HOUSTON -- The pregame ritual is as important to Astros catcher Yainer Diaz as anything else he does to get ready for a game. After the starting pitcher tosses his final warmup pitch, Diaz throws the ball to second base and then writes the initials of his late brother, Issael, with his finger on the dirt behind home plate.
He points to the sky and says, “Thanks.”
It serves as a reminder to Diaz about who he’s playing for and why he’s in the big leagues. Diaz, 27, is in his third season as the Astros starting catcher, having broken into the Major Leagues in 2022 -- the year Houston won its second World Series. He had a breakout season in ’23 as Martin Maldonado’s backup, posting a .846 OPS en route to finishing fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.
Issael Lopez, Diaz’s oldest brother, never got to see Diaz fulfill his big league dream, but he remains a part of his journey to this day. Lopez died of cancer in 2022, shortly before Diaz made his Major League debut with the Astros on Sept. 2, 2022.
“I really don’t have the words for the way he would be feeling right now, but there’s a lot of times when I go to sleep and I think about how proud of me [he is] right now,” Diaz said through interpreter Otto Loor.
Lopez was 11 years older than Diaz and more like a father figure than a brother, so his death shook him. After all, it was Lopez who helped encourage Diaz to resume playing baseball after he quit at around the age of 13 while in the Dominican Republic. It took tough love, but Diaz understands why his brother fought so hard for him.
“When I started playing, he wasn’t playing any more but he always would tell me, ‘You’re young, you’re going make it,’” Diaz said. "Because this was a dream of both of ours.”
After several tryouts -- and some interest from the Astros -- Diaz signed with Cleveland as an international free agent for $25,000 in 2016, when he was 18 years old. He made his professional debut the next season in the Dominican Summer League. Diaz was 22 when he was traded to the Astros on July 30, 2021, along with reliever Phil Maton. The Astros sent outfielder Myles Straw to Cleveland.
The trade was made with the 2022 season in mind, with Maton strengthening the Astros bullpen and Straw’s departure opening up the door for Chas McCormick to be the starter in center, but Houston was high on Diaz, too.
At the time of the trade, Diaz was hitting .314 at Single-A Lynchburg with 19 doubles, five homers, 50 RBIs and an .821 OPS in 61 games. The Astros had hope that he could become their catcher of the future. It was the kind of belief Lopez always had in his little brother.
“He motivated me to be here,” Diaz said. “He made me understand the type of player I really was and the type of talent that I had.”
In addition to writing Lopez’s initials in the dirt, Diaz used to have “Issael” scripted on the front collar of his catcher’s gear. That was a way of keeping his brother close to his heart.
“It was a beautiful relationship,” Diaz said. “He treated me like he was my second father, and he gave me a lot of advice on how to be where I’m at right now.”
Losing his brother has left a void in Diaz’s heart that will never be filled. Anyone who’s lost someone who was close to them can relate. All Diaz can do now is point to the sky and say, “Thanks” to the man who helped him become a big leaguer.
“I just think there’s nothing that will ever fill that void of having someone that close pass away,” Diaz said. “There’s nothing that will remedy the pain that one goes through, but I think life is going to continue, and you just have to keep getting out there and doing whatever you’re going to do.”