March 22: Juan’s Prep: Taking His Kids To The Batting Cages

It was one of those magnificent seasons that only comes along once in a while.

Big Juan Diaz, the Goldeyes gifted designated hitter, finished the 2009 season hitting .317 with a league leading – and franchise record – 29 homers, a franchise-record 90 runs batted in and a league-leading .598 slugging percentage. In the playoffs, he was even more magnificent, hitting .500 in 12 official at-bats. He was also walked 10 times and had a .727 on-base percentage. His playoff slugging percentage was 1.000 while his OPS was an almost insane 1.727.

So what does he do for an encore?

Well, for one thing, he prepares like a professional and is ready to roll when he arrives for spring training in early May.

“I had a good winter in Colombia,” Diaz said, via telphone from his home in Miami. “I had 11 home runs and 45 RBI and hit .280 in 200 at-bats. It was fun in Colombia. It’s good to be home to spend time with my family, but I had fun in winter ball.

“Now that I’m back home, I spend a lot of my time taking my kids to the batting cages. I pick them up after school at 3 o’clock, and we go and swing for a few hours each night. My eight-year-old can really swing the bat.”

Diaz has three kids: Johanzell is 8, Juan Carlos is 6 and Ronnald is 4. All three are quickly picking up dad’s profession: Hitting a baseball.

“It’s fun for me to be around my boys every day,” Diaz said. “But it will also be fun to get back to Winnipeg, too. Last year we had a good team and it was special for me to be around so many teammates who were such good players. This year, we have added Aharon (centre fielder Eggleston) and we should be even better. It’s going to be fun this year.”