SnakeBytes 4/21: Bon Voyage

Well yesterday sure was exciting. I think we all should be well satisfied with the coverage from the announcement, which doesn’t leave a whole lot to cover Diamondbacks-wise in today’s edition of SnakeBytes...

Diamondbacks News

(Sports Illustrated) Padres Down Diamondbacks 7-5

In all the D-backs were 4-12 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. The Padres outfield made two spectacular plays, and the D-backs defense was not able to make a couple of plays that might have turned things around.

(NBC Sports) How Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. Fared in Return From PED Suspension

The 24-year-old San Diego Padres star made his return from an 80-game PED suspension. MLB handed down the suspension to Tatis Jr. last August after he had already missed the entire 2022 season to that point due to a fractured wrist.

Tatis Jr. hit in the leadoff spot and played right field for his return game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. It was just his 24th career start in the outfield.

MLB News

(Yahoo! Sports) Max Scherzer suspended 10 games by MLB after ejection over stickiness

Scherzer vociferously denied using any illegal substance to umpires and to reporters after the game. The veteran repeatedly yelled that he had been using only rosin, the MLB-approved and standardized substance that pitchers are allowed to use to improve their grip. However, when mixed with sweat or sunscreen, rosin is known to become unusually tacky.

Crew chief Dan Bellino (ed. note because of course it was) disputed the notion that it was only rosin with a pool reporter, saying that Scherzer’s hand “was so sticky that when we touched his hand, our fingers were sticking to his hand.”

(CBS.com) Oakland A’s purchase Las Vegas land for new stadium; MLB supports increasingly likely relocation

This was in yesterday’s SnakeBytes, but was overshadowed by the short term bigger news. Long term, this has some pretty huge ramifications, including opening up future expansion to more cities since Vegas already has a team now, as well as closing the book on a potential Diamondbacks move to the city. If Vegas and MLB were already working on something with the A’s, it would seem like the Diamondbacks going was never really an option on the table, at least to me.

(Yahoo! Finance UK [???]) Blue Jays star George Springer is one of MLB’s unluckiest players

Of the 88 hitters who’ve put at least 50 balls in play this season, his wOBA — a metric that summarizes the overall value of his offensive production — ranks 78th. In that same group, his expected wOBA ranks 40th. Unsurprisingly, the gap between his expected and actual wOBA (-0.075) is the third highest in the sample.

(MLB.com) Hendriks announces he is in remission: ‘It’s official. I’m cancer free’

Some fantastic news for the White Sox closer and his family