Yandy Diaz News Emerges After Leaving Cardinals Game

Díaz exited with right hamstring soreness. The 34-year-old finished the night 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI before Jake Mangum pinch-hit for him in the seventh.

Díaz is now slashing .281/.341/.463 with 21 homers and 73 RBI over 121 games this season. The 6-foot-1-inch, 235-pounder is on pace to pass his career-highs of 22 homers and 78 RBI.

Rays Will Be Hard-Pressed to Turn It Around Without Yandy Díaz

Tampa Bay is already six games under .500 as it is, and now its hits leader is hurt. Díaz tops the squad with 135 base knocks and is tied for the lead with 22 doubles.

The Rays do have other capable hitters, such as third baseman Junior Caminero, first baseman Jonathan Aranda, and second baseman Brandon Lowe. However, the team is ranked just 16th in baseball with a .709 OPS and tied for 15th with 139 homers.

That suggests an average offense, but that's with all of the main pieces involved. It could dip to below average if Díaz misses extended time, which wouldn't be ideal given the team's place in the standings.

Tampa Bay is seven games behind the Seattle Mariners for the AL's third and final Wild Card spot. Next up are two more games against St. Louis before hitting the road to face the Cleveland Guardians and Washington Nationals.

After that, it will host the Mariners and rematch the Guardians, which will be pivotal to the Wild Card standings. Cleveland is currently three games behind Seattle and four ahead of the Rays.

If Tampa Bay does miss the playoffs again, it will be the second straight year without postseason action. The club hasn't won a playoff game since 2021.

Right-handed pitcher Adrian Houser will start for the Rays against Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Friday night.