Isan Díaz homers in MLB debut; family, Marlins fans everywhere celebrate

The Marlins recalled Isan Díaz from Triple-A New Orleans on Monday with the future in mind. He has the potential to be their long-term, everyday second baseman, a building block that gets them closer to championship contention.

Within his first two hours of MLB experience, Díaz showed the world why the promotion was justified.

After grounding into a fielder’s choice against reigning NL Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom in the first inning and popping up in the third, the 23-year-old got another crack at him. Unbeknownst to Díaz, his parents were being interviewed by Craig Minervini on FOX Sports Florida during that sixth-inning matchup.

Those circumstances combined to make this the most impactful swing of the 2019 Marlins season.

A rough transcript of the interview:

“Is this an emotional day for you?”

“Very, very emotional—OH OHHHHHHHHH OHHHHH OHHHHHHHHHH!”

The 97 mile-per-hour fastball was crushed 422 feet deep to right-center. Including his Triple-A numbers, that was Díaz’s 27th homer of the year, which leads all players in the Marlins organization.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he becomes the 12th Marlins player to homer for his first career hit (most recently done by Austin Dean last August) and the seventh Marlin to homer in his debut. Even rarer, no left-handed hitting second baseman has done that in nearly 21 years.

Even while flirting with an 100-loss pace, Díaz, newly recalled Lewis Brinson and more young, controllable Fish can make this team watchable down the stretch.

Fish Stripes original GIF