Record: 74-88 .457 Winning Percentage, Change on 2021: +22, Pace: 74-88 lol

This is it. This is the end of the 2022 season for the Diamondbacks. It’s certainly been a season of ups and downs. Only the most cynical of minds can call this year anything other than a pleasant surprise though. I overpredicted wins at the start (82), but improving by 20+ games from a last place finish was highly improbable. AND WE DID IT!

Merrill Kelly is going for his 200th inning pitched today. Burnes will be pitching to polish off another impressive campaign in his own right (and his own 200 IP mark). Position players will be swinging to hit personal milestones. I will be watching in abject terror as my fantasy championship rests of the shoulders of the Arizona offense... In the words of ISH regrading that: “lol”

First Inning

Top

Varsho led the game off with a ground out to second. Smith struck out looking (the strike zone was larger than usual today). Then McCarthy struck out swinging, securing Burnes a 200IP season!

Bottom

Yelich worked a long walk to begin the Brewer’s first. And he was thrown out trying to steal second during the next at bat. It was a beautiful throw from CKelly. And Adames immediately singled to right after the caught stealing. Tellez struck out swinging. Urias grounded out to Rojas at second, ending the inning.

0-0 TIE

Pitch Counts: Burnes - 11, Kelly - 20

Second Inning

Top

Walker struck out swinging on three pitches. It was bad. But this is his 160th game this season! That’s cool. Rojas then saw two pitches to lazily fly out to left. Carroll grounded out to first, and both Tellez and Burnes winded themselves to beat him to the bag. Sadly they did, but it was entertaining to watch.

Bottom

Peterson struck out swinging. Mitchell walked. Huira lined out to center; Varsho didn’t really need to move. Mitchell stole second during Caratini’s at bat, but he grounded out to first immediately after.

0-0 TIE

Pitch Counts: Burnes - 22, Kelly - 38

Third Inning

Top

Alright. Day job got in the way, so I missed the entire third... Alcantara struck out swinging, Kelly struck out swinging and Perdomo lined out to first. But it looks like Burnes nearly doubled his pitch count, so something went well.

Bottom

Taylor grounded out. Yelich struck out swinging. Adames grounded out to third. All on ten total pitches. The dream of 200 lives!

0-0 TIE

Pitch Counts: Burnes - 40, Kelly - 48

Fourth Inning

Top

Aaron Ashby on to pitch. Did Burnes get hurt? I shall investigate! Update: no? I’m not really sure what happened. Maybe it was planned.

Varsho grounded to short, but nearly beat the throw. Smith then reached second a bobbled ball by Huira in left (single and error). McCarthy struck out swinging. WALKER SINGLED TO CENTER SCORING SMITH! Rojas hit a ball to the left/center gap and Walker was thrown out at home on a not-so-but-kinda-close play.

Bottom

Tellez flew out to center. Urias then struck out swinging. And Peterson flew out to left! A nice quick inning!

1-0 DIAMONDBACKS

Pitch Counts: Ashby - 15, Kelly - 61

Fifth Inning

Top

Carroll grounded out to second; it was less close this time. Alcantara then grounded out to second as well; also not very close at first. Carson then struck out swinging.

Bottom

Mitchell struck out swinging on a foul tip. Huira blooped a single to center. Carantini doubled down the first base line, but thankfully Huira could not score. Taylor grounded out to third, but Huira scored and Carantini took third on Alcantara’s throw. Yelich struck out on a foul tip.

1-1 TIE

Pitch Counts: Ashby - 26, Kelly - 77

Sixth Inning

Top

Perdomo had surprise on his side to bunt for a single to the first base side. Varsho grounded to second and they got Perdomo at second but couldn’t turn two. Varsho took second on a bad pick-off attempt during Smith’s at bat. Smith then broke his bat on a grounder that no one fielded effectively; runners on the corners. But McCarthy squandered the chance by grounding into a double play.

Bottom

Adames led off with a single to left. Tellez rocketed a ball to first that Walker corralled and likely saved a run; Adames to second. Urias struck out swinging and Kelly threw to third on Adames’ steal attempt to complete a great double play! Consequently, these outs also pushed Merrill Kelly over 200 IP for the year! Well Mr. Korea! We love you!

1-1 TIE

Pitch Counts: Ashby - 37, Kelly - 83

Seventh Inning

Top

Boxberger pitching now! Old “friend” alert! Walker greeted him with a bloop single to right. Rojas gave a ball a ride to deeeeeeeeep center, but not deep enough. Carroll then struck out looking. Alcantara punched a ball through the right side, but with Walker running, it was just runners on first and second. Carson did his utmost to earn an RBI, but some speedster named Mitchell tracked it down and made a great sliding catch in right/center (very Arizona Outfield of him). We challenged, but to no avail.

