With teams gearing up for the postseason, the San Diego Padres are signing veteran catcher Elias Diaz to a minor league contract. Venezuelan reporter Rafael Petit first reported it.
Born in Venezuela, the 33-year-old catcher joins the third franchise of his career after spending the past five seasons with the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies released Diaz on Aug. 16, when top prospect Drew Romo took his spot on the active roster.
Diaz signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2008, making his MLB Debut wearing the black and yellow in 2015. In 250 games with the Pirates throughout five seasons, he would hit .250, hitting 13 home runs and driving in 82 RBIs. After the 2019 season, he elected free agency.
He would go on to sign with the Colorado Rockies at the start of 2020, where he would serve as the Rockies backup catcher to Tony Wolters.
The following season, Diaz became the team’s primary catcher, which also led him to his first-ever All-Star appearance in 2023. Diaz also won the 2023 All-Star Game MVP Award, hitting the game-winning home run for the National League during the eighth inning.
This season, in 84 games, Diaz held a .270 average, hitting five home runs and 36 RBIs. Diaz joins the Padres, who currently have backstops Luis Campusano and Kyle Higashioka in the mix as the Padres starting catchers. With the rosters expanding from 26 to 28 players on September 1, we could see Elias Diaz added to the Padres active roster to provide as much catching depth as the Wild Card hunt crunches down.
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WBN MLB: https://worldbaseball.com/league/mlb/
Photo Credit: Elias Diaz #35 of the Colorado Rockies looks on and smiles before catching a game against the New York Mets at Coors Field on August 7, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
