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Diamondbacks Game Preview #108: 8/8 vs. Pirates

How low can Jose Herrera go?

MLB: JUN 25 Tigers at Diamondbacks Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Today's Lineups

PIRATES DIAMONDBACKS
Tucupita Marcano - LF Josh Rojas - 3B
Kevin Newman - 2B Alek Thomas - CF
Bryan Reynolds - CF Ketel Marte - 2B
Ben Gamel - DH Christian Walker - 1B
Michael Chavis - 3B Daulton Varsho - RF
Bligh Madris - 1B Jake McCarthy - LF
Oneil Cruz - SS Seth Beer - DH
Cal Mitchell - RF Carson Kelly - C
Jason Delay - C Geraldo Perdomo - SS
Tyler Beede - RHP Zac Gallen - RHP

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:

  • Recalled RHP Edwin Uceta (No. 66) from Triple-A Reno.
  • Placed LHP Kyle Nelson on the 15-day injured list (lower back spasms), retro to Aug. 5.

Jose Herrera went 0-for-4 yesterday, dropping his OPS for the season to just .457. It’s startling, considering he has been on the team since Opening Day, and there has been no real suggestion any change should be made. He’s on pace to get 188 PA over the course of the season, and really needs to pump up his production at the plate, if he’s not going to become the worst hitting Diamondback by OPS, with that many PA. Here are where he would rank, along with the nine other such lowest OPS’s in franchise history (min. those projected 188 PA):

Worst hitting D-backs ever

Player OPS Season G PA AB R H HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG
Player OPS Season G PA AB R H HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG
José Herrera .457 2022 47 124 111 9 21 0 5 9 34 .189 .250 .207
Jarrod Dyson .539 2018 67 237 206 29 39 2 12 27 34 .189 .282 .257
Jeff Mathis .544 2018 69 218 195 15 39 1 20 20 66 .200 .272 .272
Quinton McCracken .547 2003 115 226 203 17 46 0 18 15 34 .227 .276 .271
Tony Abreu .560 2010 81 201 193 16 45 1 13 4 47 .233 .244 .316
Nick Ahmed .564 2016 90 308 284 26 62 4 20 15 58 .218 .265 .299
Geraldo Perdomo .574 2022 97 334 290 39 58 4 26 37 71 .200 .295 .279
Chris Owings .574 2018 106 309 281 34 58 4 22 24 75 .206 .272 .302
Chris Burke .582 2008 86 199 165 20 32 2 12 27 33 .194 .310 .273
Chris Owings .587 2015 147 552 515 59 117 4 43 26 144 .227 .264 .322

As you can see, Herrera is currently 82 points below the next-worst, Jarrod Dyson in 2018. Remember how bad a hitter Jeff Mathis was? Herrera is 87 points below Mathis. It’s not as if Herrera appears to offer any particular set of skills as a catcher either. Pitchers throwing to him have a collective ERA of 4.23, almost identical to the team’s overall ERA, 4.18. Catcher framing has Herrera exactly at zero. He just blows chunks at the plate. Even if you allow for the lower environment, and use OPS+, Herrera’s figure of 33 would still be the worst, ahead of Quinton McCracken’s 39 in the 2003 campaign. [Related: Gerardo Perdomo is on pace for the lowest OPS by a qualified D-backs hitter, his .574 beating Chris Owings’s .587 in 2017]

I imagine one reason Herrera is still here, is because Madison Bumgarner seems to like throwing to him. MadBum’s ERA over 13 starts to Herrera is 3.55, compared to 4.34 in eight games throwing to Carson Kelly. There’s also apparently a dearth of alternative options, as far as the team is concerned. They don’t seem to want Daulton Varsho catching any more - his last start there was June 9 - even if there’s no longer any particular need for him to be in the outfield (though the trade of David Peralta has opened up more PA there). But why not call up Dominic Miroglio? While Reno is surely inflating his numbers, it’d take a hell of a hit for his .957 OPS there to turn into anything approaching Herrera’s.