Bottom

Caleb Smith replaced Kelly. Peterson and Mitchell both struck out before Huira doubled to left. Then Carantini walked. But Taylor grounded out to third.

1-1 TIE

Pitch Counts: Boxberger - 13, Smith - 21

Eighth Inning

Top

Milner pitching now. Perdomo flew out to center. Varsho then struck out swinging. Smith doubled to left. But McCarthy looked at strike three.

Bottom

Yelich grounded out to short. Adames struck out swinging. On that final pitch, Smith hurt himself... Poppen came in and gave up a home run to Tellez. Urias grounded out to third to end the inning but damage done.

2-1 BREWERS

Pitch Counts: Milner - 15, Smith - 31, Poppen - 9

Ninth Inning

Top

Gott in for the save opportunity. Walker greeted him with a single to right. Stone Garrett came in to run for Walker. ROJAS HOMERED TO CENTER; GARRETT SCORED! CORBIN CARROLL FOLLOWED THAT UP WITH ONE OF HIS OWN TO RIGHT! Alcantara popped out to short. Kelly then grounded out to short. Perdomo struck out looking. But yay!

Bottom

Ginkel on for the save. GULP. He struck Peterson out swinging. Mitchell singled to left/center. Huira drove a ball to deep right, giving some Milwaukee fans a reason to cheer. But that reason was a flyout to McCarthy. Carantini ended the season with a grounder into the shift, what a perfect final play. There is no shifting next season (ish).

4-2 DIAMONDBACKS WIN

Pitch Counts: Gott - 23, Ginkel - 14

Conclusion

Well well well. Here we are. 162 games into the 2022 season and Arizona finishes with 74 wins. Not great in the grand scheme of things, but handedly better than most predicted six months ago. The fruits of Hazen’s labor have started to showcase themselves with the likes of Carroll, Thomas, Nelson, Jameson and Varsho making impacts this year.

This game was fun to watch! For those who were hoping for a Diamondbacks loss to get a better opportunity at a higher draft pick, lolz on you, sorry, but I’ll always prefer an MLB win to the chance of better odds in the lottery. Just me (cause there is a distinct argument to be made about picking top 6 versus 10-20th). This year’s VanMeter award goes to Josh Rojas! Kudos to him. Kudos to Walker on 160 games played this year. Kudos to Merrill Kelly for 200.1IP this year. And Kudos to all the rookies who made debuts this year! And of course, kudos to our Ace, and resident Milk Man, Zac Gallen on an unbelievably excellent season of pitching.

Fangraphs

Wow that’s a pretty curve!

• Sean Connery: Josh Rojas (WPA 47%)
• Daniel Craig: Christian Walker (WPA 27.1%)
• Roger Moore: Merrill Kelly (WPA 20.2%)
• Pierce Brosnan: Jake McCarthy (WPA -30.6%)
• George Lazenby: Sean Poppen (WPA -31.4%)

Comment of the Day

A very nice conclusion comment from MrRbi17 today. Impossible to pass it up. Just because you’re sometimes annoying doesn’t mean we don’t love sharing a comments section with you!

Up Next

....sad choo choo noises

For those interested in following the 2022 post season, baseball resumes with the following first games of the AL/NL Wild Card 3-game series (all times in that weird no clock changing Arizona Zone):

Friday October 7

9am on ESPN: Tampa Bay Rays (David Peralta!) @ Cleveland Guardians (An impressively young team!)

I will be watching this game for Peralta and because I live near Cleveland. I’ll be please with either team advancing.

11am on ABC: Philadelphia Phillies (uh...absolutely no defense!) @ St Louis Cardinals (Goldy, Arenado, Pujols, Wainwright, that one catcher!)

Gol-dy! Gol-dy! Gol-dy! I will be rooting for the NL MVP to advance!

1pm on ESPN: Seattle Mariners (the most exciting young team in baseball!) @ Toronto Blue Jays (An enclosed postseason atmosphere like no other!)

I like both of these teams, but the Mariners just broke a curse. Gotta root for them. Sorry Toronto (my pre-season pick to win the World Series...)

5pm on ESPN: San Diego Padres (No cheaters on this roster! ...I think?) @ New York Mets (Future employers of Shohei Ohtani!)

I don’t particularly care for either of these teams, so...go Mets? They have Scherzer and DeGrom which is pretty nifty.