Snake Bytes 9/9: The Rat Race

We’re just going to start here. I love Paul Goldschmidt just as much as anyone. Even wore his shirt to the game last night. He can do no wrong in my eyes, but lets cut the crap. Nothing about last night was “fun”. I had to restrain myself from wanting to cause property damage because I was so irate after the unfolding of events. Watching this team find ways to lose as the games become increasingly more important is fun? Spending $100 to watch this team wet the bed in person is fun? I understand that Paul is not the type of player who is going to vent frustrations to the media pool, but please for the love of everything don’t sugarcoat this loss. So much fun I just can’t hardly wait to write about it.

Arizona Diamondbacks 4, Atlanta Braves 5

[The Athletic] ‘Not Arizona Diamondback baseball’: The Diamondbacks play their sloppiest game at the worst time - What in the world was the line of thinking last night on the final out of the game? Did Matt Williams make his return to the team as third base coach last night? Was Nick Ahmed praying that Dansby Swanson’s throw would roll all the way to the backstop?

“There’s a certain time where you take a little bit of a risk and there’s other times that you don’t,” Lovullo said. “That may not have been the best time to take that type of a risk, based on what my memory is telling me right now.”

[AZ Central] Defense finally fails Arizona Diamondbacks in loss to Atlanta Braves - You want to know what is really fun? When the defense makes as many errors as the lineup scored runs. It just tickles me pink every time.

“I don’t want to undersell the fact that we didn’t do what we were supposed to do today in a lot of key situations,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “That’s what we get used to doing here. When it doesn’t happen, it stands out.”

[Arizona Sports] Diamondbacks commit four errors, lose in extra innings to Braves - Yesterday the Diamondbacks celebrated Latin heritage with a pre-game fiesta, Los D’backs jerseys, and a Ketel Marte luchador bobblehead. That’s fun. However, parking in the surrounding lots averaged $25. That’s not fun.

[D’backs.com] D-backs slip in West on 4-error loss in 10th - Ok, there was some legitimate fun last night. His name is Clay Buchholz, or Greinke Lite if you will. His ERA is now a minuscule 2.01 over 98.1 innings in 16 starts this season. Last night he allowed 5 hits, 2 walks, on 6 strikeouts over 6.1 innings and made some stellar defensive plays. Might be worth bringing him back on an incentive deal for next season if Patrick Corbin departs in free agency.

“Once again, it was a dynamite outing for him,” Lovullo said. “It seems like he keeps getting better and better every time.”

Diamondbacks News

[The Athletic] Bullpen woes: Are Diamondbacks’ relievers up to the task? - Andrew Chafin in the 10th inning last night looked as if he’d never fielded first base before in his career. Oh yeah, and he walked the first batter he faced again. Fun fun fun fun fun fun fun. Meanwhile, Silvino Bracho, Jimmie Sherfy, and Yoan Lopez are just biding their time.

[Arizona Sports] D-backs’ Lovullo, Bradley have one-on-one discussion regarding role - If Archie Bradley truly wants to be a starter again in the future (for the record I think that ship sailed long ago), he should probably work on developing stronger secondary pitches. The news is out on him and teams around the league are capitalizing on his predictability. He can’t throw his knuckle-curve for strikes without hanging the pitch currently and this has rendered him essentially a one-pitch pitcher. Opposing hitters can spit on the bender and wait for him to make a mistake with his fastball. When he leaves it in a bad spot, which he has been doing often lately, the pitch has been abused.

“We’re trying to figure out what’s best for every player on this team and Archie’s not excluded from any conversations that we have,” Lovullo said before the game when asked if he had a chance to speak with the pitcher yet. “It’s not a mystery things haven’t been going great for him for past several outings.

Around the League

[Sports Illustrated] Rockies Extend NL West Lead on Dodgers Behind Kyle Freeland’s Solid Start - The Rockies must be having a lot less fun than the Diamondbacks with their negative run differential and first division title in franchise history in their crosshairs. Wait, that’s not how that works. The D’backs begin a four game set against them tomorrow, and anything short of three wins in the series will basically knock Arizona out of the division race.

[Talking Chop] Toussaint to make third MLB start as Braves go for rare series win in Arizona - Lolololololol Dave Stewart and Tony LaRussa sure were fun too. Probably gonna forgo watching this contest, because I’ve got a feeling Touki Toussaint is going to hold Arizona hitless over 7 innings or something else ridiculous.