Orlando Rays OF Earns Player of the Month Honors
June 13, 2003 - Southern League (SL1)
Orlando Rays News Release
Orlando, FL - Recently-promoted Durham Bulls outfielder Matt Diaz has snagged Topps/Southern League Player of the Month honors for his hot play with the Orlando Rays.
Diaz, a 25-year-old native of Lakeland, Fla., started the season hot but turned up the heat in May, exploding for a .409 average with four home runs and 26 RBI. He also scored 20 runs and pounded out 13 doubles and finished the month with a .636 slugging percentage.
In 28 games in May Diaz was held hitless only four times, highlighted by an 11-game hitting streak that started May 20 and ended May 31. The Southern League rewarded his play by naming him SL Hitter of the Week for the Week of May 23 - May 29, when he hit .444 with 10 RBI over seven games.
Diaz earned a promotion to Class AAA Durham on June 8, where he has appeared in three games, going 3-12 with one RBI. He was a 17th round draft pick in the 1999 June draft out of Florida State University, where he hit .389 with 38 home runs and 165 RBI over his two-year career (134 games) with the Seminoles.
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