Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #106: 7/30 vs. Mariners

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:

• Reinstated RHP Cole Sulser from the 60-day injured list (strained right shoulder).
• Placed LHP Tommy Henry on the 15-day injured list (left elbow inflammation), retroactive July 29.
• The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 40.

Well, that’s disappointing. Since joining the rotation towards the end of April, Henry had become effectively the team’s #3 pitcher, posting a 4.15 ERA (104 ERA+) over 16 starts and one random bullpen appearance. While the peripherals were less impressive (4.91 FIP), he had usually done a reasonable job of keeping the Diamondbacks in games. Only twice had Henry allowed more than four runs in an appearance, and had never posted a Game Score of 30 or lower. Even Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly have one each of those. With Brandon Pfaadt already pulled back up to replace Zach Davies, it’ll be interesting to see how the team opt to fill the hole the next time a starter is needed.

The words “elbow inflammation” are obviously concerning, as there could be structural damage below it: we’ll know more after the obligatory MRI scan has been completed. With the trade deadline looming, this likely adds extra impetus to the team needing to add another starting pitcher. The cupboard is quite bare in terms of pitching depth. At Reno, we have Slade Cecconi and Blake Walston, both of whom have made 20 starts for the Aces, with ERAs of 6.38 and 4.80 respectively. Despite that, Cecconi has the better peripherals, with a K:BB of 104:29 over 103 IP. Walston has as many walks as strikeouts (64 of each), and he is only 22, two years younger then Cacconi

That’s something to be decided down the road. Today, the team will focus on winning the series and maintaining pace in a scarily tight NL race, where only one game spans third and eighth place in the standings, as we enter play today. The decision to push Kelly back from yesterday worked out, with Pfaadt and the offense doing just enough to scratch out a one-run victory. It won’t be easy this afternoon, with Mariners’ starter Luis Castillo having a 3.02 ERA for the season. His FIP of 3.81 is almost the same as Merrill’s (3.78), so this should be a close-fought contest. The Mariners haven’t give up on the post-season yet, but a loss here would leave them just one above .500. They won’t roll over, certainly.