Diamondbacks Player Spotlight: 3B Yasmany Tomas
By Blake Benard
Sports is full of stories where different players emerged into the spotlight due to fellow teammates going down to injury, but rarely do you find a story like the Diamondbacks have seen this year with Yasmany Tomas.
Tomas is a Cuban baseball player who the Diamondbacks unloaded 68.5 millions dollars on this offseason. While playing in Cuba he showed incredible power but was a defensive liability. Upon his signing the Diamondbacks declared they were hoping for him to compete for the starting third base job in 2015.
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So Tomas came and battled highly touted prospect Jake Lamb for the starting third baseman job during Spring Training. But he failed to consistently show the power and hitting that saw him earn his huge contract and lost out on the job to Lamb.
So while Tomas was sitting in Triple-A Reno, Jake Lamb started to show why he won the job. Through his first ten games he hit .414 with one HR and 9 RBI’s but then suffered an injury and was placed on the DL. With an open third base, the Dbacks called up Tomas.
This is where the story gets interesting because since coming to the big leagues, Tomas has become a legitimate Rookie of the Year Candidate but has been exactly the opposite of what the Diamondbacks were expecting.
Since joint the team, Tomas has quietly hit .329, knocked out a couple of bombs and drove in 23 runs. In 161 at-bats we’ve barley seen his heralded power but actually a singles hitter who’s been above average defensively at third base. Not to worry, the power will come. Just the other day against the Dodgers, Tomas corked his second home run of the year, knocked a long single off the wall and was robbed of a second home run by Joc Pederson. He easily could have had 5 RBI’s that game.
But the biggest surprise has been his defense. Tomas showed intelligence and speeed over at third base and surprisingly become above average defensively.
The point is this: Yasmany Tomas hasn’t exactly been as advertised but he hasn’t been isn’t a slouch. Transitioning from playing in Cuba to Major League Baseball is tough. Still, we still can see him showing signs of becoming a player who could bat behind Goldschmidt and become a true 30/40 HR slugger in this league.
And to think all this came about because of an injury to Jake Lamb who was one of the hottest hitters in baseball before his injury.
With Lamb’s return from the DL and Mark Trumbo’s trade to Seattle, Tomas has begun the transition from third to the outfield. This can only mean improvement in his offensive numbers, specifically because he doesn’t have to worry about his defensive play anymore.
If Tomas keeps this up there’s no doubt his name could be called in the offseason as the Diamondbacks first ever Rookie of the Year.