The 2019 season could not be going any better for the Tampa Bay Rays. Friday's win over the Giants (TB 5, SF 2) improved Tampa to 6-2 through eight games. It is their best start through eight games in franchise history. Add in the Red Sox and Yankees having some issues, and the Rays are sitting pretty a week into the new season.
Friday's win was made possible by offseason pickup Yandy Diaz, who came over from the Indians in the Edwin Encarnacion/Carlos Santana three-team trade. Diaz smacked a two-run home run in the first inning to give the Rays a 3-0 lead. He did that even though he broke his bat on the pitch. Look at this:
That sounded like a little fly ball. It did not sound like good contact, and yet, the ball carried over the wall.
Despite the broken bat, Statcast says Diaz managed to hit the ball 373 feet with a 94.6 mph exit velocity. We see a few broken bat home runs each season, but goodness, it's not often they're still hit that hard. Diaz is a big, strong man.
The home run was Yandy's second of the season. He has two homers in seven games with the Rays after hitting one homer in 88 games with the Indians the last two years. His minor league career high? Nine homers in 2016. It seems Diaz has finally figured out how to get the ball airborne and use his strength.
