Elias Diaz (C, PIT) - Week 12 Waiver Wire Pickups

Brady Grove profiles Pittsburgh Pirates backstop Elias Diaz as a potential waiver wire acquisition of value for fantasy baseball leagues in Week 12 of the 2019 MLB campaign.

BALLER MOVE: Add in Two-Catcher Leagues

OWNED IN: 9% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The injury to Francisco Cervelli led the way to Elias Diaz receiving the majority share of work at catcher for the Pirates, and the sub-par play of Jacob Stallings has eliminated all current threat. Diaz's body of work on the year sends mixed signals: he is producing solid BA and OBP of .280 and .321, but he is slugging just .360 with a single home run in 125 total AB. Luckily, almost all of his success at the plate has come in the past two weeks, as he has swung for five XBH (four doubles, one home run) and a .289/.357/.474 slash in that time over the course of 38 AB.

Diaz typically provides value through a solid walk rate, a high batting average, and considerable power that translates more into a mix of home runs and doubles than it does one or the other. "El Maracucho" accomplishes this with a modest level of hard contact (33.7%), a solid frequency of line drives (25%), and a high volume of hard contact applied to his grounders (38%) and line drives (42.3%). While it might read a little underwhelming from the surface, it actually works out to be a pretty nice formula for well-rounded work at the plate. In a two-catcher league, Elias Diaz covers a lot of the bases as a widely available option receiving consistent playing time.