Were the Miami Marlins right to move on from Lewin Diaz?

MIAMI, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 25: Lewin Díaz #34 of the Miami Marlins hits a home run during the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at loanDepot park on September 25, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Bryan Cereijo/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 25: Lewin Díaz #34 of the Miami Marlins hits a home run during the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at loanDepot park on September 25, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Bryan Cereijo/Getty Images)

The Miami Marlins designated first baseman Lewin Diaz for assignment. I covered it last night, but I wanted to go more in-depth about what transpired. Lewin was a top prospect for us, so it did seem a bit unusual for us to be done with him after he finally got a chance to start. It makes me hope that we have another target in mind, such as José Abreu, this was in fact my prediction earlier.

The Miami Marlins moved on from Lewin Diaz at the right time.

Lewin Diaz was pretty good in the Minor Leagues, he batted .310/.353/.575 in rookie ball in 2016. He then batted .292/.329/.444 in A ball the following year. In 2019, he batted .270/.321/.530 across both A+ and AA ball with 27 home runs and 76 RBI. He showed potential in AAA as well, as he batted .248/.327/.518 with 20 home runs and 51 RBI in 74 games and 278 AB in 2021. The low average and OBP were already concerns however.

In 2020, Lewin saw his first promotion to the Majors and disappointed with a .154/.195/.205 batting line in 14 games and 39 AB. In 2021, Lewin Diaz got another call-up and batted .205/.242/.451 in 40 games and 122 AB. This was naturally pretty disappointing again, but there was hope that he’s figure things out in the future.

2022 turned out to be the last chance for Lewin Diaz to prove that he could be a core player for the Miami Marlins. He was handed the starting first base job around mid-season and finally had his big opportunity to show what he could do. He batted .169/.224/.288 in 58 games and 174 AB, hitting 5 home runs and driving in 11 RBI. That was a very poor performance worth a meager -0.5 WAR.

Lewin Diaz is going to be 26 next season and is yet to hit at the Major League level, so The Fish decided that it’s best to move on from him. Are we right to do that? I think so. He’s just not hitting, and at his age it’s now an issue. Is it possible that he starts hitting elsewhere? Maybe, but if we want to make the playoffs we can’t afford to waste any more at-bats. Moving on from him was the right decision.

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