Arizona Diamondbacks’ slugger Yasmany Tomas is one of the worst fielders in baseball. A move to the American League looks like the best thing for him.
During the 2014-2015 offseason, the Arizona Diamondbacks swiped Yasmany Tomas from the other 29 MLB teams. At the time, Tomas was a highly touted Cuban defector drawing comparisons to Yoenis Cespedes. As a result, the Diamondbacks paid him a large sum with a six-year deal worth $68.5 million.
He has not become the star many believed he would. However, after two years Tomas has developed into a pretty good power hitter.
Tomas’ bat was always the trademark reason why a baseball career looked imminent. Even before he came stateside, Tomas’ defense was questionable. This remains the case as Tomas has consistently been one of the worst fielders in MLB.
Last year’s poor defensive performance was saved by Tomas’ 31 home runs and 83 RBI. A favorable .272/.313/.508 slash line also helped make up for the fact that he is prone to making errors while having horrific range in the outfield grass.
Based on the way he has played so far in his big league career, Tomas appears best suited as a DH. Unfortunately, that job market is absent in the National League as it’s exclusive to the American League. The Diamondbacks will need him to hit a lot better before a trade even becomes possible.
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Things have not gone too well for Tomas in 2017. He started the spring hitless in his first 17 at-bats. Now, he is sidelined with a strained oblique. By the time he feels well enough to get back on the field, it may be too late to save his spring. Thankfully, Tomas’ power bat helped win him a starting job with Arizona in 2017 regardless of how his spring training ends.
Arizona has yet to figure out exactly where to play Tomas. He has seen action primarily at third base and the corner outfield spots. The current expectation is that he continues as the starting left fielder or right fielder depending on the health of David Peralta. Not up for debate is that Tomas should hit in the middle of the Diamondbacks’ order.
An example of how poorly Tomas played defense last season, his -2.4 WAR as a right fielder was worse than Mark Trumbo; a notoriously bad defensive player. Only J.D. Martinez of the Detroit Tigers had a worse WAR as a right fielder.
Tomas was equally as bad in left field. Minnesota Twins’ left fielder Robbie Grossman was the only left fielder to put on a worse performance at the position than Tomas did.
Unless he is traded to an American League team, the Diamondbacks will continue sending Tomas out to the corner outfield spots each game. Paul Goldschmidt occupies first base, which unfortunately limits Tomas further.
Eventually, Tomas should shift from the National League to the American League. It’s for his greatest benefit as it takes away the one element of his game that has always been a strain: his glove.