Snake Bytes 6/22: Big Timers

Diamondbacks News:

[SI] D-backs rally late in support of Zac Gallen’s gem

He finished his outing very strong, recording eight more outs, allowing just a walk in the 7th, which was eliminated by a double play. His final line was 7 IP, 3H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR. He threw 91 pitches, 59 strikes. He recorded 10 flyouts to just three groundouts.

[AZS] D-backs sign reliever Stephen Nogosek, assign him to triple-A

[MLB] Zac Gallen strong road start as D-backs beat Brewers

“[Brewers starter Julio Teheran] was keeping us off the board, so I just kind of had to get back out there and answer,” Gallen said. “It’s a solid offense, and this is definitely not a pitcher’s park by any means. I knew that our guys were going to break through at some point, so I was just trying to hold them off as long as I could.”

[MLB] MLB combine: Mike Hazen

[CN] How Corbin Carroll has helped turn the Arizona Diamondbacks

“His humbleness is one of the things we all love about him. He’s never satisfied. He’s always on the search to get better. He never wastes days,” Lovullo said. “He never wastes one day learning, growing and pushing forward.”

“It’s definitely cool,” Carroll said about winning the award. “But it’s also cool to play winning baseball. That’s, in my mind, the more important part.”

Carroll’s 3.7 WAR is tied for fourth place with Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres. Offensively, Carroll is ranked first among all of MLB. Carroll is also first in the NL in slugging percentage (.591), OPS (.975) and OPS+ (164). Additionally, DraftKings currently gives him the second-best odds to win the NL MVP (+500).

Baseball News:

[SI] The Royals are the MLB disaster no one is talking about

Just how bad is it? Even with a gem from Lynch on Tuesday (one hit over seven shutout innings against Detroit), Royals starters have the third-worst winning percentage of all time and are on pace for just 22 wins.

[ESPN] MLB eyes London series as ‘jumping-off point’ for push into Europe

“The U.K. has really been identified for us, London in particular, as the jumping-off point for us to get into Europe,” Chris Marinak, MLB’s chief operations and strategy officer, told The Associated Press. “We feel like we proved that out in 2019. By coming back and having a really strong showing ... we’re going to have the opportunity to really make some headway for growth both in the U.K. and throughout Europe.”

[AZC] MLB prospects let it loose at combine as draft approaches

Major League Baseball’s Draft Combine is at Chase Field, and the two days of on-field, pro-style workouts that concluded Wednesday featured many of the top draft prospects being evaluated in several areas.

Upwards of 300 top high school and college prospects from all over the country, including Puerto Rico, accepted invitations to the third combine, and the first one in Phoenix. Pitchers threw off the mound with their pitch speed and the break of their pitches displayed on the main scoreboard. Infielders took ground balls and threw to first base, position players took batting practice, catchers made throws to second base from behind home plate and outfielders threw to home plate from the field.