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Diamondbacks(ish) News
(MLB.com) Gallen, D-backs hang on to win vs. Phils
The D-backs seemed to feel right at home in Thursday’s series opener against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park — and it’s hard to blame them.
A trip to the ballpark that started with a home-cooked meal in the clubhouse ended with an 8-7 victory on the field, thanks in large part to a pair of D-backs from the greater Philadelphia area
(NBC Sports) Free-falling Phillies cap off a day of bad news with another deflating loss
All seven of the Phillies’ runs were unearned as Arizona made three errors in the game. The Phils were out-hit, 15-7. They scored five unearned runs in the ninth inning.
It was the fourth time in four meetings, all in the last 10 days, that the Diamondbacks, owners of the National League’s worst record at 44-85, have beaten the Phillies.
(AZ Central) Diamondbacks’ top pick Jordan Lawlar out for year with shoulder injury
Lawlar, the No. 6 overall pick in last month’s draft, suffered a left shoulder injury that will require season-ending surgery, Diamondbacks farm director Josh Barfield said.
Lawlar, who is expected to undergo surgery in about 10 days, was diagnosed with a posterior labrum tear, Barfield said, adding that the injury likely occurred on a dive.
(Yahoo! Sports) Rhys Hoskins to undergo season-ending abdominal surgery
Included here, simply because of the direct impact it will have on the next three games. Hoskins’ surgery is a huge blow to the Phillies and their fading playoff hopes.
MLB News
(The Athletic) Stark: Where’s the mound? The Atlantic League’s latest lab experiment, three weeks in
If you move the mound back a foot, you would give hitters an extra 100th of a second (to react),” Epstein said, on a Starkville edition of The Athletic Baseball Show. “And that 100th of a second corresponds to basically like a tick and a half of velocity. Which would sort of mean that you’re restoring velocity to where it was maybe eight to 10 years ago, when the contract rate was a little bit better, the strikeout rate was a little bit more under control.”
So the thinking behind moving the mound is logical. And we’re all in favor of logic. But does it look like this mission is going to be a success? Well, it’s still really, really, really early. But so far, that answer would be no, actually.
Look, I’m hardly a Molina fan by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact that this is up for debate is mindboggling to me. Is he the best catcher to ever play the game? Maybe not by the numbers, granted. But has he been the gold standard of what catchers for seventy-five percent of my life? Yeah... yeah he has. And that longevity at a position that has destroyed so many other careers long before the 19 year mark. In and of itself that should count for something. Along with all the other factors. He’s an obvious HoF’er to me.
Also, in this article, I learned that the Diamondbacks have the second least number of attempted steals against since 2005.