Son of Ana Soto and Porfirio Díaz...Díaz older brother, Emison Soto, played four seasons in the Red Sox organization and for various other independent and international teams...credits his brother with helping to push his sports career forward and working to make him a professional ballplayer...Is married to Katherine Delgado, and they have two children, Eliana and Elanie Díaz...The native of Maracaibo, Venezuela resides in Venezuela in the offseason...over the years, he has provided food, shoes, and supplies for schools...said Elias, "I want to help people that don’t have money, that don’t have opportunities. And it’s from my heart."...His favorite athlete as a kid was Ivan Rodriguez...Was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2008 at the age of 17...His father is of Colombian decent, and he played for Team Colombia in the 2023 World Baseball Classic to pay homage.
2024
Joined the Padres on Sept. 1, when he had his contract selected after signing a Minor League deal with San Diego on Aug. 27…was released by COL on Aug. 16...Concluded his 10th Major League season hitting .265 (86-for-325) with 27 runs, 20 2B, six HR and 39 RBI across 96 games between the Rockies (84 games) and Padres (12 games)…His 86 hits and 20 2B on the year trailed just his career marks from 2023 (130 H/25 2B) with COL...Defensively, logged 604.1 innings across 94 games (86 starts) at a .992 clip (four E/500 TC)…among NL backstops, his 29 assists ranked 10th and his 27.7 caught stealing percentage ranked 13th...His 20 multi-hit efforts on the year T-12th among all catchers and matched his 2018 and 2022 totals and trailed just his 33 games of the kind from 2023 with COL...Capped his regular season campaign on Sept. 29 @ ARI, logging his 20th 2B...was also his 5th 2B across his last 22 games (fourth in last 18 games)...Snapped an 0-for-10 skid w/ his lone multi-hit effort as a Padre on Sept. 21 vs. CWS (last: Aug. 12 @ ARI)...also connected with his sixth HR of the year and first since June 5 vs. CIN...the HR marked a new single-season record of HR at Petco Park (203, prev. 202 in 2019)...Tallied his first hit as a Padre on Sept. 5 vs. DET, a double to left in the bottom of the fifth inning...In 84 games with the Rockies, slashed .270/.315/.378 with 18 2B, five HR and 36 RBI.
POSTSEASON: Played in 724 regular season games before making his Postseason debut on Oct. 5 @ LAD (0-for-1, SO)...at the time, there had only been five active players to have more regular season games than Díaz before their first-career playoff appearance (Realmuto's 1,005, Marcell Ozuna's 931, Whit Merrifield's 907, Josh Bell's 852, and Adam Frazier's 821, h/t @Elias).
2023
Named the Most Valuable Player of the 93rd MLB All-Star Game after hitting a go-ahead, pinch-hit, two-run home run in the eighth inning to give the NL their first win since 2012 … first player in franchise history to be named All-Star MVP and sixth catcher in Major League history to be named All-Star MVP...Set career highs in games (141), hits (130), doubles (25), RBI (72), walks (34), strikeouts (118) and total bases (199)...130 hits were the second-most by a catcher in franchise history trailing Wilin Rosario’s 131 hits in 2013…72 RBI also the second-most trailing Rosario’s 79 RBI in 2013...126 games at catcher the most in a single season in franchise history (previous: Joe Girardi, 122 games in 1995)…third-most games caught in the Majors in 2023...Entering 2024, ranks among all-time franchise catching leaders in home runs (43, 3rd), RBI (176, 3rd), hits (309, 4th), doubles (63, 4th) and total games (378, 4th)...When playing at catcher, his 121 hits were tied for the second-most in the Majors, 64 RBI were fifth and 25 doubles tied for fifth...19 catcher caught stealings the sixth-most in the Majors, third in the NL…most CCS for a Rockie since Tony Wolters in 2019 (20) and tied for the fifth most for a Rockie since 2000...Caught a franchise-record 33 pitchers in 2023, the most since Nick Hundley caught 30 different pitchers in 2015...Career-best nine-game hitting streak April 6-15 … hit .500 (14-28) with a 1.319 OPS through this span...Represented the Rockies in the MLB All-Star Game, his first All-Star recognition and the first Rockies catcher