{
  "id": 3625060,
  "title": "Yainer Diaz is changing his approach at the plate. Can it revive Houston Astros catcher's bat?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/yainer-diaz-is-changing-his-approach-at-the-plate-can-it-revive",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-27T00:29:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/yainer-diaz-changing-approach-plate-002956753.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz is altering his approach at the plate, aiming to boost his power at the plate. Following a career-high ground-ball rate, which limited his power for much of the season, Diaz has been focusing on elevating pitches. On Tuesday, he hit two homers, one inside and elevated by right-hander Will Warren and the other outside and elevated by left-hander Brent Headrick. Diaz said he's been working on hitting the lower part of the ball to elevate it better. His career ground-ball rate is 48.8%, but he's hit a career-high 55.5% this season. Diaz's OPS jumped to .712 after his two-homer night, which is above the .701 OPS he compiled last season. His offensive slump in August contributed to inconsistent Astros offenses. Diaz's improved ground-ball rate could help the Astros, which had scored three or fewer runs in 10 of its previous 18 games before Tuesday.",
  "summary": "The Astros' catcher is focusing on pitches he can elevate after a career-high ground-ball rate limited his power for much of the season.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}