Diaz taking on all roles but one
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Aledmys Diaz is too afraid to meet Ellen DeGeneres.
Diaz, who has admired DeGeneres ever since he defected from Cuba for a shot at the majors, stumbled upon the comedienne’s daytime talk show and studied her pronunciation like it were a peppier version of Rosetta Stone. Diaz became fluent in English in 18 months.
Producers of the show read articles online mentioning his fandom and reached out to Diaz in 2016. They told him he could appear as a guest with DeGeneres after the season.
Diaz — a utility player the Astros acquired in an offseason trade with the Toronto Blue Jays — is a man who fled the Cuban national team for 20 months of a human-trafficking nightmare. He carried the burden of uplifting his family with money he could not be certain he would earn in the United States. But he emerged to start at shortstop like his idol Derek Jeter and made the National League All-Star team as a rookie in St. Louis.
Diaz does not seem to scare easily. A long scar from a childhood bicycle accident squiggles down the outside of his right eye. Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester are among the pitchers Diaz has dominated. Entering his fourth major league season, he has seen eight pitches of 100-plus mph and made contact with seven of them. He let one go by for a ball.
But when given the chance for the meet-and-greet of a lifetime, to seize “Ellen’s Dance Dare,” to fulfill his latest American dream, Diaz cowered.
He passed up the opportunity in 2016 and cannot imagine braving an appearance on the show.
“I’m too afraid,” he said. “On the field, I’m used to that. But in front of the cameras, I can’t do that. I’m going to be too nervous.”
That might be the only place Diaz calls uncomfortable. With two weeks remaining in spring training, he has embraced infield and outfield positions that the Astros want him prepared to play throughout the upcoming season. With former super utility man Marwin Gonzalez gone to Minnesota, Diaz is expected to be a short-notice fill-in for any hole the Astros might find.
Around 6 feet and less than 200 pounds, Diaz, 28, has played shortstop or third base in all but six of his 291 games in the majors, but he has broken in mitts for left field and first base.
“I have to do early work in the outfield and at first base — two positions I’ve never played at this level,” he said.
Technically, he played three games in left field in 2017.
“It’s a different feeling,” he said. “Going from shortstop to another position is easy. I feel comfortable everywhere.”
Diaz is committed to improving on his technique with coach Gary Pettis, who works with the outfielders. He listens for positioning directions from center fielders George Springer and Jake Marisnick. He is still grasping the art of getting a jump on the ball off the bat, which he has not seen often in Grapefruit League games so far. He has spent most of his 49 innings this spring at second base and only six in left field, where he did not make a putout.
“He made a great throw,” manager A.J. Hinch said.
Diaz unleashed a rope toward home plate on a bang-bang play that resulted in a safe call.
Hinch plans to start Diaz in the outfield more over the weekend. Diaz will get to test his vision under different conditions during the night game Friday.
The Astros have multiple outfielders to use off the bench, most notably Tony Kemp and Marisnick, but Hinch uses spring training to prepare players like Diaz for the unexpected.
“He’s probably not going to see as much time out there as we originally had anticipated,” Hinch said, alluding to the fact Kemp and Marisnick, who were thought to be battling for the fourth outfielder spot, will likely both make the team. “I just want him to be able to go out there when we need him.”
That is not to say Hinch has taken it easy on Diaz in the infield. Hinch considers himself one of baseball’s hardest-hitting coaches in pregame fielding drills.
“I’m a mean fungo,” Hinch said with a self-satisfied grin.
Diaz got an immediate feel for that before Wednesday’s road game against the New York Mets. Preparing for his second spring start at third base, Diaz crept on to the infield grass. With an effortless snap of his wrists, Hinch fired a bullet off his fungo.
Diaz did not have time for his heels to come back to earth. He propelled off his toes toward his left for a diving snare. He lay still for a moment before pushing himself up to his feet and circling back in line.
He has not hit well this spring, but Diaz handled Mets power righthander Noah Syndergaard with ease. He walked and struck two singles.
The demands of the majors, including the latest task of learning two new positions, leave Diaz with little free time, but he has made his love for American programing difficult to ignore. He and his wife, Dayara, had their first child in 2016. They named the boy Nathan, after a character on the TV teen drama series “One Tree Hill.”