in history to be selected to an All-Star team...Fifth player in club history to hit a home run in the All-Star Game, joining Charlie Blackmon (2019), Trevor Story (2018), Matt Holliday (2008) and Todd Helton (2003)...Joined Hank Blalock (2003), Mike Schmidt (1981), Cookie Rojas (1972), Gus Bell (1954) and Ted Williams (1941) as the only players to hit a go-ahead home run in the All-Star Game while trailing in the eighth inning or later...At 32-years-236-days-old, he also became the fourth-oldest player to hit a home run in their first All-Star Game, behind Babe Ruth (38-150), Frankie Frisch (35-300) and J.D. Drew (32-238)...Caught three runners attempting to steal May 8 in Pittsburgh without allowing a stolen base, the second catcher in the Majors to do so in 2023 joining Oakland’s Shea Langeliers (April 21 vs. Texas) and the first Rockie since Yorvit Torrealba on April 25, 2008 at Los Angeles...Included two “Strike-’Em-Out, Throw-’Em-Out” double plays to end the first and fifth innings…per Elias, it was the first time the Rockies recorded two “Strike-’Em-Out, Throw-’Em-Out” double plays in the same game since Aug. 8, 2006 at Dodger Stadium when Torrealba did so to end the seventh and eighth innings... .321 (54-168) batting average through the end of May was the fifth-best average in the Majors... .435 (10-23) average with runners in scoring position in May the sixth-highest in the NL...Connected on his third career grand slam June 23 vs. Los Angeles-AL…first Rockie to hit a grand slam since his own on Sept. 10, 2021 at Philadelphia, snapping a franchise-long 258-game span without a grand slam…first to hit a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning or later since Blackmon’s walk-off grand slam Sept. 11, 2020, also vs. Los Angeles-AL... Became the first Rockie since Blackmon and Daniel Murphy (Sept. 2, 2019 at Los Angeles-NL) to have three doubles in one game on Aug. 1 vs. San Diego…first career game with three doubles, his third career game with three extra base hits (last: Sept. 9, 2022 vs. Arizona)...Swiped second base in the fifth inning on Aug. 18 vs. Chicago-AL, his first stolen base as a Rockie and second of his career (also: June 7, 2017 at Baltimore)…was a span of 581 games between stolen bases...Appeared in three games (two starts at catcher) in the 2023 World Baseball Classic…went 2-for-8 with one double, one RBI and two strikeouts…Díaz, a Venezuela native, chose to play for Colombia as a way of representing his father’s birthplace.
2022
Appeared in 105 games for the Rockies, setting a career high with 51 RBI and tying his career best with 18 doubles...Set single game career highs in both hits (four) and RBI (seven) on Sept. 9 vs. Arizona while recording his first career multi-home run game...most RBI for a Rockie since C.J. Cron collected seven on Aug. 8, 2021 vs. Miami and the most in franchise history for a catcher...his second home run was a walk-off, the Rockies’ third walk-off home run of the season...fifth career walk-off hit, second of the season and his third career walk-off home run (last: Aug. 21, 2021 vs. Arizona)...Hit a bases-loaded single in the ninth inning on July 27 vs. Chicago-AL to bring in two runs to secure a 5-4 victory for the Rockies, his first walkoff of the season...Batted .306 (11-for-36) through his first 10 games of the season, .219 (69-for-315) through the remainder of the campaign...4.65 plate-appearances-per-strikeout the lowest mark through a full season of his career (381 PA, 82 SO)...Hit the second and third triples of his career on June 23 at Miami and July 17 vs. Pittsburgh (Game 1), his first season multiple triples...Career-long eight-game hitting streak July 11-27...the first six games were all multi-hit games, tied for the fourth-longest multi-hit streak in the Majors this season and tied for the third-longest in franchise history, the longest for a catcher...hit .467 (14-for-30) with seven extra-base hits and 10 RBI through the eight-game streak...Caught 12 of 60 attempted base stealers, an 80.0% stolen base percentage...his 11 errors were the most among all catchers and tied with Jeff Reed (1996) for the second-most for a Rockies catcher in franchise history, trailing Wilin Rosario with 13 in 2012.
