Blast Motion Player of the Week: Evan Diaz (NY)
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This week's Blast Motion Player of the Week is 2021 Evan Diaz. Diaz hails from New York, and like most people that come from the Empire State, this dude is tough and packs straight power.
Diaz’s performance at the Northeast Open in Upstate NY certainly left an impression on us at the Blast (remote) office(s). In a 20 swing sample size, Diaz’s average bat speed was in the upper 70’s, which certainly correlates with what the ball was doing off the bat with the exit velocity numbers generating up to around 97 mph (in live arm BP). That’s what I call a strong floor, when talking about his power.
What’s even more exciting is how he’s equipped to scale that power. Diaz’s average Rotational Acceleration was 19g’s and he even got up to 23.5 g’s. That shows that Diaz has the ability to accelerate into that bat speed quickly, which shows that he’s able to make more late adjustments than Peyton Manning at the line of scrimmage. If that reference went over your head, what that means is that his Rotational Acceleration metrics reveal that he can make later decisions on pitches than his peers, making him less vulnerable to sliders, curves and fastballs with high spin/velo.
The best part about Diaz is that what you see in the data correlates with what you’re seeing with your eyes. A strong kid who puts himself in an advantageous position to make consistent hard contact. Oh and by the way, he’s uncommitted. Recruiters meet Evan Diaz.