Snake Bytes 8/11: On The Right Coors

Arizona Diamondbacks 12, Colorado Rockies 8

[D’backs.com] D-backs (18 hits) break out bats in Denver - Before Monday’s game, D-backs general manager Mike Hazen placed the responsibility for the team’s 7-9 start on the offense. “We’ve kind of suffered from everybody [struggling] at once,” Hazen said. “Hopefully that’s a good thing moving forward, when everybody kind of clicks it together at one time, too. The offense hasn’t been what we had hoped, necessarily, at least through these first 16 games and we’re hoping for better moving forward.” Indeed, everyone got in on the action, with all nine hitters in the lineup reaching base at least once, and Calhoun, Ketel Marte, David Peralta, Christian Walker and Nick Ahmed each having multi-hit games.

[Arizona Sports] Diamondbacks’ offense sparks early lead in win over Rockies - Kole Calhoun set the tone for the Arizona Diamondbacks on the first pitch of the game Monday night. Needing just one pitch to kick things off, the outfielder took advantage of the thin Colorado air, punishing opposing starting pitcher Jon Gray with a solo shot into the stands in the team’s 12-8 win over the Rockies. “I was just trying to treat it like any other at-bat and try to get a pitch to hit,” Calhoun said after the victory. “I got a pitch I liked, put a good swing on it and started the game off on the right foot for us.”

[AZ Central] Arizona Diamondbacks get 18 hits to take series opener against Colorado Rockies - The Diamondbacks scored early, they scored late and they scored in-between. It was a Coors Field game in every sense on Monday night, right down to manager Torey Lovullo not being able to keep it all straight in his head after a 12-8 slugfest victory over the Colorado Rockies. Who could blame him? His team collected 18 hits, enjoyed nearly a full nine innings’ worth of at-bats (24) with runners in scoring position and consistently displayed the sort of fine-tuned approaches at the plate that they have lacked for stretches this year. “I can’t possibly give you the list that’s this long right now,” Lovullo said before trying to rattle off some examples. He continued, “Just a really good team concept with our approach today. I’ll look for that to continue.”

Around the League

[ESPN] MLB has preliminary talks about bubble-type format for playoffs - Major League Baseball has had preliminary discussions about holding its postseason in a bubble-type format after the coronavirus outbreaks on the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins that wreaked havoc on the regular-season schedule illustrated how a similar scenario could upend the playoffs, sources familiar with the conversations told ESPN. Although a fully contained bubble similar to the NBA setup at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, would be difficult for MLB to replicate, a multicity format that replicates the NHL’s Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta, hubs has gained traction, sources said. Because of MLB’s expansion to 16 playoff teams, the league would need at least three hubs to complete its wild-card round before shrinking to a two-hub format for the division series. The league championship series and World Series could be held at one or two stadiums. Remaining in one metropolitan area would allow teams to avoid air travel and perhaps remain at a single hotel for the entire postseason, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 27.

[CBS Sports] Mets’ Marcus Stroman opts out of 2020 MLB season, cites ‘uncertainties’ of COVID-19 pandemic - New York Mets right-hander Marcus Stroman is the latest MLB player to opt out of the 2020 season amid COVID-19 concerns. Stroman announced his opt out decision Monday, citing “uncertainties” and “unknowns” regarding the pandemic. He called it a “collective family decision.” “It makes you realize how hard it is to make sure that everything is buttoned up, 24/7, from every angle,” Stroman during a conference call (SNY video) referring to the Cardinals and Marlins COVID-19 outbreaks. “... There’s just too many uncertainties, too many unknowns right now to go out there, and truly just put the health for my family and myself first and foremost.”

[Ballpark Digest] MLB returns to Buffalo–after 105 years - With the return of Major League Baseball in the form of the Toronto Blue Jays playing its 2020 home opener at Sahlen Field, it will be the first time a major-league team has called Buffalo home since 1915’s Buffalo Blues. The Buffalo Blues were member of the Federal League, an outlaw third major league that came and went over the course of the 1914 and 1915 seasons. Buffalo had hosted National League play between 1879 and 1885, featuring the likes of Charles “Old Hoss” Redbourn and Pud Galvin, and when the Federal League owners decided to operate outside the National Association for the 1914 season and played as a major league, Buffalo entered the circuit.

[Forbes] Even After Outbreaks, MLB Players Aren’t Taking Coronavirus Seriously Enough - The lessons aren’t sinking in yet. Rules are still being busted to pieces while protocols and guidelines are being shaved away with a machete. Consequences, apparently, be damned. That is how hopefully only a small group of Major League Baseball players is scoffing at the guardrails put in place to ensure this season actually happens. For them, they’ve decided, the rules don’t apply. And because of that, the MLB season seems to be on the brink of some sort of disaster, whether it becomes a complete sham or it’s cancelled altogether. This is the only way to see it after the Marlins and Cardinals – two teams who’ve experienced COVID-19 outbreaks – have combined to play fewer games (15) than they have positive tests (at least 36), and now after two Cleveland Indians starters – Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger – have been sent away from the team after they went out on the town while on the road in Chicago over the weekend.