Pitching ace Eric Diaz Jr. has earned every accolade possible,
except a call to ‘The Show’
A year ago, he broke his foot and sat out the season. This year
the only thing Eric Diaz Jr. broke was records.
And if he keeps playing the way he did this past season as the
ace of the Hartnell College pitching staff, the 20-year-old
right-hander from Hollister will be a shoe-in to make the big
leagues one day.
Diaz was named the Pitcher of the Year for the Coast Conference,
the Northern California Junior
Pitching ace Eric Diaz Jr. has earned every accolade possible, except a call to ‘The Show’
A year ago, he broke his foot and sat out the season. This year the only thing Eric Diaz Jr. broke was records.
And if he keeps playing the way he did this past season as the ace of the Hartnell College pitching staff, the 20-year-old right-hander from Hollister will be a shoe-in to make the big leagues one day.
Diaz was named the Pitcher of the Year for the Coast Conference, the Northern California Junior College Pitcher of the Year and a Junior College All-American.
“It really feels good,” said Diaz, who was also named the Tri County Athletic League’s MVP his senior season of 2003 at San Benito High. “They’re all big accomplishments. The All-American award is the one that topped it off. Having an injury, I didn’t even know if I’d be the same, things change. I’m glad I was able to step up and play.”
That may get him nominated for “Understatement of the Year” title as well.
As a Panthers’ ace on the hill, Diaz posted a 12-1 record to compliment his 1.85 ERA. In 102 innings of work he had 97 strikeouts.
“I can spot my fastball anywhere I want at 87 and 88 mph,” Diaz said. “I have a breaking ball and my splitter developed a lot this year.”
Diaz never threw a split-fingered fastball in high school but thought he’d give it a try this year while practicing with his college teammates.
“I was messing around with it one day in the bullpen and started throwing it for strikes,” he said. “Now I use it as my out pitch when I’m ahead in the count.”
A split-fingered fastball resembles a fastball in both velocity and direction as it heads toward the plate. But when thrown well, it loses speed and drops to the dirt just before it reaches the hitter.
While all of his accolades were for his skills on the bump, Diaz is equally dangerous with the bat.
As the team’s designated hitter and occasional first baseman and outfielder, he also was able to show his ability at the plate. And he made the most of it, winding up the season with a .360 batting average, hitting seven homeruns and leading his team in RBIs with 45.
In high school, Diaz was equally dominant.
In his last season with the Balers the 6-foot-2 athlete ended his senior campaign with a .581 batting average, which broke a long-standing school record, and also hit five homeruns.
“I had Daniel Barone (Florida Marlins farm team player) and other good players when I coached at San Benito High. Eric was definitely right up there with all of them,” said Gavilan College Baseball Coach Neil Andrade. “We only had to face him once this year. He had a great year.”
In his first season at Hartnell, Diaz suffered his first major setback after breaking his foot while rounding third base at a tournament in Reno.
At the start of training this year his foot was still “really sore” in the early going, but he gutted it out and battled through the injury.
“After a while the pain just kind of went away,” Diaz said. “But that’s what you’ve got to do, just play through it.”
Diaz points out that in a weird way the injury helped him because it made him more determined to get back on track.
“In a way it was kind of a letdown, but then again it’s just one of those things that happen,” he said. “Now that all is said and done, it really just motivated me more to fight through it.”
Had he been able to compete all of last season and posted numbers similar to those he put up this year, Diaz most likely would have gone in the early rounds of Tuesday’s Major League Baseball draft.
“To be honest, no one has really contacted me at all yet,” said Diaz, who will compete in a walk-on tryout for the Baltimore Orioles on June 13 at American River Junior College in Sacramento. “I’d like to say a lot of teams have but they haven’t so I don’t know how the whole process works.”
If he keeps playing the way he has Diaz won’t need to know anything but where to sign on the dotted line. He does know that wherever he ends up playing someday he wants to be able to hit too.
“I like pitching and hitting. I love to DH and hit,” Diaz said, who will attend Sacramento State in the fall. “I use all of the field and have power to all parts of the field. Anybody that can hit the other way can easily have a .300 average.”
They may even have a one-way ticket to the Majors …
