game to a higher level this year?
I was just trying to follow my same routine. In this game you have to follow the routine, I just worked a little harder on other things and fortunately this year I think the results were a little better, but the routine stayed the same.
Además de su corona de bateo en la Liga Americana, el cubano Yandy Díaz igualó una marca de más de 50 años.
"El Caki" empató a Bert Campaneris con la mayor cantidad de HR como primer bate para jugadores nacidos en Cuba 🇨🇺 en una temporada de MLB.
-Bert Campaneris (22 HR) 1970… pic.twitter.com/bptcRUwGvW
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) October 2, 2023
How much do you think your past postseason will experience help you this year and what advice do you have for the younger players who are about to encounter their first postseason?
I just tell the guys that it’s the same game. Maybe there will be a little more fans, but other than that, it’s the same game, the same baseball. Also, just go out and have fun.
Knowing that you haven’t faced this team in a couple of months, is there anything you’ve taken from previous matchups that you can use in this series?
We all know they have a pretty good offense. They also have an excellent pitching staff. Our job is just to try to attack early, try to score as many runs as we can and the sooner the better.
Have you had a chance to reflect on winning the batting title and who were some of the people who congratulated you?
Yes, many of the people who have been with me throughout the year and who have seen me this season, approached me. Especially my wife, she is the one who praises me all the time. Yes, there were quite a few people who congratulated me.
Talk about being Cuban and what you would tell other Cubans about being here?
Let them continue fighting for their dreams, I came from Cuba on a boat, but I never lost focus on reaching my goal. I came to this country with a dream of reaching the Major Leagues, I fought, I worked hard and thank God I was able to get there. So I tell them to follow their dreams, no one can tell you that you can’t, the only one who can tell you that you can’t is yourself.