Baseball Prospectus | | Eyewitness Scouting Report


	Yusniel Diaz Born: 10/07/1996 (Age: 19)
	Bats: Right	Throws: Right
	Height: 6' 1"	Weight: 215
	Primary Position: CF
	Secondary Position: RF

Smooth, athletics actions, some quick-twitch, explosive wrist and hand strength, quick start-up; projectable frame, should grow into additional strength without compromising agility and athleticism

Evaluator	Wilson Karaman
Report Date	09/05/2016
Dates Seen	11x April-September 2016
Affiliate	Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (High A, Dodgers)

MLB ETA	Risk Factor	OFP	Video
2019	Moderate	55	Yes

Tool	Future Grade	Report
Hit	55	Deep load, electric wrists, generates torque at trigger, can get flat at launch w/ mild wrap; length into the zone, plus bat speed, shows quality hand-eye; long stride w/ aggressive weight transfer, some balance issues, gets to front side too early on the regular; will stay open, early struggles with inside velo have improved, strength and bat speed to inside-out with authority; extreme aggressiveness has shown signs of toning down, still expands zone up and out against velocity and struggles to track breaking balls, will get caught guessing; above-average hit projection based on plate coverage, wrist strength, and solid bat-to-ball, with demonstrated improvements in the approach
Power	50	50 present raw, projection for another half grade; plus bat speed with mild leverage, present approach significantly limits game utility, works to center and opposite field with line drives; has improved ability to turn on pitches, strength to drive the ball with mild carry; 15-homer power potenial with average or better extra base-hit production
Baserunning/Speed	55	4.24 average on nine clocks, not consistently clean out of the box; fluid running motion, second gear can push plus; raw baserunner, over-aggressive, will lose his coaches, incremental improvement; struggles to time pitchers and release on stolen-base attempts, flashes average future base-stealing skills
Glove	50	Raw defender, incremental improvements, more corner starts as season has progressed; can struggle with early reads and route inefficiencies, will rush and get ahead of plays; easy actions, closing speed to track into gaps and behind, outstanding body control; chance to stick primarily in center, versatility to move around
Arm	50	Above-average arm strength, moderate carry; loose mechanics, will get too quick through delivery, has improved accuracy to the cut, work in progress

Signed out of Cuba for a hefty bonus last fall, Diaz has held his own as one of the youngest regulars in the California League all season. He's a raw player, and while there is in some cases a sizable gap between his present and future grades, his skill set doesn't really have any holes. The approach and swing mechanics are both inconsistent, but he has the skill set to develop into a quality hitter, and he has the frame to grow into more power. He's not a great base-runner at present, but there's above-average or better straight-line speed that plays well in the outfield. There's enough track-and-close skill to leave him primarily in center for now, and he possesses enough arm strength to handle either corner if he doesn't quite get there up the middle.

This is a potential above-average regular if it comes together, one who does a little bit of a lot of different things to help a team win, and does everything pretty well. The skill set is broad enough to where he's a lower-variance prospect despite a longer probable lag time to the majors.