Dbacks come back to beat the Padres 6-5

Christian Walker put a bow on what can only be considered a very successful rookie season. His Grand Slam in the 7th, and his solo shot in the 2nd drove in five of the six Diamondback Runs , leading the team to a 6-5 victory. It’s notable that his 29 HR trail Chris Young ‘s Diamondbacks Rookie mark of 32 set in 2007, and Walker’s 73 RBI trail only Conor Jackson’s rookie total of 79 in 2006. Walker has a wRC+ of 112 and has posted +9 Defensive Runs Saved. He’s not an all star, and is just barely in the top 10 amongst NL Rookies in bWAR with 2.4 heading into tonight, (obviously going up tomorrow morning). But this has been a very good year, and I wanted to start off the recap giving him his due.

I like this video of the Grand Slam. Makes me feel like I was there

Here is his 2nd inning solo shot, which traveled 443 feet into Friday’s Front Row Grill

Robbie Ray threw 6 innings tonight, but it wasn’t a great start, as he allowed 4 runs all earned, on 8 hits, including 2 solo shots. He walked 3 and struck out 10. It wasn’t a bad start by any means, and he kept his team in the game, or close enough obviously. But he’s allowed 30 homers this season to go with his high walk rate. He lost a “quality start” by allowing a run in the 6th, which is something he does a lot.

Jim asked the question again about Ray, whether he should be traded, extended, or just given a qualifying offer at the end of 2020 to either get the draft pick or one more year of Ray at 19 or 20 Million.

Ray is a slightly above average pitcher who actually just doesn’t have an elite fastball any more. If the Yankees were offering a package that was worth more than 2-2.5 WAR for 2020, then Mike Hazen might have made a mistake in not trading him.

Jimmie Sherfy allowed a solo shot in his inning of work in the 7th, but Yoshihisa Hirano pitched a scoreless 8th, and Kevin Ginkel locked down the save in the 9th despite giving up a two out double.

Prior to the 7th inning, the offense was really struggling, producing just two hits. Besides the Walker homer in the 2nd, Jake Lamb had a two out double in the 6th, but was stranded. They had been handed five walks by Padres pitchers up to that point, but weren’t able to do anything.

Alex Avila deserves an honorable mention here. He threw out two would be base stealers in the game. He has now allowed just 9 SB, while throwing out 12, 57% CS%. Thats the best rate of any catcher in MLB with 20 or more attempts. He also ripped a line drive base hit to start the rally in the 7th inning..........oh wait, actually that was a 7 pitch walk that started the rally. More valuable than a line drive single on the first pitch. Truth. He later scored on a double by Jarrod Dyson.

I’d like to thank Jim, the entire Snakepit staff, and the site membership for a great season. I’ve really enjoyed being a part of all this and look forward to much more in the future.

WPA:

Christian Walker. +.73. (Jim is that one of the highest the team has had ?)

Kevin Ginkel. +.16, Jarrod Dyson +.14

Robbie Ray, -.17, Eduardo Escobar -.17, Nick Ahmed -.15 all had sub par nights.

Tipping my last glass of wine to all the hearty souls who stuck around for this comeback tonight

Asteroid gets COTN for this Caturday. We’ve all enjoyed the saga of her little Kitty. :)

The DBacks go for win #85 tomorrow in the season finale. Taijuan Walker will get the start for presumably one inning of work to be followed by the rest of the bullpen. Game time is 12:10 P.M. Arizona Time. (Corrected from original version, as I had game time wrong)