Snake Bytes 5/26: San Francisco Swing

Arizona Diamondbacks 10, San Francisco Giants 4

[D’backs.com] Clarke makes case to stick in D-backs rotation - Before we discuss the offense, Taylor Clarke deserves just as much credit for yesterday’s victory. In his second career MLB start, he held the Giants to only a single run over 6 & ¹⁄₃ innings. Clarke exited the 7th inning still responsible for two men on the corners. Andrew Chafin was not as effective and failed to strand those men, so Clarke had two more runs tacked on to his closing tally. Nonetheless, he did not allow a significant early lead get to his head or alter his game plan.

“Just take it one day at a time,” Clarke said. “It’s good to feel confident and all of that and keep it rolling, but you never really want to get too complacent. So, it’s just one of those things where it happened, enjoy it today and then kind of like start preparing for the next start. You don’t want to start getting ahead of yourself or this game will humble you pretty quick.”

[AZ Central] Tim Locastro, Diamondbacks pound Giants for second win in as many days - By the end of the third inning, Ketel Marte was a double and single away from hitting for the cycle. He’d ultimately not get there, but there was still plenty of offense around him. Marte’s solo home run in the third inning had the highest exit velocity of all MLB players yesterday just shy of 114 MPH. Tim Locastro had a pair of doubles with a run driven in. In total, the Diamondbacks tallied seven extra base hits.

“[Tim Locastro] does so many little things right that go unnoticed, but not by us,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We know that he’s a very quality baseball player and he fits into what we need right now in left field. The consistency defensively, the consistent approach offensively, and he’s an exciting player. He plays with a ton of energy.”

[Arizona Sports] D-backs 1B Kevin Cron gets first career hit, RBI against Giants - Kevin Cron knocked his first career MLB hit yesterday, and in all respect came tantalizingly close to a multi extra base hit game. With runners on the corners in the top of the first and only a single out, he lined a pitch towards triple’s alley. With his speed, who knows if he would have been able to leg out the triple, but it did not matter because Kevin Pillar made a spectacular diving catch and doubled off Adam Jones at first. The play was said to have a 5% catch probability. Finally, in the 6th Cron hit one all the way to wall in center field, but it was caught at the warning track just shy of what would have been his first career home run.

“He had a really good idea of what he’s trying to do per at-bat,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo told reporters of Cron’s performance. “He’s very comfortable, he’s been in this surrounding for a long time — he was born in a bat bag — so I think he’s very, very comfortable knowing he’s at the big-league level and ready to perform.”

Diamondbacks News

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks designate John Ryan Murphy, plan to give Carson Kelly more time - I’ve got to be honest that I let out a fist pump when I heard that the D’backs DFA’d John Ryan Murphy and are inching closer to a two catcher roster. Who knows how long it will last, but I think the vast majority would agree that it was the right move to make. Carson Kelly should have been getting a 50% share behind the plate to begin with considering what the team traded to get him in addition to his performance already this season.

[Arizona Sports] D-backs garnering some uniform love from MLB players - Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com took a sample of 85 players around the league for their opinion on uniforms around the game. Players were not allowed to vote for their own team’s uniform for best in the league. A larger sample would undoubtedly change the results, but the D’backs came in tied for fifth with five votes. Arizona may also have an unfair advantage with their staggering number of uniform choices. Opposing players had plenty of variety to choose from if they did not like one of the options. One comment in particular I was happy to see was the road grays appeared to be popular among opposing players, and that was my favorite choice (without the teal border) when these uniforms debuted in 2016.

[MLB.com] Saturday’s top prospect performers - D-backs: Daulton Varsho, C (No. 4) --2-for-5, HR (8), 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R (Double-A Jackson)Varsho’s eighth home run of the year was a game-winner, as the 22-year-old delivered a solo shot with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to power Jackson past Montgomery, 6-5. He also had an RBI double in the contest for his second multihit performance in three games. Playing in his first Double-A campaign, the Wisconsin-Milwaukee product owns a .277/.360/.504 line through 38 games.

Around the League

[MLB Trade Rumors] Latest On Possibility Of International Draft - Major League Baseball continues its quest to implement an international draft, per recent reports from Jeff Passan of ESPN and Ben Badler of Baseball America. MLB has discussed the possibility of introducing a draft by 2020 or 2021, according to Badler, with the league having held talks with members of its Trainer Partnership Program – a group of Latin American trainers known as buscones. To this point, though, the league hasn’t engaged in talks with the MLBPA on the subject of a draft. It’s one of several important issues the two sides will have to iron out before the current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, 2021.

[ESPN] A’s designate reliever Rodney for assignment - The Oakland Athletics have designated relief pitcher Fernando Rodney for assignment, the team announced Saturday. Rodney, 42, has seen his ERA balloon to a career-worst 9.42 this season. He had returned to Oakland for 2019 after the A’s exercised a $5.25 million club option. Rodney has pitched for 10 teams in a 17-year career and ranks 18th in MLB history with 325 saves.

[USA Today] MLB draft: The best player ever picked at every spot from 1-30 - 11. Max Scherzer (2006, Diamondbacks) – Scherzer will be a Hall of Famer if he stays on this path.

• Others: Andrew McCutchen (2005, Pirates), George Springer (2011, Astros), Greg Luzinski (1968, Phillies)

[Bashes head against a wall]