Yandy Díaz DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz played an integral part in helping the Rays win the series' rubber match on Thursday evening against the Arizona Diamondbacks by a score of 7-4 in extra innings. He went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Diaz is heating up at the plate over the last two games with back-to-back games of three hits in each contest, boosting his slash line to .248/.286/.400 after a slow start to the season. Diaz is a career .287 hitter, so fantasy managers should be expecting progression on the horizon. In addition, he is not striking out or whiffing often and has an xBA of .285, so fantasy managers should expect the results to follow. The Rays continue their NL East road trip with a three-game series against the San Diego Padres on Friday. Diaz will look to stay hot at the plate and help the Rays finish the week strong.

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz blasted his second home run of the season in Sunday's 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves. The home run came in the first inning off Chris Sale, the 2024 NL Cy Young winner. Diaz has gotten off to a slow start to the season, but in his last six games, he has gone 7-for-23 (.304). So far this season, Diaz is now slashing .210/.242/.355, scoring eight runs with three RBI, to go along with the two home runs. Diaz is a career .287 hitter, so fantasy managers should expect him to turn it around as he's barrelling the ball up and still ranks in the 82nd percentile in hard-hit percentage. Next for Diaz and the Rays is a series against divisional rivals, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Diaz will look to keep it going and stay hot at the plate.

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz is going to stick around with the organization for a few more seasons. On Friday, the Rays picked up Diaz's $12 million team option for 2026 and added a vesting option for the 2027 season. This is noteworthy because Diaz was subject to plenty of trade rumors this offseason, but it appears the Rays want to hold onto the slugging corner infielder. Last season, Diaz slashed .281/.341/.755 with 14 home runs and 65 RBI across 145 games with the Rays. That was actually a down year for Diaz who hit .330 with 22 homers in 2023. He has been a reliable bat for a handful of years and that should remain the case heading into 2025.