Asheville's Yainer Diaz Named Player of the Month for September

Diaz Helped Lead the Tourists to a Winning Record in September

By Doug Maurer

October 5, 2021

ASHEVILLE- Earlier today Minor League Baseball announced Asheville’s Yainer Diaz (JYE-nair DEE-az) as the September Player of the Month for the High-A East League. Diaz is the lone Tourists in 2021 to take home a Player of the Month award.

ASHEVILLE- Earlier today Minor League Baseball announced Asheville’s Yainer Diaz (JYE-nair DEE-az) as the September Player of the Month for the High-A East League. Diaz is the lone Tourists in 2021 to take home a Player of the Month award.

During the month of September, the Tourists backstop led the league in hits (23), runs (18) and RBI (20) and was second in batting average (.377), total bases (44) and OPS (1.146). He finished fourth in slugging percentage (.721) and fifth in on-base percentage (.424).

Diaz was acquired by the Houston Astros on July 30 of this year via trade with the Cleveland Indians. Yainer spent two weeks with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers before earning a promotion to Asheville on August 17. He was originally signed by Cleveland as an International Free Agent out of Azua, Dominican Republic, on December 7, 2016.

From the time of Diaz’s promotion to Asheville through the end of the regular season, Diaz topped the circuit in seven different offensive categories; batting average (.396), Home Runs (11), RBI (33), Runs (28), Hits (37), Total Bases (75) and Slugging Percentage (.781).

The Tourists finished the 2021 regular season with a 54-62 overall record. The 2022 season begins on April 8 with the Tourists home opener scheduled for April 12 vs. Greenville.