Yandy Watch 2017: Yandy Ascended

Welcome back to Yandy Watch 2017! Thank you again for attending. I see that our numbers have grown since last week; I apologize, but the Timbits have already been eaten. How unfortunate. Is anyone willing to make a quick run? No? Okay.

Now, our most important order of business: Yandy Diaz made the Opening Day roster! I think we all remember where we were when heard the news. Mostly because it was less than a week ago. But still! He’s started at third three straight games! Three cheers for Yandy!

So that means our work is done, right?

No, it is not. We have completed the first step of our movement; the largest accomplished to date, but one that is merely the precursor to a much longer journey.

Our purpose as a member of this movement is to witness the inevitable and ongoing ascension of Yandy Diaz. Based on the evidence provided — anecdotal, statistical, and scoutifical [points to charts on wall] — we have every reason to believe the rise could, and should, be permanent.

I hear some of you murmuring, wondering what is next. “How should we prepare?”

The return of Jason Kipnis is an event we all crave, though it may inadvertently harm our cause. It — Steve, no. Put down your chair. You cannot throw your chair again, Steve. Thank you. Kipnis’s return may send Ramirez to third base, and Yandy to Triple-A. Time will tell. Perhaps the presence of one Michael Martinez on the roster provides that stopgap for Kipnis. The best thing that Yandy can do is to remain solid defensively at third base, and truly begin to mash.

In the meantime, reach under your chairs, where you will find a detailed account of Yandy Diaz’s week. I chose to remove the final chunk of spring training, focusing only on his exploits at the major league level.

Yandy Watch by the numbers

April 3: 1-4, 1 2B. He advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on a strikeout-wild-pitch-safe-at-first happening. Event. Whatever, Yandy scored. He grounded out in the ninth but moved Naquin to third, who subsequently scored. He also made a sexy diving stop at third.

April 4: 0-4, 1 SO. Not much to see here. Diaz saw 10 pitches on the night and didn’t do anything particularly noteworthy defensively at third one way or the other. Michael Martinez replaced him in the 8th.

April 5: 2-4, 2 R, on of which came on an RBI walk by Carlos Santana in the top of the 9th. Moments later, Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam. This has nothing to do with Yandy, but it’s a sentence I hope to write many, many times in my life. Either way, Yandy contributed to a come-from-behind win as beautiful as his biceps.

Current overall line: .250/.250/.333, 3 R, 1 2B, 3 SO

The final statistic to note is that the Cleveland Indians are 3-0 during the regular season with Yandy Diaz on the roster. It is the smallest of small sample sizes in a sport where a single player rarely decides the outcome of a game. Still — undefeated.

Jim, could you lower the projector screen now? It is time for this week’s matrix.

I believe it is only fair to reset the matrix with the start of the regular season. Yandy will face only major league caliber pitching this point (except for the Reds) and should be judged on that alone. I place him slightly down on the hitting axis based on the first three games. His lack of walks disturbs me, but not enough to force-choke anyone. I think his contributions so far are about what you would expect for what he appears to be to the rest of the league: a Triple-A player filling a gap due to injury.

I think we all believe that Yandy shall climb to the upper right corner of the chart, and soon.

Our Yandy Watch meeting is now adjourned. We are still encouraging the homemade production of #FreeYandy flags and t-shirts, as we’ve spent the entire budget for these meetings to hire Jim.