Snake Bytes 5/2: Oh What an Off Day

Diamondbacks News

[SI] Diamondbacks Acquire Left-Handed Starter Konnor Pilkington

The Diamondbacks starting rotation depth has been depleted by injuries and poor performances, necessitating urgency for a team that has started 16-13. Veteran starters Zach Davies and Madison Bumgarner were expected to provide some stability at the bottom of the rotation, but have combined for just six starts. The team has already gone deep into their Triple-A depth to fill out the rotation, with Tommy Henry on the roster and Brandon Pfaadt potentially close to his MLB debut. In order to add more rotation depth, the D-backs have acquired left-hander Konnor Pilkington from the Cleveland Guardians for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Reno.

[MLB Pipeline] There’s a change atop the latest Rookie Power Rankings

1. Corbin Carroll, OF, D-backs (previous rank: 3)

We’ll be keeping an eye on Carroll, who suffered a leg injury in Sunday’s game, but so far he’s been exactly as expected. He hit his way onto prospect radars in the Minor Leagues. He hit upon arriving in the Majors last year. And what do you know? He’s kept hitting this season. Carroll’s chances of bringing home NL hardware also increased quite a bit — unfortunately, it should be noted — due to Jordan Walker being optioned to the Minors. Walker was No. 2, a hair ahead of Carroll, in the preseason rankings.

[SI] Kristian Robinson Activated From Restricted List

With Robinson now activated, Arizona will need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move if he counts towards the 40-man roster. He has all three of his options remaining, allowing the D-backs to keep him through the 2025 season without having to subject him to waivers if that is the case. It will take some time for him to get reacclimated with the minor league grind, as it’s been over three and a half years since he last played for an affiliate. It will be an uphill battle for him to make up for that lost time, given those were his Age 19-21 seasons.

Given the raw talent and potential that Robinson has on the baseball field, the D-backs will be very eager to try to get him to the big leagues. That likely isn’t happening this season, but if he has back-to-back solid seasons in the minors he could be in Arizona by the end of the 2024 season.

[MLB] Here is how Gallen has put together another scoreless streak

He controls the zone in every direction

He’s dominating the edges again

He’s leaning into his secondary stuff

[AZSP] Bruteside Chats: We Relevant?

It’s so nice to get with the Brutes and just.....be happy.

A pleasant departure from the norm of the last three years (granted this was recorded prior to the Sunday loss).

So please, join us for a lovely chat, with a little sprinkling of us poking fun at Keegan’s cocaine room (no cocaine, but looks like it should be there in piles).

[AZC] Diamondbacks prospect Kristian Robinson secures visa, nears return to minors PAYWALL?

Outfield prospect Kristian Robinson secured his work visa and the Diamondbacks reinstated him from the restricted list on Monday, moving him one step closer to resuming his professional career after three years of legal troubles.

Robinson, 22, has not played an official game since 2019 after pleading guilty to felony assault charges stemming from a run-in with a law enforcement officer in April 2020.

After completing his 18-month probation sentence, Robinson’s charges were downgraded to a misdemeanor, and on Saturday he received word that his work visa had been approved, farm director Josh Barfield said.

Baseball News

[MLB] Best division ever? AL East setting historic pace

First, the context and its implications. This is the first year of the new, balanced schedule. The last time the schedule was balanced, interleague play didn’t exist. Now, every team plays every other team.

That means fewer games against divisional opponents, which can go multiple ways. If there’s a less successful team in a division, its peers in the division have fewer chances to theoretically pad their records against that team. But it also means that if every team in a division is good, those teams will have fewer chances to cut into each other’s records, and more turns to add on elsewhere.

[MLB] Judge placed on 10-day IL due to right hip strain

There had been, in Aaron Boone’s words, “a lot of conversations” debating Aaron Judge’s right hip strain and the Yankees’ already-crowded injured list over the past few days — a “will they/won’t they” arc that was beginning to rival Pam and Jim from “The Office”.

Judge promised that he could be ready soon and desperately wanted to avoid the injured list, a point that he repeatedly made to Boone and others. Ultimately, lingering discomfort in the slugger’s right hip made that call for him before Monday’s 3-2 loss to the Guardians at Yankee Stadium.

“I didn’t want this to turn into something that he’s playing at 80 percent, 85 percent, and then it turns into something serious,” Boone said. “Ultimately, that’s what I weighed in talking to him and making that decision, as hard as it was.”

[theAthletic] LSU’s Paul Skenes, Dylan Crews could battle for No. 1 in MLB Draft: Keith Law’s scouting report PAYWALL

After the second inning, Skenes did taper off in stuff and results. He dropped to 96-99 mph by the end of his outing, and Alabama hitters were able to get to enough of his fastballs, at least fouling them off, that he was over 90 pitches through five innings. He barely used his changeup, which came in around 90 mph, and probably could have used a more effective one the second and third times through the Alabama lineup. LSU’s catcher didn’t do Skenes a lot of favors, as he got few if any calls just beyond the edges of the zone.

There is nobody close to Skenes among pitchers in this class, and the fact that he throws strikes with this kind of stuff, even if you only give him credit for being 96-99 mph, would make him 1-1 in most years. Stephen Strasburg and Gerrit Cole would top out at 100 mph, with better breaking stuff than Skenes, and they went 1-1. Mark Appel had less stuff and he went first overall, as well. I think it’s fair to project a No. 1 starter ceiling for Skenes with some projection to the changeup and the obvious hope that he stays healthy, which some guys have with this kind of stuff (Cole and Justin Verlander come to mind as comparable pitchers).

[theAthletic] Bryce Harper is back, ahead of schedule but right on time, lengthening the Phillies’ lineup PAYWALL

There was Bryce Harper, on the precipice of doing something faster than any baseball player has ever done it, in his element Monday afternoon. It was here at Dodger Stadium where he debuted as one of the most-hyped prospects ever. That was 11 years ago. The next chapter of his baseball life begins Tuesday night when he returns to the Phillies only 160 days after Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Feel Good Baseball

[MLB] One month down, and an MLB.TV price drop to pounce on

A yearly subscription, which enables you to stream every out-of-market game, live or on demand, on your favorite supported devices, is now $139.99, while a single-team subscription is $119.99.

[Detroit Free Press] A Detroit youth baseball league’s former players are coaching a new generation

For 30 years — not counting the year the season was canceled on account of the pandemic — the league has been teaching neighborhood kids about teamwork, leadership and sportsmanship, qualities essential for success in the game and just about anything else.

“We make a connection with the kids, boys and girls, and take an interest in them, who they are and who they want to become,” the local league’s commissioner, Chris Gregory, 59, said, adding the sport brings families and the community together. “We help them mature, develop and grow.”