Snake Bytes 6/18: Homeward Bound

Arizona Diamondbacks News

[D’backs.com] Facts you might not know about D-backs players - All the things that you didn’t know you wanted to know about players on the team. David Peralta’s favorite movie, Gladiator, also happens to be my favorite as well. He has a cat named Maximus after the main character. “AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!?!?” Apologies for the outburst. I can quote the entire movie.

[Arizona Sports] D-backs’ Jake Lamb homers as rehab assignment in Reno continues - Checking in on Jake Lamb and his rehab assignment with the Reno Aces. Torey Lovullo is quoted within stating that he does not believe the corner infielder will return in time for this home stand.

[AZ Central] How analytics helped Diamondbacks’ Adam Jones get quicker amid transition to right field - Adam Jones has been a wonderful addition to the Diamondbacks clubhouse. Coming over in free agency the biggest concern with him was his diminishing defensive value as he aged and got slower. The Diamondbacks claim to have counteracted that aging curve through coaching and analytics.

“He’s adjusted really well,” [Dave] McKay said. “I remember in spring training when we signed him and we worked him out and I remember telling our people, ‘This guy moves really well.’ Sometimes you don’t see how hard you run and we show them video and they say, ‘Wow, I thought I moved harder than that.’ Sometimes your outfielders aren’t getting the jumps they’re used to getting. You just draw it to their attention. That’s what we did with (Adam) and his first-step jump years ago is where it’s at now. But it wasn’t there and someone needed to tell him. He’s really focused on that and getting great jumps.”

Around the League

[ESPN] Power Rankings: NL rivals ready to challenge Dodgers for No. 1 - A 7-3 road trip shot the D’backs up this week’s power rankings up 7 spots at ESPN to #11. For whatever reason, they actually dropped one spot to #12 at The Athletic. Bleacher Report almost completely overlooked the snakes at #15 before mentioning Zack Greinke’s dominance. No movement at #12 per CBS Sports.

[MLB.com] Vote tightens across All-Star ballot leaderboards - Ketel Marte is still in third place for second base trailing Ozzie Albies and Mike “Miami Vice” Moustakas, respectively. David Peralta is not even in the top 20 for National League outfielders and Eduardo Escobar is in seventh for third base.

[FanGraphs] Angel Hernandez’s Lawsuit Against MLB Just Got Really Interesting - Venue. Discovery. Privilege. Precedent. Sheryl Ring provides a not overly complicated update on Angel Hernandez’s racial discrimination lawsuit. MLB recently scored a small victory against Hernandez and his attorneys. First, the case was moved from federal court in Ohio, where it was filed by Hernandez, to a U.S. District Court in New York. This is significant because different venues have different rules of procedure and what evidence must be produced in discovery. Hernandez’s counsel had hoped to prevent producing documents between the umpire and the Umpire’s Union through discovery. Hernandez’s side was attempting to argue that union-employee privilege should allow their side to keep the documents confidential. MLB could potentially use this documentation in their defense against the case. They could demonstrate that Hernandez had never previously discussed the discrimination with his union and that even the union gave him poor performance reviews. There was no case law or precedent ruling on union-employee privilege in the new venue, so Hernandez’s lawyers faced an uphill battle in trying to withhold the information as Sheryl explains.