Snake Bytes 4/18: San Diego Edition

After dropping 2 of 3 against the Giants and the first 2 games against the Dodgers, the Diamondbacks rallied last night on a strong performance by Robbie Ray and a timely home run from Jake Lamb to come away with a series split. We finish up the road trip with our first matchup against a AA team the San Diego Padres team which ranks near the bottom of the league in offense. There is a strong chance that the Diamondbacks will finish this road trip on a record above .500. Today’s Snake Bytes will be short because I am in San Diego for the first two games, and I intend on viewing the city prior to the series opener. Shelby Miller (1-1, 5.06 ERA) faces off against Jarred Cosart (0-0, 3.86 ERA)

Team Headlines

[Dbacks.com] D-backs rally to gain series split with Dodgers - I lost radio contact with Phoenix right as I hit Yuma city limits which is right around the time AJ Pollock and David Peralta were able to drive in a run each to tie the game 2-2. The game got off to a rather rocky start as evident in the GDT comments. The first 3 Diamondbacks batters were able to reach base, but both Peralta and Pollock were caught stealing. I had serious doubts that Robbie Ray was going to make it past the 4th inning due to his pitch count, but he really settled down after I went radio silent at one point striking out 6 Dodgers in a row. Will the real Robbie Ray please stand up? Jake Lamb took charge with his towering shot in the top of the eighth.

Related:

[Arizona Sports] D-backs’ Robbie Ray starts slow, finishes on fire against Dodgers

[ESPN] Diamondbacks rally for 4-2 win over Dodgers

[Dbacks.com] D-backs embracing never-quit attitude - Everything is going to be just fine. David Peralta and AJ Pollock, two players that had perhaps gotten off to the slowest start, combined to go 8 for 10 last night with 3 RBI’s. We do not need the entire lineup to be red hot at once. This year’s club should have Tony Clark repeating, “Anybody, anytime.” The Diamondbacks’ lineup has the potential to put the opposing team in a hole quickly, and better than expected pitching performances gives us the chance to win in close games. Sit back and enjoy the show.

[ESPN] Week 2 Power Rankings: D-backs hold steady in top 10 - I was happy to see the team remain at #9 despite the tough start to the road trip. As if anyone else’s opinion of this team mattered to me, my main concern is the Diamondbacks performing well and being recognized for it. Of course, if they go under the radar and surprise everyone well that is fine too. The team sits at #11 according to Fox Sports, #12 per Bleacher Report, and #13 in USA Today’s poll.

[Washington Post] Why the Arizona Diamondbacks are going to start humidifying their baseballs - I was absolutely convinced it was because humid baseballs would be attracted to the pool in the right field when I saw the title. What a disappointment. Angela Fritz makes a simple analogy in her piece for those who are still confused on what difference a humidor is going to make at Chase Field.

The science of mushy baseballs is pretty intuitive. Imagine taking a dry, round sponge and throwing it at the wall. It bounces off the wall and maybe again off the floor and then rolls to a stop in the corner. Now, get that sponge a little wet and do the same thing. Splat, right? Not so bouncy.

Young Keegan was always interested in science, but could never follow directions during lab experiments.

Other News

[Fangraphs] Congratulations, Ender Inciarte - That feeling when you run into your ex on the street as she pulls up in a brand new Maserati. Yeah. I am thrilled to see Ender Inciarte doing so well as if there was ever any doubt that he would. He already has 4 home runs on the season after only hitting 3 total last year. Our old friend christened the newly opened Sun Trust Park, and we wish him nothing but the best. Does anyone think the Braves will take Tomas for Inciarte straight up?

[FiveThirtyEight] Do MLB Teams Undervalue Defense — Or Just Value It Differently? - Why will Ender Inciarte and Adam Eaton not respond to the team’s late night “You up?” texts? Probably because past Arizona regimes undervalued defense. Do teams actually undervalue defense? Maybe it is more difficult to quantify what exactly makes a good fielder. For instance, pitch framing was not quantified until 2009 according to the article. Perhaps it is actually the case that teams value defense differently because of their differences in proprietary internal ranking systems which the public does not have access to. Something tells me when Mike Hazen first logged on to the Diamondbacks’ system he was greeted by 500 terabytes of data on how to perform surgery on a domestic house pet.

[ESPN] Report: MLB umpires may soon take to mic to explain replays - Stop it. Just stop. This is not the NFL. MLB does not need to be like the NFL. I have no desire to hear Angel Hernandez justify anything. How about they give the fans a microphone to explain how awful the strike zone is? How does giving an umpire a microphone to explain a replay call to the fans speed the pace of play up? We do not need your justification. A simple hand gesture will suffice.