Elias Diaz has been the Rockies’ rock.
The veteran catcher’s excellent season hasn’t received a lot of attention, what with injuries to Rockies pitchers and the club’s poor start. But he shared the spotlight with rookie shortstop Ezequiel Tovar Tuesday night in Colorado’s 3-2 victory over Milwaukee at Coors Field.
“Offensively, for sure,” manager Bud Black said when asked if Diaz is playing at an All-Star level. “This is reminiscent of his second half in 2021. The average is high, the on-base (percentage) is high (.385) and I still think there are more homers in there.
“He’s catching great. … I think ‘Elie’ is becoming more comfortable and confident with his receiving, his blocking, his game-calling. He’s got a canon and I think that’s showing up in some of the caught-stealing numbers.”
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Diaz, how batting .330 to lead all big-league catchers, hit a solo homer in the fourth and then drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth with a single down the right-field line to score Yonathan Daza, who was pinch-running for C.J. Cron, who had led off the inning with a double. Diaz is hitting .440 (11 for 25) with runners in scoring position.
“Right now I feel great, but I go day by day and try to do my best,” Diaz said. “I try not to do too much and look for a good pitch and have a plan every at-bat.”
Pierce Johnson gave up a double to William Contreras in the ninth but was able to close out the game to notch his fourth save.
Tovar, Colorado’s talented, highly-touted rookie shortstop, had shown brief flashes of what he can do. Tuesday night, he played like a superhero.
“I don’t know if this is a breakout (game), but this is the type of game where you see what he can do,” Black said.
Tovar crushed a one-out, solo homer off Milwaukee starter Freddy Peralta in the third to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. Tovar’s first homer of the season, and second of his young career, traveled 447 feet to left-center.
“It’s very emotional, very exciting,” Tovar said of his homer. “I wasn’t necessarily going up there to try and do that, but luckily I got my first one and it was exciting.”
Black has always been excited by Tovar’s talent, but he’s also been preaching patience.
“There’s a little bit of sneaky pop in there and he’s only 21 years old,” Black said. “That’s what we have to keep telling ourselves. He’s 21, not 25 or 26. He’s 21.”
Tovar closed out the Brewers’ fourth with the best fielding play of his career. He ran down Brian Anderson’s grounder in the hole toward second base, spun like a top, and fired a perfect throw to nail Anderson.
In the ninth, Tovar made a leaping catch to rob Rowdy Tellez of a hit.
Diaz had extended Colorado’s lead to 2-0 in the fourth with a towering leadoff homer to left off Peralta. Diaz’s third homer of the season was measured at 453 feet.
Colorado right-hander Ryan Feltner made his third solid start in a row, propping up the Rockies’ 2-0 lead through five innings. But he wobbled in the Brewers’ two-run sixth. Christian Yelich crushed a double to center to lead off the inning and then Feltner walked Jesse Winker, Feltner’s first free pass of the game.
Feltner induced a groundball out but Tellez crushed an RBI double to center. That was it for Feltner, who was relieved by Jake Bird. Contreras’ RBI groundout to shortstop tied the game, 2-2.
After giving up two runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings, Feltner’s ERA is 4.45, a huge improvement from the 8.78 ERA he posted over his first three starts. He’s given up only two earned runs across his last three starts for a nifty 1.06 ERA.
“Our defense gave me a lot of confidence,” said Feltner, who’s served up only two home runs this season.
Feltner agreed with Black’s assessment that his pitch command wasn’t as sharp as it had been in his previous two starts, but he was pleased with his ability to keep the Brewers off the scoreboard for five innings.
“To still be able to attack the strike zone and force action and force contact was big,” Feltner said.
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