Cleveland Indians: Hoping for more from Yandy Diaz

The Cleveland Indians need reserve players to step up while the starters remain out with injuries, and Yandy Diaz did just that on Thursday night.

Cleveland Indians fans were hoping for great things out of Yandy Diaz when the season began, but it was clear his time with the team was only temporary.

But the current rush of injuries has the hyped slugger back up with the team, and he showed why he is a highly rated prospect on Thursday night.

After going 0-6 in the first two games against the Boston Red Sox, all Diaz needed was to face the easy pitcher known as Chris Sale to get things going.

Diaz went 4-4 on Thursday night, coming around to score four times and falling a home run short of the cycle on a night when the Indians chased Sale from the game after just three innings.

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Diaz came into the game with just 13 hits on the season in 70 at-bats, with most of those numbers coming in the first month of the season in what was his first stint in the majors. So while his start was disappointing, it wasn’t too unexpected for a player just beginning his time in MLB.

But there is no time for anyone in the starting lineup to falter at this point in the season, which is why Thursday’s game was so encouraging. If Diaz can keep up his production at a solid clip, he could help add some power to this bench once everyone is healthy, if that ever happens.

Diaz was likely going to join on the team on September 1 regardless of injuries, but him being here now allows him to work toward earning a spot on the postseason roster.

The same goes for Giovanny Urshela, who drove in four runs of his own Thursday night in a game that saw the bottom three in the order drive in eight of the team’s 13 runs.

Next: Indians draft recap

Indians fans may still be waiting to jump on the Diaz bandwagon, but his game against Boston shows he has the natural ability to be great. It is now up to him to figure out what worked on Thursday and repeat that in the weekend series against the Kansas City Royals, and hopefully in October as well.