However, for as bad as this stretch was, his last four games have been a revelation, a return to form for Díaz, coming at just the right time, as the Rays completed their first-ever 9-0 road trip on Wednesday afternoon with an 8-4 win over the Athletics.
During those four games, Díaz went 10-for-19 (.526) at the plate with two homers, five RBI, a double and seven runs scored, getting him back above .300 on the year, though just slightly.
This road trip, as successful as it’s been for Tampa Bay, has been equally successful for Diaz, who hit .307 across the nine games and is hitting .304 so far in August with five multi-hit games to his name.
“I kind of hate it, how easy it is [for Díaz] because it’s a lot harder for the rest of us,” Rays outfielder Jonny DeLuca told MLB.com’s Adam Berry earlier this season. “He’s pretty special.”
As Díaz has begun to hit once again, he’s also reached several career milestones on the hottest team in baseball, a team that now sits alone with MLB’s best record, 74-46.
The first came in Tampa Bay’s series opener in Sacramento, as Díaz hit his 115th career homer in a Rays uniform, moving into sixth place all-time in franchise history, surpassing Ben Zobrist.
His second homer of the series just a day later broke another tie with Zobrist, this one for the third-most hits for a Rays player all-time, the 1,017th hit of Diaz’s tenure with Tampa Bay.
“I’m really happy,” Díaz said after the game on Thursday (per MLB.com). “Now my name’s in the conversation with some of the Tampa Bay greats. I feel a lot of pride and a lot of satisfaction being here. It’s a good feeling.”