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Normal service has been resumed, with Goldschmidt back at 1B. And I mean really normal. For since suffering a fractured hand on Aug. 1, 2014 vs. Pirates, yesterday was only the second game he did not start for the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Jake Lamb gets the night off against a left-hander: his splits this season have continued to be... well, let's go with "eye-opening," and leave it at that, shall we?
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs RHP | 18 | 60 | 53 | 15 | 18 | 4 | 15 | 6 | 17 | .340 | .400 | .642 | 1.042 |
| vs LHP | 11 | 27 | 24 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | .208 | .296 | .292 | .588 |
But as long as he continues to destroy right-handed pitching, I think we'll be able to cope with the odd sloppy at-bat against lefties - although Torey Lovullo could end up pinch-hitting late in crucial game situations. I wonder if it was considered in the 7th inning last night, when Jake came up to face a leftie with men on the corners?
One thing which has helped the Diamondbacks so far has been our pitchers' performances in the clutch. So far, they've faced 155 high-leverage plate appearances, and in these have allowed just one home-run, and only eight extra-base hits all told. Could do with getting the K:BB ratio up a bit higher than the current 31:14, but the Fernando Rodney Troll Experience has proved remarkably effective so far, when necessary. [Random bonus fun fact. In the first inning, the D-backs pitchers have faced 90 batters and allowed 7 earned runs. In the second inning? 90 batters and 7 earned runs. In the third inning? Yep: 90 batters, 7 earned runs. #Consistency]