Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #91: 7/9 vs. Pirates

LOL, I had to manually paint on Kyle Nelson’s 18 pitches from yesterday, because he was seen as a starter, not a reliever, and so the automated script ignored it! Bullpen games ruin everything...

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:

• Placed LHP Tyler Gilbert on the Paternity List.
• Recalled RHP Carlos Vargas from Triple-A Reno.

Though the reason for it is unexpected - congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert! - I'm not surprised at the move. For Gilbert tossed three innings yesterday, and did his job in a bullpen game. The team could use another arm, considering it looks like everyone bar Carlos Ruiz and Justin Martinez worked that bullpen game. Austin Adams only threw four pitches, so is perhaps also available. Plenty of time to rest after today, though it'd be nice if Davies could get through six innings against one of the weakest offenses in the National League (OPS+ 90). That said, two of his three best Game Scores this year have come against the Rays and the Dodgers, both top 5 offenses in MLB. So go figure.

A win this afternoon would be Arizona’s 53rd of the season, and surpass the total for all of 2021 before the All-Star break. It's an incredible turnaround in basically a season and a half. Though Arizona aren’t alone: by beating Minnesota 6-2 yesterday, Baltimore notched their 53rd win, also surpassing their entire win total of 2021 before the break. The Orioles did have a longer period of deeper suck than us. From 2018-2021, they never won more than 54 games in a season and had a win percentage of just .326. The Diamondbacks were at .447 over the same time period, with 2021 their only season of industrial-strength failure. Though in some ways the Reds' turnaround may be more impressive. After losing 100 games last year, they lead the Central, albeit an embarrassingly weak division.

A win would also keep Arizona in sole possession of first-place in the NL West at the break. That is a spot which they have not occupied in a decade, since July 14th, 2013. There, they were 50-45, and had a 2 1/2 game lead over the Dodgers, and were the only team in the division with a winning record. However, they had 14 fewer wins than Los Angeles in the second-half, and missed the postseason. Let's hope it's not a fate which befalls them again this year. Completing the sweep of the Pirates would definitely help forget the ugly sweep at the hands of the Mets which preceded it, and send both players and fans into the break on an upbeat note.