Snake Bytes 5/5: Threading The Needle

Arizona Diamondbacks 9, Colorado Rockies 2

[D’backs.com] Weaver pitches gem as D-backs’ bats stay hot - Luke Weaver was dynamic against the Rockies yesterday over seven innings. The young right hander held the division rival to three hits, allowed only a single run, and struck out eight. He’s now further lowered his ERA to 3.29 and has a total of 44 strikeouts over 38 & ¹⁄₃ innings. Need more proof that we won the Paul Goldschmidt trade? (mild sarcasm) Carson Kelly was also a significant contributor last night reaching base all four times he came to the plate including hitting his first career home run.

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks get another quality start from Luke Weaver, ride hot bats in win over Rockies - Here is an interesting tidbit from Nick Piecoro. Weaver is only the third Diamondbacks starting pitcher to pitch at least seven innings and allow three hits or less at Coors Field joining Patrick Corbin in 2013 and Randy Johnson in 2002. As impressive as he was, the D’backs offense continued its torrid start to the season. Arizona smashed in three runs in the second inning and four more in the third against Kyle Freeland. Nick Ahmed and David Peralta joined Carson Kelly in the home run club with a two run shot and three run blast, respectively.

[Arizona Sports] D-backs’ Luke Weaver goes 7 innings, allows one run in blowout win - Adam Jones had to leave the game following his third at bat of the game after feeling lightheaded. It’s important to note that this is his first series in his career at Coors Field, so the elevation may have been a factor. Arizona was already ahead by a healthy margin at that point in the game.

Arizona Diamondbacks News

[AZ Central] Taylor Clarke to get first crack at Zack Godley’s rotation spot for Diamondbacks - No more speculation. It will be Taylor Clarke who gets the first shot at securing what used to be Zack Godley’s spot in the starting rotation.

“We love Taylor Clarke,” [Torey] Lovullo said. “We’ve seen him come up here and execute a game plan. Look, this game is about performance. So I want to say that anything can happen, but to be honest with you we haven’t looked past Tuesday.”

[MLB.com] Saturday’s top prospect performers - There goes Jazz Chisholm again. His name continues to pop up on the top prospect performers list every weekend lately.

D-backs: Jazz Chisholm, SS (No. 1, MLB No. 57) --2-for-3, 2 solo HR (8), HBP (Double-A Jackson)That’s three home runs in the past two games for the 21-year-old shortstop, who’s had eight of his 15 hits leave the park so far in 2019. But while the power has been there for Chisholm, who led all Minor League shortstops with 25 home runs a year ago, he’s hitting only .172 with 39 strikeouts in 24 games in his first Double-A campaign.

Around the League

[CBS Sports] Reeling Pirates lose another starter to injured list as Jameson Taillon will be shut down for a month - Matters have gone from bad to worse for the Pittsburgh Pirates since the Diamondbacks swept through there recently. They now have both Chris Archer and Jameson Taillon on the injured list in addition to not having the ability to win a baseball game lately. It’s a rude reminder that matters can change on a dime.

[FiveThirtyEight] Are Any Of MLB’s Breakout Teams For Real? -

Similarly, the Arizona Diamondbacks seemed destined for a rebuild after trading Goldschmidt to the Cardinals and watching free agents such as Patrick Corbin walk during the winter. Yet those plans might need to be put on hold in light of the team’s 17-13 start. According to our model, the D-backs on Tuesday had a 35 percent chance to make the playoffs (up 12 percentage points from preseason) and are on track to win 83 games, which would actually be an improvement on last year’s record despite the offseason talent exodus. First baseman Christian Walker (151 OPS+) has come out of nowhere with a scorching start, Zack Greinke continues to pitch like an ace, and closer Greg Holland hasn’t yet allowed a run. Arizona has gotten strong performances up and down the lineup, including from the likes of David Peralta, Adam Jones, Ketel Marte, Eduardo Escobar, Nick Ahmed and Jarrod Dyson. The Dodgers look too good to realistically be chased down in the West, but the D-backs are still in the NL’s playoff race, however improbably.

And now a pair of plays, both great and terrible, just because I can

An example of what not to do:

Followed by a pitcher who will secure the out at first by any means necessary: