Slump Busters for the Diamondbacks

Introduction.

This March of 2021 article is an oldie but a goodie. It talked about types of hitters:

• Fire Starters/Builders. These batters often get on base.
• Grill Masters. With men on base, these batters often get RBIs.

This July of 2023 article looked at this season’s team. It identified which batters were Fire Starters/Builders and which batters were Grill Masters.

Although it was not discussed in the article, in the 7 days ending 6 July the Diamondbacks had 3 Grill Masters instead of the usual 5. The result was less runs (2.8 runs per game instead of the usual nearly 5 runs per game) and a disappointing win-loss record of 2-4 instead of the usual winning record.

Let’s look at the first 7 days after the All-Star break (six games from 14 to 20 July).

The Blue Jays Series.

The Diamondbacks got swept.

The Diamondbacks scored 3 runs per game, which wasn’t much better than the 7-day period ending 6 July when they scored 2.8 runs per game.

In the Blue Jays series, the Diamondbacks were 3 for 16 with Runners in Scoring Position (RISP). Reflecting that disappointing result was that only 3 Diamondbacks hit RBIs: Gabriel Moreno (1 RBI), Jake McCarthy (2 RBIs), and Ketel Marte (3RBIs). The Diamondbacks scored an additional 3 runs (2 on wild pitches and one was a throwing error on a pickoff attempt).

The Braves Series.

After being swept by the Blue Jays, the Diamondbacks played the Braves, who have the best win-loss record in baseball (62-33). It was the unlikely time for busting a slump. In the first game the Diamondbacks hit 14 RBIs. In addition they scored on a fielding error, and on a Corbin Carroll strikeout that left Corbin Carroll standing on third base. The slump was busted.

One sign of change was that the Diamondbacks went 12 for 30 with RISP, which was a great improvement. In the series, 5 batters hit RBIs, which was an improvement. The batting performances of Christian Walker and Geraldo Perdomo and Dominic Calzone were noteworthy.

Ketel Marte. His 6 RBIs in the series led the Diamondbacks. His .19 RBI per PA was consistent with his status as a Grill Master.

Christian Walker. What is important to know is that after his short slump, in a very recent 7-day period, his batting was outstanding. Including the slump, this season his batting (133 OPS+ through 19 July) is better than last season (an excellent 127 OPS+). Let’s look at three metrics:

RBIs. In the 7 days ending 20 July, his 5 RBIs were the second highest on the Diamondbacks. That week’s leaders follow:

• 6 RBIs, Ketel Marte
• 5 RBIs, Christian Walker
• 4 RBIs, Dominic Canzone
• 3 RBIs, Corbin Carroll

RBIs per PA. After his RBI/PA slumped from .20 to zero in the week ending 6 July, it bounced back to .19 in the week ending 20 July.

Slugging with Runners in Scoring Position. In the week ending 20 July, with RISP his slugging was an excellent 1.250.

Geraldo Perdomo. This season, his OBP is a career best, making him a Fire Starter/Builder. After his OBP slumped to .250 in the week ending 6 July, it bounced back to .421 in the week ending 20 July. That week his 2 RBIs were an additional plus.

Dominic Canzone. In June, he was named the Pacific Coast League’s player of the month, and the Diamondbacks’ minor league player of the month. His 1.065 OPS (games through 19 July) was the highest of the AAA Reno Aces.

On 8 July, he was called up to play DH and be a pinch hitter. After his first 11 PAs were without a hit, perseverance led to success. His 12th PA was an RBI single in a critical game situation (with a kudo to Torey Lovullo for leaving him in the game). In his next game he hit a 3-run homer.

In the week of 14-20 July, with runners in scoring position, his .667 OBP and 1.667 SLG were awesome!

Braves Series Summary. The Diamondbacks won the series. They remain as contenders for first place in the NL West. If the season ended today, they would have a wildcard berth into the postseason.

Successful Batters With RISP

Hitting with RISP was an important factor in breaking the team batting slump. In the 7-days ending on 20 July, eight Diamondbacks batters were outstanding when there were runners in scoring position.

The following table shows the outstanding batters with RISP.

Data from Baseball Savant.

Two Data Tables.

For those that may have questions about other players, such as Emmanuel Rivera who is batting well but his stats barely fell short of my demarcations of excellence (except for OBP in the latest week), the following table shows RBIs-per-PA and OBP. The demarcations of excellence are .14 RBIs-per-PA and .340 OBP. When the statistic is better than the demarcation, the number will be green.

For each of the two statistics let’s look at 2022, the 28 days ending on 6 July, the 7 days ending on 6 July, and the 7 days ending on 20 July.

The following table shows RBIs-per-PA.

Minimum 100 PAs in 2022. Minimum 20 PAs in the 28 Day period. Data from Baseball Reference.

The following table shows OBP.

Minimum 100 PAs in 2022. Minimum 20 PAs in the 28 Day period. Data from Baseball Reference.

Summary.

Starting in July the Diamondback batters hit fewer RBIs. In the series against the Blue Jays, their batting slump continued.

In the series against the Braves, the Diamondbacks batters were slump busters. There were ten batters who broke the slump by hitting RBIs. The leaders were Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, Dominic Canzone, and Corbin Carroll.