It’s another lost summer for the Rockies, but Elias Diaz didn’t get that message, or he’s just ignoring it altogether.
Colorado’s shiniest silver lining amid the potential of a 100-loss season made club history on Tuesday at T-Mobile Park, becoming the first Rockies player to earn All-Star Game MVP by blasting a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the eighth inning.
Diaz’s dinger off Orioles right-hander Félix Bautista gave the National League a 3-2 lead and propelled the Senior Circuit to its first win over the American League since 2012, snapping a nine-game win streak for the AL in the exhibition. Diaz sent Bautista’s 2-2 hanging splitter 360 feet into the left field seats in Seattle.
“That was absolutely electric!” Ryan McMahon told The Denver Post. “I know myself and a bunch of my teammates were all screaming at the TV in excitement. It was so cool to see that homer.”
The 32-year-old Venezuelan, making his All-Star debut as the first Colorado catcher to appear in the game, was pinch-hitting for Jorge Soler. Diaz’s clutch bomb came against the best bullpen arm in baseball, as Bautista leads all relievers in ERA (1.07 in 39 games), strikeouts per nine (18.00) and WAR (2.0).
If not for the MLB rule that every team is represented in the game, Diaz might not have even been there for his decisive stroke.
Diaz’s homer was only the sixth go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later of the All-Star Game when a team was trailing, and the first in 20 years. He joins Hank Blalock (2003), Mike Schmidt (1981), Cookie Rojas (1972), Gus Bell (1954) and Ted Williams (a walk-off to end the 1941 game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit) in accomplishing that feat. Diaz is also just the sixth catcher to win the game’s MVP, joining Brian McCann (2010), Sandy Alomar Jr. (1997), Mike Piazza (1996), Terry Steinbach (1988) and Gary Carter (1981, ’84).
The AL tried to spoil Diaz’s Ted Williams MVP Award bid in a dramatic ninth inning, but Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel worked around two walks and shut the door by striking out Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez to end the game.
Diaz’s big moment in Seattle continued his stellar season as one of the top performing players on Blake Street. At the All-Star break, Diaz is batting .277 with nine homers and 45 RBIs. Behind the dish, he’s improved vastly from 2022 while emerging as one of the more reliable backstops in the NL.
He’s under contract through next season, and even though Diaz could fetch a decent return on the trade market ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline, it’s unlikely the Rockies would deal the veteran catcher in exchange for much-needed pitching prospects. Beyond Diaz, only veteran Austin Wynns (a waiver claim earlier this season) is on the roster, while Brian Serven is the lone catcher in Triple-A with big-league experience.
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