Snake Bytes 8/25: Bang Your Head

Arizona Diamondbacks 2, Colorado Rockies 3

[D’backs.com] Torey tossed after Kole’s ... header? - Kole Calhoun tried to use his head while on the bases during the D-backs’ 3-2 loss to the Rockies Monday night at Chase Field, but that turned out to be against the rules. The D-backs outfielder was on first base with one out in the fifth inning when Ketel Marte lifted a fly ball to shallow left field. Raimel Tapia easily caught the ball and then threw to first to try to double off Calhoun. Calhoun was able to get back to first and Tapia’s throw was in the dirt and skipped by first baseman Daniel Murphy. Calhoun took off for second, not realizing that catcher Tony Wolters was alertly backing up the play and had already snagged the ball. “I saw it kick off Murphy’s glove, and just instincts tell you to go,” Calhoun said. “So, as I’m running, I kind of look back to see what had happened behind me and wasn’t expecting Wolters to be there with the ball. Right when that happened, I knew I was done. Now you’re in a pickle.” Wolters started running toward Calhoun, who continued to second while looking back toward his pursuer. Wolters threw to second and, judging by television replays, it appeared Calhoun leaned his head just a bit into the path of the ball.

[Arizona Sports] Diamondbacks suffer 2 different losses in series opener with Rockies - It’s tough to figure out the 2020 Arizona Diamondbacks. And that could be a problem, because the season’s already halfway over. Arizona once again struggled to get anything going at the plate on Monday night, falling to the visiting Rockies by a final of 3-2 at Chase Field. It’s the D-backs’ sixth straight loss, dropping them to 13-17. A week ago, they were in the midst of a six-game winning streak. Given how good they looked during that run, this sudden drop off doesn’t make much sense. There’s a clear theme in this recent stretch of losses, though: no hitting. Torey Lovullo’s team has scored a total of eight runs over the last six outings – an average of 1.5 per game. During that six-game winning streak, they put up 44 runs. That’s 7.3 runs per game, and it clearly makes life a lot easier on your pitchers.

[AZ Central] Merrill Kelly scratched from start with shoulder injury in Diamondbacks’ loss to Rockies - The pain in Merrill Kelly’s right shoulder had been bothersome for the past 10 days or so, but the more he threw, the looser he got, and the more the discomfort seemed to subside. It wasn’t until the past few days, he said, that the pain became less and less manageable, and as he began to warm up on Monday night, he realized the time had come. “I could just tell it was time,” he said, “to get this thing taken care of.” Kelly was scratched from his scheduled start against the Colorado Rockies and placed on the 10-day injured list with a nerve impingement in his right shoulder, a potentially sizeable blow to a Diamondbacks pitching staff that had been leaning heavily on him during the season’s opening month.

Around the League

[Baseball America] A Timeline Of Professional Baseball Agreement Negotiations Between MLB, Minor League Baseball - In its dealings with Minor League Baseball’s negotiating committee, Major League Baseball has made clear its desire to take control of the minor leagues. As MLB has explained to MiLB, it believes that it can run the minors with more cost-efficiency while producing more revenue for minor league teams. Such a move would also allow MLB to exert more direct control over some of the aspects of Minor League Baseball that currently create hurdles for MLB’s goals. That MLB takeover is expected to happen later this year, either through an agreement with minor league team owners to adopt a new system or through a decision to set up MLB’s own development system after the current Professional Baseball Agreement expires on Sept. 30.

[Sporting News] MLB trade rumors: J.T. Realmuto, Trevor Bauer lead list of players who could be dealt before deadline - Robbie Ray, SP, Diamondbacks Why he’s here: Once upon a time, trading Ray would have brought back a haul to Arizona. Now? His trade value is at stunningly low levels. He’s still striking out batters at a high level — 35 in 27 innings — but he’s also walking nearly a batter per inning (25 in 27) and he has an 8.33 ERA/7.77 FIP. There will be teams willing to buy low — everyone likes the idea of a strikeout guy in October — but nobody willing to part with much.

[CBS Sports] Albert Pujols moves past Alex Rodriguez and into second place on all-time RBI list - Future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols passed Alex Rodriguez on MLB’s all-time RBI list with his 2,087th career RBI during Monday night’s game against the Astros (GameTracker). With that one swing, Pujols moves into sole possession of second place all-time. Only the legendary Hank Aaron, who recorded 2,297 in 23 seasons, stands in front of Pujols now. Pujols reached the milestone RBI mark with a fifth-inning single off left-hander Framber Valdez.