PHOENIX — Diamondbacks third baseman Yasmany Tomas has found a nice little groove since getting regular playing time.
Tomas is hitting .320 with two doubles, seven RBIs, two stolen bases and two three-hit games since his first start April 21 against Texas, two days after starting third baseman Jake Lamb was placed on the disabled list with a stress reaction in his left foot. With Lamb expected to miss another 2 1/2 to three weeks, Tomas could have even more time to get his feet on the ground.
Tomas, who signed a six-year, $68.5 million free-agent contract after fleeing Cuba and settling in the Dominican Republic, is 6-for-13 with seven RBIs with runners in scoring position in the last 10 days.
“I think he’s fresher than he was in spring,” Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said. “When you have some success, you get a little edge to yourself.”
It stands to reason that Tomas, 24, needed a little extra time to get that edge, inasmuch as he played no competitive baseball for the final seven months he was in the Dominican Republic. He took some fly balls and grounders and did some hitting in the Dominican, but it was nothing like the rigorous schedule that greeted him in spring training.
Regaining his timing, naturally, took time.
“That was a long time off. It affected me a lot,” Tomas said through coach/interpreter Ariel Pieto, a former major right-hander. “That’s why in spring training I believe I was inconsistent. Some days were good, some days were bad. One of the reasons I was like that was because I haven’t played for seven months.
“I feel a lot better, yes.”
Tomas has some success against an old friend and teammate Thursday when he had three hits, two against Padres right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne. The two were teammates from 2008-12 with the Industriales of Cuba’s top division, Serie E. Despaigne is not the same guy he was in Cuba, either, Tomas discovered while watching film of Despaigne before Thursday’s 11-0 victory.
“Here he is different,” Tomas said. “In Cuba, he was throwing more fastballs. Here, a lot of breaking balls. He didn’t throw a cutter back then.”
Tomas singled on a curve ball in the first inning of an 11-0 victory Thursday and singled on a cut fastball in the fifth.