Christian Diaz (Hoofdklasse)

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Christian Jonathan Diaz

  • Bats Left, Throws Left

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Biographical Information[edit]

Christian Diaz has been a star performer in the Hoofdklasse, leading in total bases his first year and average, slugging and OBP his second.

Diaz was a two-way player for the Aruban national team in the 2008 Americas Baseball Cup. In his first pitching outing, he started against Guatemala and went 3 1/3 IP (4 H, 2 R, 6 BB) before Derward Ruiz relieved. He replaced Alfred Lider against Mexico and pitched three innings, allowing 6 hits, 3 walks and 7 runs (4 earned). Against the neighboring Netherlands Antilles, he relieved Carlos Webster and tossed the final four frames (6 H, 3 BB, 5 R, 1 K). He finished with a 9.58 ERA on the event, better than the team total of 10.58. Backing up Alexander St. Jago in right and Julio Hernandez in center, he was 4 for 11 with two RBI. Had he qualified, the teenager would have led the team in average. He then hit .278/.278/.278 with two runs in five games for Aruba in the 2010 Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament. His five hits tied Sicnarf Loopstok for the team lead.

He made his Hoofdklasse debut with ADO in 2014. He hit .338/.399/.554. The only negatives were baserunning (3 SB, 7 CS) and pitching (3 R, 5 H, 3 Bb in 2 1/3 IP). He was 6th in average (between Stijn van der Meer and Dennis De Quint), 3rd in slugging (behind Bas de Jong and Gianison Boekhoudt), did not make the top 15 in OBP, tied for second with 50 hits (3 behind Dirk van 't Klooster), tied Kenny Berkenbosch for 6th with 10 doubles, was 4th with 6 home runs, led in total bases (82, 3 ahead of de Jong) and tied Remco Draijer for second in caught stealing.

Moving to Neptunus in 2015 when ADO folded their team, he was even better, producing at a .431/.545/.626 clip with 31 runs in 39 games, fielding .987. He led the league in average (.011 ahead of MVP Dashenko Ricardo), slugging (.017 over Ricardo) and OBP (.059 over Mervin Gario). He also was second with 15 doubles (one behind Berkenbosch), 3rd with 30 walks (behind Mike Duursma and Boekhoudt), 4th with 77 total bases (between Dwayne Kemp and Daniel Fernandes), tied Fernandes for 5th with 53 hits and 8th in runs (between Bas Nooij and Bryan Engelhardt). He was a finalist for the MVP, losing out to Ricardo. In the 2015 European Cup, he helped Neptunus to the title, going 10 for 28 with 4 runs, 2 triples and 7 RBI in round one; he tied Giuseppe Mazzanti for 4th in the pool with 6 RBI (the event leaders don't count the pool finale, when he had RBI #7) and led in triples. In the Cup finals, he went 5 for 11 with a double, walk and two runs with one outfield assist to boot. He tied for first in the Cup finals in average, OBP and hits. He also was sharp in the 2015 Holland Series - .409/.391/.455, 3 R, 3 RBI in 5 G to help Neptunus win that title as well. In the Series, he was second in average (.046 behind Series MVP Benjamin Dille), second in hits (9, 2 behind Dille) and 4th in total bases (10). He also appeared for the Netherlands in the 2015 World Port Tournament, hitting .320/.370/.320 with 7 runs in 7 games. He tied for second in the event in runs, 3 behind Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and tied for 10th with 8 hits.

Diaz hit .412/.450/.471 with 5 runs in 5 games in the 2016 European Cup, with one assist in the outfield. Entering the final day of games (which did not count for league leader purposes), he was tied for second in hits with fellow Aruban Gilmer Lampe and was second in runs (behind Nick Urbanus). He hit .214/.267/.214 for the Dutch entry in the 2016 Haarlem Baseball Week. His 2016 Hoofdklasse campaign was again excellent, with a .382/.429/.474 batting line. He won the batting title again (.026 ahead of Berkenbosch), was 7th in slugging (between Boekhoudt and Berkenbosch), ranked 9th in OBP (between Boekhoudt and Gilmer Lampe), tied Vince Rooi for 8th in runs (29), was second with 12 doubles (two shy of Urbanus) and was 4th with 72 total bases. He produced at a .310/.375/.379 rate in the 2016 Holland Series as Neptunus won the title, beating the Amsterdam Pirates.

When Neptunus won the 2017 European Champions Cup, he contributed a .438 average, .500 OBP, .563 slugging, 5 runs and 6 RBI in 4 games (though 0-for-3 in steals), including 3 hits in the title game. He tied for third in hits (one behind Paolino Ambrosino and Robel Garcia), tied for 6th in RBI and led in caught stealing. In the 2017 Hoofdklasse, he hit .359/.419/.504 with 32 RBI in 34 games. He also had a 5.79 ERA in five pitching outings. He was 6th in average (between Draijer and Jeffrey Arends), 10th in slugging, tied for 7th in runs (30), tied for 3rd in hits (47), tied Kemp for 3rd in RBI and tied Fernandes for 4th in total bases. He had a positive test for performance-enhancing substances that summer and was suspended for four years.

Returning to the field in 2021 after his suspension ended, he batted .300/.364/.333. He hit .318/.318/.545 in the 2021 Holland Series; he tripled twice in Game 5 (off Juan Carlos Sulbaran and Robyn Clara) to become the first player with two triples in one Holland Series game. Neptunus fell to the Pirates in seven this time, though. He was at .400/.478/.450 in the 2022 European Champions Cup. He tied Daniel Lamb-Hunt for 9th with 8 hits. In the regular season in the Netherlands, he hit .298/.365/.417 and his three triples tied Denzel Richardson and Alex Madera for the lead. He was 2-for-12 in the 2022 Holland Series as Neptunus was upset by HCAW.

The veteran batted .372/.437/.538 in the 2023 Hoofdklasse, tying Roelie Henrique for 4th with 21 runs. He was superb in the 2023 Holland Series; while Neptunus lost to the Pirates in seven and he made the final out, he had hit .385/.448/.462 with five RBI in seven games. Only John Polonius had more hits in the Series while Diaz tied for the RBI lead (with Oliver van der Wijst, Jorrit Penseel, Sheadion Jamanika and Tony Krueger).

In the 2024 Hoofdklasse, he hit .370/.417/.466. He was .007 behind batting leader Arthur Bonevacia. He helped Neptunus end their run of Holland Series crashes, getting at least two hits each game in a sweep of HCAW and going 10-for-16 with 3 doubles and 4 RBI. He easily led the Series in hits (four ahead of Darryl Collins), led in doubles (one ahead of Vincent Ahrens), trailed only Collins in RBI and led in average by .170 ahead of Jamanika. He was an easy pick for Series MVP.

Sources[edit]

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