2021
Appeared in a career-high 98 games at catcher in his second season with the Rockies and made a career-high 106 appearances overall... Set a career-high with 18 home runs, tied for the third-most among NL catchers with Buster Posey and tied for the fourth-most by a catcher in a single season in franchise history with Chris Iannetta (2008) … most home runs by a Rockies catcher since Wilin Rosario hit 21 in 2013... His nine road home runs were the third-most by a catcher in franchise history, trailing Wilin Rosario in 2013 (11) and 2012 (10)... 37 extra-base hits (18 2B, 3B, 18 HR) tied for the sixth-most by a catcher in a single season in franchise history... Slashed .283/.346/.550 with 16 doubles, one triple, 17 home runs, 40 RBI, 23 walks and 37 strikeouts from June 1 through the end of the season … ranked first among NL catchers with a .550 slugging mark and was second with 17 home runs through this span (min. 250 AB) … slashed .125/.193/.188 from the start of the season through the end of May... Collected three walk-off hits, the first three of his career … homered on July 1 against St. Louis; singled to left on July 4 against St. Louis; and homered on Aug. 21 against Arizona … home run against Arizona came on the 10th pitch of the at-bat, the first walk-off hit in franchise history on an at-bat of at least 10 pitches... 14 catcher caught stealings were the seventh-most in the Majors, fourth-most in the NL … 42.1 caught stealing percentage was the second-highest in the Majors (min. 60 GS) behind Salvador Pérez (43.9%)... Recorded a career-high eight total bases with two doubles and a home run on Sept. 8 against San Francisco … most total bases in a game by a Rockies catcher since Wilin Rosario had nine on June 6, 2015... Rockies were one of two teams in MLB to use just two catchers (Díaz and Dom Nuñez) all season (also: Cincinnati) … only used two catchers the entire season for the second time in franchise history (1997, Kirt Manwaring and Jeff Reed).
2020
Appeared in 26 games in his first season with the Rockies, after signing a Minor League contract on Jan. 6...Made 13 starts, 13 at catcher and two as the designated hitter…Colorado went 6-7 in his 13 starts at catcher…did not make his first start until Aug. 7 at Seattle…hit safely in 11 starts, including eight of his last 10...Hit his first home run and first RBI of the season on Sept. 15 vs. Oakland, the first Rockies catcher to hit a home run in 2020...Recorded nine RBI over his last 11 games from Sept. 15 through the end of the season, including a season-high two RBI four times...Recorded a career-high seven total bases and career-high-tying three hits on Sept. 26 at Arizona…doubled and hit his second home run of the season...On the restricted list from Aug. 17-20 after violating team protocols.
2019
Made a career-high 96 appearances at catcher and a career-high 101 appearances overall for the Pittsburgh Pirates... Caught 15 of the 48 base runners attempting to steal against him, a 31% caught-stealing rate... Began the season on the 10-day injured list with a virus…appeared in nine rehab games with High-A Bradenton and Triple-A Indianapolis before being reinstated on April 21... Made his first start of the season on April 22 vs. Arizona … went 5-for-37 (.135) with two RBI in his first 12 games through May 14... Started four consecutive games in San Diego, May 16-19, and went 8-for-16... Hit .397 (25-for-63) with 14 RBI over an 18-game stretch, May 18-June 7, raising his average from .159 to a season-high .299... Had three hits and a season-high four RBI June 1 vs. Milwaukee... Hit his first home run of the season June 5 vs. Atlanta off Kevin Gausman … second home run Sept. 4 vs. Miami off José Ureña... Suffered a low-grade MCL right knee sprain on Sept. 21 at Milwaukee and missed the final seven games of the season.
2018
Spent his first full season in the Major Leagues with the Pirates...Hit .287 (66-for-230) with 12 doubles, 10 home runs and 34 RBI in his 60 starts...Made 70 appearances (59 starts) behind the plate and threw out 11 of the 32 runners attempting to steal against him (34%)... Posted a 4.13 catcher's ERA (549.1ip/252er), had nine errors and picked one runner off base (Addison Russell at third base on 8/19)...Hit .346 (28-for-81) against left-handed pitchers...Hit .403 (27-for-67) with five home runs when leading off an inning...Went 12-for-29 (.414) with three homers in 11 interleague games; homered as the designated hitter on 8/15 at Minnesota...Hit .484 (15-for-31) in April (12 games) and .139 (5-for-36) in May (14 games)...Produced a .287 average (51-for-178) from 6/10 thru the end of the season...Made 14 straight starts while Francisco Cervelli was on the D.L. between 6/22 and 7/7; the longest such streak by a Pittsburgh catcher since Ryan Doumit made 15 in a row in 2009 between 7/10-28.
