Snake Bytes 7/11: Derby Day

Baseball News

[MLB] 2023 HR Derby: Round-by-round breakdown

If this event does it for you, here are the results. Based on the Gameday Thread for it... Arizona Fans were not super into it.

[MLB Pipeline] 2023 Draft Tracker

For a live list of all Arizona draft picks, click this link. There are filters galore if you’re interested in any other teams’ picks or a specific player. Day 3 selections begin at 11am Arizona Time.

[MLB] Draft Day 1: Pick-by-pick rundown, analysis

Jonathan Mayo offers some analysis on many picks from night one.

[MLB] Analyzing Draft Day 2, round-by-round

Sam Dykstra analyzes specific picks from day 2 of the Draft (Rounds 3-10), including Arizona’s selection of Jack Hurley (3) and Kevin Sim (5).

[MLBTR] Latest On White Sox’s Deadline Plans

Unfortunately, Anthony Franco quotes Jon Heyman of the New York Post as saying neither Luis Robert Jr. nor Dylan Cease is expected to be available from the South Side of Chicago this month. A couple names that may interest Arizona that are expected to be available: Lucas Giolito, Keynan Middleton, Reynaldo Lopez, Lance Lynn, and Joe Kelly.

[MLBTR] Who Could The Nationals Trade At The Deadline?

The Nationals are more traditional sellers this season, so the list of players available is longer than the White Sox above. I won’t list them all and bore you to death. Some could be fits in Arizona, others won’t be. Just like every team offering MLB talent.

[MLBTR] Marlins Reinstate Johnny Cueto, Transfer Jonathan Davis To 60-Day IL

I for one, will be very intrigued to see how this affects the Marlins down the stretch. They are surprising many by staying competitive despite having lackluster pitching (compared to pre-season expectations at least). Will the Veteran Presence of Cueto help? Hurt? Be a big nothing-burger? It’s worth watching since Arizona’s most likely ticket to the post-season is still the Wild Card where these Marlins could be an early opponent in October.

[MLBTR] Yankees Name Sean Casey Hitting Coach

Casey, 49, is something of an outside-the-box hire, as he’s never worked as a coach at the minor league or major league level since ending his 12-year playing career in 2008. The three-time All-Star has been working as a broadcaster and analyst on the MLB Network for the past several years. In that sense, there are some parallels between his hiring and that of manager Aaron Boone — another former player who went straight from broadcasting back into a big league dugout. Boone and Casey were teammates with the Reds from 1998 through 2003, when Boone was traded to the Yankees. That familiarity surely plays a role in the decision to consider and ultimately hire Casey despite his lack of experience coaching.

While Casey is new to coaching, he certainly knows a thing or two about hitting. The former second-round pick retired as a .302/.367/.447 hitter and had just a 10.2% strikeout rate against an 8.5% walk rate in 5644 big league plate appearances. Casey made the NL All-Star team in 1999, 2001 and 2004, and he finished out his career with 130 home runs, 322 doubles and 12 triples.

Sorry ISH95, guess the Yankees had different plans....

Diamondbacks News

[MLBTR] NL West Notes: Freeland, Jameson, Corbin, Ohtani, Dodgers

Diamondbacks right-hander Drey Jameson is receiving second opinions about the elbow problem that saw him moved to the 60-day IL yesterday, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including the Arizona Republic’s Theo Mackie). Lovullo said that “something’s going on” with Jameson’s UCL, and “there’s stuff there that needs to be thoroughly looked at before we can start to make a firm judgment” on a next course of action. The worst-case scenario of a Tommy John surgery would keep Jameson out of action for at least 12 months and could threaten his availability for any of the 2024 season. The 25-year-old Jameson is one of Arizona’s more intriguing young arms, and he has a 2.63 ERA working as both a starter and a reliever over 65 career MLB innings in 2022-23.

Sticking with the Diamondbacks, Corbin Carroll’s quick emergence as a star has made the club look brilliant for taking him 16th overall in the 2019 draft, and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes about some of the factors that went into both the Snakes’ selection and why Carroll was still available in the middle of the first round. Carroll’s relatively small size (5’10”, 165 pounds) and doubts about his ability to hit for power turned off some teams, and since Carroll was playing high school ball in the Pacific Northwest, there were some questions about the quality of competition he was dominating. D’Backs assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye admitted that he didn’t think Carroll had the kind of power potential he’s shown in the majors, but “we’re not afraid to take shorter players. [Good players] come in different sizes. There is a difference between being short and being small. Short and strong is good. It’s great to be a hitter if you’re short and strong.”

[SI] D-backs Draft Eight More Players on Second Day of the Draft

Michael delves into each of the team’s selections in rounds 3-10. All college players for the first times since 2015.

[SI] Zac Gallen Named NL Starter in All Star Game

Gallen will pitch first! Carroll will field left and bat 8th! Perdomo and Gurriel may or may not see some action. Sadly, Ketel Marte will not, a ginormous oversight in the system and a main reason this author prefers the All Star Game be moved, and the honor/award aspect be redesigned to give the deserving players their honor as well.

The game begins at 5PM PST (I think that is also Arizona Time right now?) in Seattle and will be viewable via Fox and/or FUBO. Somebody text me the D’Backs’ updates. I’ll be blissfully asleep around the bottom of the first. Like. An. Adult...!