Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #126: 8/21 vs. Rangers

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:

• Reinstated INF Evan Longoria from the 10-day injured list (strained lower back).
• Optioned OF Kyle Lewis to Triple-A Reno.

As we mentioned in Snake Bytes, Peter CopyPaste was taken off the D-backs roster after the double-header on Sunday. No corresponding move for that, because teams are allowed to add one extra man for the day of a double-header. Today though, we get Evan Longoria back after he missed about four weeks due to a back issue. Health was always going to be a concern for the veteran, who hasn’t reached even 90 games in a season since 2019. He appeared in 81 and 89 in the two full years post-pandemic, and having appeared in slightly more than half (55) of the 102 games before going on the DL, is likely on pace to play somewhere in the seventies this season.

The latest stint of Lewis on the roster was about as much of a failure as the previous two. He went 2-for-18 with a double, one walk and ten strikeouts. In three short stints with the big league club, covering 16 games and 54 PA, he has hit just .157/.204/.255 for a .459 OPS. Compare and contrast his figures over 47 games and 216 PA with the Reno Aces. There, Lewis has a line of .361/.463/.650 for a 1.113 OPS. That’s six hundred and fifty-four points of OPS higher in AAA, which feels like it must be close to an all-time record for someone with 50+ PA in each location. We typically expect a 230 point difference or so.

The team is going with Joe Mantipy as an opener today, likely followed by Slade Cecconi in another bullpen game. It feels as if there have been a lot more of these this season for the D-backs than previously, though it’s hard to quantify. Just because a player is typically a reliever, doesn’t make a game where he starts a “bullpen game”. Three of Drey Jameson’s fifteen outings this year were as a starter, but he threw 71 pitches in one, which feels like a proper start to me. It makes sense to have the team take advantage of these off-days though, rather than try to find an extra starter. Zach Davies started yesterday for Reno and could be in line to come back for the Reds series. If we want. Which I’m less sure about.