2017
Split season between Triple-A Indianapolis and Pittsburgh...Began season with Indianapolis and hit .305 (18-for-59) with 12 RBI in 15 games during the month of April... Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 5/1 and made first start on 5/2 at Cincinnati; singled off Robert Stephenson for first Major League hit...Was optioned back to Indianapolis on 5/7...Hit his second and final Triple-A home run on 5/29 at Rochester...Was recalled by the Pirates on 5/30 when Chris Stewart went on the disabled list...Connected off New York's Paul Sewald for first Major League home run and had a career-high six RBI on 6/2 at Citi Field; the most RBI by a Pirates rookie since Andrew McCutchen on 8/1/09...Had a career-high three hits on 6/10 vs. Miami...Hit .310 (18-for-58) with 13 RBI in 22 big league games during the month of June...Was optioned back to Indianapolis on 7/7...Was recalled a third time by Pittsburgh on 8/15 and went 4-for-21 in six games before being optioned to Indianapolis on 8/25...Was recalled a final time on 8/26 when Francisco Cervelli went on the D.L... Started 18 of the last 22 games with the Pirates...Went hitless in his last 19 at bats after going 2-for-3 on 9/23 vs. St. Louis...Hit .239 (39-for-163) with 14 doubles, one home run and 19 RBI in his 44 starts...Threw out eight of the 22 runners attempting to steal against him with the Pirates.
2016
Began season on Pittsburgh's 15-day disabled list (retroactive to 3/25) with lateral right elbow discomfort...Underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow on 5/3...Was transferred to the 60-day D.L. on 5/19...Began rehab assignment with Bradenton on 7/4...Went 4-for-5 in his sixth game with the Marauders on 7/13 at Dunedin and went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in seventh and final game with Bradenton on 7/14...Had rehab transferred to Double-A Altoona on 7/16...Played two games with the Curve before having rehab assignment transferred to Triple-A Indianapolis on 7/18...Went hitless in four at bats in lone rehab game with Indy on 7/19...Was reinstated from the 60-day D.L. and optioned to Indianapolis on 7/20...Went 3-for-7 in two games with Indianapolis before being recalled by Pittsburgh on 7/23 when Eric Fryer went on the Paternity List...Made his first Major League start on 7/24 vs. Philadelphia and went 0-for-4 with an RBI; also picked a runner off second base (Carlos Ruiz) in the fourth inning...Was optioned back to Indianapolis on 7/26...Collected a season-high three hits on 8/5 vs. Toledo… Played in his final contest on 9/1 after suffering a left leg infection...Was treated for cellulitis on his left leg in Pittsburgh on 9/5...Was recalled by Pittsburgh and placed on the 60-day disabled list on 9/13; was reinstated on 11/4.
2015
Spent full season at the Triple-A level...Was named to the International League mid- and post-season All-Star teams...Also represented the World Team at the All-Star Futures Game in Cincinnati on 7/12...Won Baseball America's "Captain's Catcher" award, given to the best defensive catcher in all of minor league baseball...Made 60 starts behind the plate with Indianapolis and threw out 14 of the 46 runners attempting to steal against him (30%)...Also made 25 appearances as the designated hitter...Hit .325 (27-for-83) and produced 14 RBI in 24 games during the month of May...Swiped lone base on 7/27 at Columbus...Had 18 RBI in 17 games during the month of August...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 9/1... Made Major League debut as a pinch hitter on 9/12 and flied out to center field...Also struck out as a pinch hitter on 9/30 vs. St. Louis (game two)...Did not appear in a game defensively with the Pirates.
2014
Hit .312 (112-for-359) with 21 doubles, six home runs and 54 RBI in a career-high 101 minor league games...Ranked second among Pittsburgh farmhands in batting...Spent majority of season with Double-A Altoona, where he was named "Best Defensive Catcher" by coaches and managers of the Eastern League...Was selected to the Eastern League midand post-season All-Star teams...Was named Curve Team MVP...Made 88 appearances behind the plate while playing with Altoona and threw out 36 of the 110 baserunners attempting to steal against him (33%)...Went 3-for-3 on Opening Day on 4/5 vs. Erie...Was ejected from the game on 4/14 at Harrisburg for arguing whether he was safe or out at home in the ninth inning...Finished April with team-best .357 batting average (20-for-56)...Played first base for the first time since 2009 on 6/18 at New Hampshire after ejections stemming from a bench-clearing incident...Batted .351 (26-for-74) with two homers and 11 RBI in 19 games during the month of June...Went hitless in two at bats during the All-Star Game...Hit safely in a careerhigh 16 straight games from 7/22 to 8/14 and was batting .450 (27-for-60) during the streak before being promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis on 8/15...His .328 average was the third-best in the Eastern League at the time of his promotion (he later fell out of the rankings after not having enough plate appearances to qualify)...Owned the best batting average in all of Double-A, High-A, and even Triple-A among catchers who played in at least 80 games when he was promoted to Indianapolis...Made nine appearances behind the plate with Indy...Participated in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .260 (13-for-50) in 15 games with Scottsdale...Also appeared in 14 games with Margarita in the Venezuelan Winter League.
