SnakeBytes 4/7: Party crashed

Definitely a disappointing start to the home portion of the season. Once again, the Diamondbacks offense struggled against starting pitching, but didn’t really do a whole lot better against the bullpen this time around either.

Diamondbacks News

(Arizona Sports) D-backs’ Merrill Kelly becomes 10th pitcher in team history with 500 strikeouts

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly needed two punch outs on Thursday to reach a milestone only nine others in team history have accomplished.

Kelly led Arizona’s home opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers off with a strikeout against Mookie Betts to give him 499 in his career, and the veteran crossed the 500 mark in the fourth inning against a former teammate.

(TBLA) Dustin May stingy again, this time with more support from the Dodgers offense

May followed up his gem last Friday at Dodger Stadium — when he threw seven scoreless innings in the longest start of his career — with another solid outing Thursday. He kept Arizona off the board through five innings, and retired nine straight batters before opening the sixth with a four-pitch walk and a double ripped by Josh Rojas to the right field wall for May’s first run allowed in 2023.

(MLB.com) Corbin Carroll’s parents drop him off before Dbacks’ home opener

The day of D-backs phenom Corbin Carroll’s first home opener was not unlike a first day of school. He was even wearing a backpack for the occasion! Carroll’s supportive parents, Brant and Pey-Lin, dropped him off at the park ahead of his game against the Dodgers on Thursday night, and Carroll gave each of them a heartfelt embrace before he bounded off to school the Dodgers on the basepaths.

(MLB.com) Druw makes like dad with insane catch in pro debut

Despite the delay after suffering a shoulder injury taking batting practice at Chase Field before ever actually suiting up for the team, Druw Jones made an immediate statement once he finally did get the chance to play

MLB News

(MLBTR) 2023 Trade Deadline Reportedly Set For August 1

This year’s trade deadline will be August 1, reports Jim Bowden of the Athletic. That’s a day earlier than last year’s iteration.

One of the new features of the collective bargaining agreement was a “floating” trade deadline. While the deadline had previously typically been on July 31 annually, the new CBA affords the league office more flexibility in scheduling. The commissioner can now choose to set the deadline date any time between July 28 and August 3.

(Sporskeeda) What is Mets jersey patch? MLB fans in splits over new sponsorship deal

I would like to congratulate the Mets on somehow creating a worse sponsorship patch than the orignal Avnet patch the Diamondbacks unveiled. That’s impressive, given just how bad that one was, but maybe it’s really just seeing the advertisement on the iconic NY Pinstripes

(Sports Illustrated) Texas Rangers Minor League Club Sets Kumar Rocker Starting Debut

Rocker will pitch in Hickory’s second game of the season. The Crawdads will start Winston Santos in Thursday’s opener and Mitch Bratt — also a Rangers Top 30 prospect — will pitch on Saturday. Bratt, ranked No. 17, pitched for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.