First baseman clubbed team-high 20 home runs in 74 games with Jacksonville
MIAMI, Fla. – Former Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp first baseman Lewin Díaz has been named the Miami Marlins Triple-A Player of the Year, the organization announced Sunday.
In his first season playing at the Triple-A level, the 24-year-old slashed .248/.327/.518/.845 with 15 doubles, a team-high 20 home runs, and 51 RBI across 74 games for the Jumbo Shrimp.
The 20 homers were the most by a Jacksonville player in a single season since Kyle Jensen belted 24 for the Jacksonville Suns in 2012. At the time of his most recent recall to the Marlins on September 8, only six players in Triple-A East had tallied more long balls than Díaz.
Few players were better than Díaz at elevating the baseball, as he finished with the second-highest fly ball rate (51.8%) of any Triple-A East player with at least 300 plate appearances this year while also ranking fourth in isolated power (.270) despite having the sixth lowest batting average on balls in play (.246).
He also was an excellent defender for Jacksonville, committing only two errors in nearly 500 chances at first base for a .996 fielding percentage. Additionally, he played left field for the first time in his career, handling every fly ball hit in his direction.
A native of Santiago, Dominican Republic, Díaz was originally signed by the Minnesota Twins as an international free-agent in 2013. He made it up to Double-A in the Minnesota organization before the Marlins traded for him on July 27, 2019, in exchange for Sergio Romo and Chris Vallimont.
Díaz made his major league debut on August 15, 2020, and came through with a pinch-hit single against Atlanta’s Mark Melancon for his first big league hit. He ultimately played 14 games in the majors in 2020. This season, Díaz has played five different stints with Miami, including one in which he hit his first major league home run on June 12 against the Atlanta Braves. He was most recently recalled on September 8, and has since hit five home runs and driven in eight, posting an OPS of .772 in September. He enjoyed his first multi-homer effort, blasting two big flies against the Washington Nationals on September 14 at Nationals Park.
In addition to Díaz’s award, Jumbo Shrimp outfielder Peyton Burdick was named the overall Marlins Minor League Player of the Year. Burdick, who was called up to Jacksonville on September 21, set Double-A Pensacola franchise records for home runs in a season (23) and walks in a campaign (76) across 106 games for the Blue Wahoos. He finished Double-A with a slash line of .231/.376/.472/.848. The 24-year-old was drafted by the Marlins in 2019 in the third round out of Wright State University.
ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp offer affordable family fun at 121 Financial Ballpark. Their inaugural season garnered the Southern League’s Don Mincher Organization of the Year, Promotional Trophy and Jimmy Bragan Executive of the Year, won by general manager Harold Craw. The club added its second Promotional Trophy in three years following the 2019 season. The 2021 season marks the return of Triple-A baseball in Jacksonville. To experience the excitement with the terrific value of ticket and group options, call the Jumbo Shrimp at (904) 358-2846 or visit www.jaxshrimp.com.
