SnakeBytes, 5/27: Back to work

Recaps

[Dbacks.com] Pollock's walk-off shot caps Memorial Day win - "I knew it was probably going to score Ender [Inciarte]," Pollock said of the pinch-runner at first base. "He's got some great speed. I was trying to be a little greedy. I wanted that thing to go over the fence. "It was great. It was exciting, just a really cool feeling. That's what you do. You come in here every day, you put a lot of swings in the cages and you work hard."

[FOX Sports] Welcome home: Pollock walks off Padres - "It was exciting, just a really cool feeling," Pollock said of his first career walk-off homer. "You come in here every day, you put a lot of swings in the cages and you work hard. So it's really cool when you actually get up there when the team needs you in the late innings and are able to win a game for the team." But for all D-backs manager Kirk Gibson cared, a relief pitcher could have hit the home run. "Who cares who does it?" Gibson joked. "You just want to see somebody do it. We were standing there saying, 'Let's walk 'em off, let'€™s walk 'em off,' and he crushed that ball."

[AZ Central] A.J. Pollock comes up big for Diamondbacks in 9th inning - Pollock had three hits in the game, raising his average to .296 for the season. He entered the game with a WAR of 1.8, higher even than first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. It might be time for the All-Star campaign to kick into full gear, so long as it doesn't involved Pollock himself. "That's stuff you can't control," Pollock said. "I think you get in trouble when you start doing stuff like that. We've got a game tomorrow, and you look at the pitcher tomorrow, and he doesn't really care what I did today. I don't think thinking about the All-Star Game and stuff down the road really helps you."

[ArizonaSports] Pollock's home run propels D-backs to walk-off win - "The ball doesn't do the same thing," McCarthy said of having the roof open midway through the game. "When it's open from the beginning you kind of set your sightlines and you know your feel and what you're trying to do. When it changes like that everything that you had been doing kind of goes out the window and you have to, I guess, make an adjustment off it. I mean you felt like you were pitching an indoor game and then all of a sudden, you open your eyes and it's an outdoor game and everything looks completely different."

Team News

[dbacks.com] Arroyo good to go, shrugs off elbow comment - "I don't [know] why Gibby said that about my elbow being banged up," Arroyo said. "I'm banged up all the time. It's not new news. We play this game banged up almost all the time, it's just the way it is. You find a good way to stay healthy, and it's going to entail some drugs and some therapy and some rest. It's just the life of playing 162 games, man." Arroyo, 37, has never missed a regular-season start in his 15-year career spanning 365 starts, and he has no plans to miss his turn Friday against the Reds. [However, I'm hearing the team is less certain; if Arroyo isn't available, Spruill will probably be recalled]

[ArizonaSports] Hill improved, available if needed - "He's good. He texted me and wanted to play," manager Kirk Gibson said. "I talked to (head athletic trainer) Ken (Crenshaw) today and all things considered, we're going to give him another day. He's available (to play). I'm sure he's going to hit in the cage," Gibson said. "He had a pretty big knot on there and actually he could play the field okay, but the hitting really bothered him, so we're going to give him another day to get some more inflammation out of there."

[MiLB.com] Southern notes: Lamb fierce under pressure - Lamb's average was up to .287 through 48 games, and he was fourth in the Southern League with 33 RBIs. The left-handed hitter was tied for the league lead with 16 doubles and also had a triple and six home runs. Not bad for someone who plays in one of toughest ballparks for hitters in the Southern League, if not all of Double-A. Hank Aaron Stadium may be named for a hitting great, but it is where balls go to die. "The first few weeks, I let it get to me a little bit," Lamb admitted. "It was a big difference from the California League."

Good news from Archie Bradley:

Pain free flat ground today! Bullpen by the end of this week! Feeling strong and healthy!

— Archie Bradley (@ArchieBradley7) May 26, 2014

And, elsewhere...

[NY Daily News] Chris Young's struggles continue to be problem for Mets - Interesting quote from Kevin Towers in this one: "One of the best pieces of advice I ever got in this business was from Jack McKeon, who told me: ‘If a player you got isn’t doing the job, you’ve got to just get rid of them and move on. You can’t let yourself fall into the trap of continuing to play them in the hopes that they’ll enhance their value. It’s not fair to the team.’ " In other ex-Dbacks news out of New York, the team also released Jose Valverde.

Average size of MLB players (and other sports) by position - fascinating to compare the height and weight of players across the sports. TIL, offensive linesmen are very, very scary.

[CNNMoney] Ballpark hot dogs and beer: See what $20 buys at a baseball game - CNNMoney surveyed Major League Baseball stadiums to see what they charge for hot dogs and beer. The D-backs come out fairly well, though of course, if you can drink the beer being served for $4, you have more tolerant palate than I do!