Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #107: 7/31 @ Giants

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:

• Recalled OF Kyle Lewis and INF Diego Castillo from Triple-A Reno.
• The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 39.

With the departure of Dominic Canzone, Josh Rojas and Ryan Bliss for Seattle, the D-backs have a couple of roster spots to fill, and the above moves were made to do just that. Lewis is a known quantity, but we should talk a bit about Diego. He should not be confused with the other Diego Castillo in the majors - just to obscure matter further, that one, who is a pitcher also plays for Seattle! Our one is 25 years old and played for the Pirates last year, appearing in 96 games and posting an OPS+ of 76. He was a super-utility guy, who appeared at all four infield positions plus left field, and even pitched twice (though it was not pretty, with a 36.00 ERA).

He moved to the D-backs in December, being traded for prospect Scott Randall. Castillo has spent all of the season with the Aces, and has hit for a line of .340/.442/.450. He has shown good plate discipline with more walks there (58) than strikeouts (51). But has basically no power at all, with only three home-runs in 309 at-bats. In the Pacific Coast League, that’s flat-out hard to do. He’s a right-handed hitter, and this season has played mostly in left-field, but has also seen significant time at both second-base and shortstop. It’ll be interesting to see where he plays, and also how the team arranges the outfield, since Lewis is not exactly a member of the “No fly” zone.

Differential calculus

If the playoffs started today, two of the four NL teams with the best run differentials would find themselves making tee reservations instead. While the Dodgers and Braves lead their division, the #3 Padres (+63) and #4 Cubs (+57) find themselves ranked tenth and ninth in the league standings at the start of play today. Despite a combined run differential of +120, they have a record of 105-106. The Padres are eight below their expected Pythag record, based on runs scored and allowed, and the Cubs five below. San Diego have a differential 84 runs better than Miami, yet trail the Marlins in the standings by five games. It’s because the Padres are just 6-17 in one-run games, likely tied to their 0-9 record in extras.

Excluding the shortened 2020 season, the last time a team were winless in extra were the 2016 Angels, and they only played past regulation four times. To find a team with as many extra-inning games as the Padres have this year, without a victory, you need to go back over fifty years, to the 1969 Expos, who were 0-12 in this category. Meanwhile, the Giants are 7-2 this season, a mark which trails only one team in the majors. However, that’s the Mets, who are 6-1 in extras. So this probably confirms my belief that once the Manfred Man arrives, your record is heavily influenced by luck, rather than skill. The D-backs are 1-3, so if past form IS any indication, let’s hope this series is decided in regulation.

Ranking the power rankings is missing a couple of entries - I think the authors may be waiting for the trade deadline, so they can incorporate them. I’ll get to those later in the week, I’m thinking probably on Wednesday.