Yandy Diaz to Miss Blue Jays Series With Invalid Passport

Yandy Diaz of the Tampa Bay Rays
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ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 24: Yandy Diaz #5 of the Tampa Bay Rays takes the field for a game against Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field on September 24, 2023 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mark Taylor/Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Rays head to Canada this week for a road series against the Toronto Blue Jays, but they will be doing so without their lead-off hitter. A few hours before the first pitch of the series, the Rays placed first baseman-designated hitter Yandy Diaz on the restricted list, for what was soon reported by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times as being an invalid passport.

Travel schedules are always affected by the presence of the Blue Jays, the sole Canadian franchise in Major League Baseball, but things are particularly complicated for non-US citizens. Diaz, a Cuban defector who Topkin reports has established residency in Haiti, has reportedly experienced a delay in getting his passport renewed, an issue which seemingly could not be expedited in time for this series.

 

Not For The First Time, Either

This is not the first time that Diaz has missed a Toronto series due to being on the restricted list. The same thing happened last season, too;  although he played in the first series in Toronto in March, Diaz was again put on the restricted list for the second series in late July, for what the team described as non-disciplinary family issues.

While he was not off to the best start – as has been the case throughout his career, where for whatever reason he posts career-worst numbers in the months of April and May – Diaz has been an ever-present in the line-up and, uncharacteristically, the team’s second-best power hitter.

On the season, Diaz has hit .238 with six home runs and 20 RBIs, and has appeared in every game to date. Appearing mostly as the designated hitter, he trails only Junior Caminero with seven for the team’s home run lead – Caminero, along with regular second baseman Brandon Lowe, seem to be the likeliest candidates to take Diaz’s spot as the DH.

 

In Response, Rays Recall Coco Montes

In Diaz’s absence, the Rays have recalled utility man Coco Montes from Triple-A Durham, where he had been hitting .279 while playing at four different positions. Montes, who signed with the Rays as a minor league free agent last December, will now join the team for the third time already this season.

Across his first two stints with the big league club, Montes has hit 2-10 with an RBI, starting two games at second base and one at third while also making an appearance in left field. Montes was the only position player on the 40-man roster not already with the big league club

Montes’s most notable moment as a Ray so far has been a defensive fumble on his debut. Entering a tied game in the top of the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels as a defensive replacement, Montes’s inability to field the ball cleanly on a Taylor Ward ground ball cost the Rays a potential double-play, which proved costly as Luis Rengifo singled home the surviving runner on second to give the Angels the 4-3 victory.

However, as a versatile defensive player who has also hit for a career .839 OPS in the minors – including.950 and .965 marks across his last two seasons at the AAA level – the Rays will be hoping he will provide some offence from the middle infield positions. Having scored the sixth-fewest runs in baseball up to this point, they could certainly use it.

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Yandy Diaz to Miss Blue Jays Series With Invalid Passport

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