Amid breakthrough behind plate, Diaz makes 'unacceptable' gaffe

Hours after being the subject of Clint Hurdle's admiration, Elias Diaz sat at his locker stall in the Pirates' clubhouse, looking dejected after making a critical baserunning mistake.

"Obviously, the emotions are bad," Diaz said solemnly after the Pirates' 3-0 loss to the Brewers Monday at PNC Park.

Diaz drew the ire of Hurdle after attempting -- and failing -- to stretch a double into a triple with no outs and the Pirates trailing by two runs in the seventh inning. That mistake was followed by Gregory Polanco being thrown out at second to end the game.

Both players were trying to spark an offense that has the third-worst batting average in the National League during September, and the mistake came at an inopportune time for Diaz, who was impressing Hurdle during his audition as the Pirates' everyday catcher.



"They’re unacceptable plays at this level," Hurdle said. "At the end of the day, those aren’t good baseball plays and those aren’t plays that are going to help your team win. ... Part of this comes from young men trying to play way too hard because we’re not scoring runs. Trying to do something they’re not capable of doing. And this is the big leagues. People make plays up here."

More than three hours before first pitch, Hurdle told reporters that Diaz's progress behind the plate is one of the bright spots in an otherwise dismal month as the Pirates, now 68-83, lost their sixth in a row, their 11th in the past 12 games.

Francisco Cervelli will miss the reminder of the season after suffering a left quadriceps injury August 25 — his fourth stint on the disabled list in 2017 — which cleared a path for Diaz to start 13 of the past 17 games.

That has given the organization's top catching prospect time to work with the pitching staff, learn to call a game and tweak his technique behind the plate, including pitch framing, blocking and throwing.

He remains a work in progress, as evidenced by the Brewers capitalizing on two poor throws to second on stolen bases, but experience and time spent with Cervelli have shown him how to help a pitcher handle the challenges of a difficult outing such as Jameson Taillon’s Monday night.

“I think he’s improving,” Hurdle said of Diaz, with a smile. “I think he’s shown growth. I think it comes with confidence and playing time. … One of the best things that happens in this month of September is his playing time, the experience he’s been able to gain.”

Diaz helped Taillon, who allowed two runs in five-plus innings, overcome some borderline calls, but that was overshadowed by Diaz's costly mistake.

With the Pirates' offense struggling — they have a .236 batting average this month and have scored two or fewer runs in 10 of their last 12 games — Diaz wanted to provide a spark. Then he was thrown out:



"You don’t want things to turn out wrong, but we were in a situation where we’re down 2-0 and I was trying to be aggressive, help my team out and push it to a triple," Diaz, who turns 27 years old in November, said. "When I saw the ball get away from him I thought it was further than what it actually was and I tried to be aggressive to help my team out. Unfortunately it didn’t work out."

It was the Pirates' only extra-base hit and was followed by Polanco's mistake in the ninth inning to end the game:



Diaz's error was surprising considering how he's handled his role behind the plate, which was on display Monday.

After Taillon allowed a one-out walk in the first inning, Ryan Braun stole second base on a poor throw by Diaz. Diaz then made a mound visit and Taillon responded by retiring six of the next seven batters before allowing a solo home run to Braun on this hanging changeup:



When Shaw followed with a single, Diaz quickly trotted to the mound for another talk with Taillon.

Three pitches later, Eric Thames lined into a double play. Taillon then retired the side in order in the fifth before the Brewers had back-to-back hits in the sixth, including an RBI single by Eric Sogard. Diaz then quickly stood in front of home plate to signal to pitching coach Ray Searage to make a mound visit.

Although Taillon lasted only one more batter, Diaz guided him through an outing that Hurdle thought was much better than the numbers indicate.

"I thought (Taillon) went out there and gave us a shot to win for sure," Hurdle said.

Taillon said his relationship with Diaz is pivotal during a start such as this: