A rash of injuries in Beantown forced the Red Sox to purchase the contract of former N.C. State standout Jonathan Diaz on June 29th. The 28-year-old appeared in five games, including one start, and went hitless in four at-bats. Diaz did score a pair of runs, including a walk-off, game-winner against Toronto, the club that originally drafted him.
On July 6th, Diaz was unceremoniously optioned back to Pawtucket and then outrighted two days later, clearing him from the club's 40-man roster. Brock Holt, the Sox preferred reserve utility infielder, was nursing an injury when Stephen Drew went on the disabled list, so Diaz was needed until Holt was ready to go.
Primarily a middle infielder in the minor leagues, Diaz handled five chances in 12 innings at third base for the Sox without an error. He also got in an inning at second base. Diaz, a 12th round selection of the Blue Jays in the 2006 draft, is a career .228/.357/.297 hitter in nearly 3,000 minor league plate appearances.
His brother Chris, another former Pack shortstop, currently plays for West Virginia in the Pirates' minor league system.
I had assumed Jake Buchanan, recently promoted to AAA by the Astros, would be the next Pack player to graduate to MLB, but Diaz sneaked in before him (and went totally unnoticed by me until after the fact). So, a belated congrats, Jonathan! And may you make it back again someday.