The Marlins’ Lewin Diaz wasted little time getting his first MLB hit. Next up: His first start
Lewin Diaz felt the nerves when he made his way to the plate for his Major League debut Saturday night. He knew the pinch-hit situation he was put into was big.
Bottom of the ninth. Two outs. Miami down by a run.
His mind went blank. As he faced Braves reliever Mark Melancon, Diaz had one goal in mind: Get hard contact.
“I was just trying to maintain my composure,” Diaz said through a translator a day later.
With a 2-1 count, Diaz struck. He turned on a cutter high in the strike zone and blasted it through the left side of the infield for his first career big-league hit in his first career big-league at-bat.
The Marlins’ rally attempt fell short with Matt Joyce hitting a fly ball to deep center field for the final out of a 2-1 loss, but Diaz make a quick first impression even if he didn’t expect the moment to come this soon.
The Marlins added Diaz, the No. 8 overall prospect in the organization according to MLBPipeline, to the active roster ahead of Saturday’s game after they placed outfielder Corey Dickerson on the Bereavement List. He was the 10th Marlins player to make his MLB debut through 14 games this season.
“You felt like the matchup was pretty good there,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said after the game. “... It was just a matter of trying to get a guy on base, and he did it.”
How long Diaz stays on the roster is to be determined, but for the present, he has a chance to continue impressing. Diaz is making his first career start in Sunday’s series finale against the Braves, hitting fourth and playing at first base. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Diaz is the first player in Marlins history to bat fourth in his first MLB start.
The Marlins obtained Diaz from the Minnesota Twins last July for veteran reliever Sergio Romo.
Diaz, a left-handed hitting first baseman who finished at Double A Jacksonville last season, hit 27 home runs with a .270 batting average across three minor-league levels last season.
“You like the fact that he not a huge strikeout guy,” Mattingly said. “He has really good hands at first. He’s going to be a good defender. It seemed like he had an advanced approach for where he has been. There are a lot of things to like. The experience here should help him.”
Prior to his debut, Diaz has been working at the team’s alternate training site at the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium Complex in Jupiter. It’s the only other form of organized practices MLB teams have this year with the minor-league season being canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re facing great pitchers,” Diaz said, “and that’s helping us a lot because at the end of the day, that’s what we’re going to face at this level. ... We didn’t have a minor-league season, and having that opportunity is wonderful.”
His opportunity at the big-league level feels even better.
“He’s one of those prospects that we’ve talked about,” Mattingly said. “He obviously has got to make the adjustment to here, but there were a lot of things we were able to see in the spring and in the Summer Camp that you liked.”
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