Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #119: 8/14 @ Rockies

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:

• Recalled OF Kyle Lewis from Triple-A Reno.
• Optioned OF Jake McCarthy to Reno following yesterday’s game.

Definitely a move intended to beef up the Arizona offense, albeit at the cost of defense. It’s the second time McCarthy has been sent back to the minors this season. The first came towards the end of April, after he had hit just .143 to open the season, with a .467 OPS. He was recalled a month later, after having gone .333/.419/.533 for a .952 OPS over 22 games with Reno, and initially seemed to do quite well back in the majors, hitting .316 in his first 35 games back. But the second half has not been kind to Jake. Since July 6, he has only a .583 OPS, and has just a pair of extra-base hits, both doubles. The lack of power is what the return of Lewis is intended to address.

It will be Kyle’s third stint with the team, though neither previous one lasted much longer than a week. The results were not great, albeit across a small sample-size of 35 PA. On the other hand, a line of .182/.229/.303 for a .532 OPS, isn’t exactly making a case for more playing time. We’ll see what happens to Lewis this time, and how he fits into the line-up. One extra issue since Lewis’s last spell, is that the team now has Tommy Pham, who is also right-handed and will be Lewis’s main competitor for starts at designated hitter. But Lewis should add extra RH thump. With Evan Longoria out, Christian Walker and Lourdes Gurriell are the only players with even 5 HR hitting from that side for AZ this year.

And in the absence of anywhere else to put this, congratulations to Dominic Fletcher, who was named PCL Player of the Week. Fletcher had base hits in all six games played last week vs. Salt Lake. He batted .522 (12-for-23) while leading the PCL in runs (13), doubles (7), and OPS (1.700). Nine of his 12 base hits during the week went for extra bases (seven doubles and two home runs). The Arkansas product is on an eight-game hitting streak, over which time he has hit .481, and scored 15 times during a matching, eight-game runs-scored streak. He is the third Aces player to earn PCL Player of the Week honors this season, joining Dominic Canzone (July) and Tristin English (May).