Preview, #139: 9/3 vs. Padres

The Arizona Diamondbacks made some more moves this afternoon. They recalled infielder Ildemaro Vargas from Triple-A Reno and also brought back Matt Andriese from High-A Visalia - Jack wrote a little about what Andriese’s role is likely to be. But it was a case of two men forward, one man backward (as it were), since Arizona also placed last night’s starting pitcher Zack Godley on the Paternity Leave List. Good luck to him and his other half on their impending new addition, of course: we appreciate him scheduling it for between his outings. :) The D-backs now have 34 players on their active roster; there’s no change to the 40-man roster, which still sits at 40.

As for the D-backs, it seems there’s a growing consensus among fans that they are “done,” in terms of a post-season spot this year. Fangraphs currently gives them barely a 1-in-4 change of making the playoffs, at 25.4%, the lowest our odds have been since the beginning of June. Part of me thinks that seems really low, for a team that’s only 1¹⁄₂ games out of first place, with games to play against both the teams ahead of them, and which has spent more time on top of the fiercely-competitive NL West division than any other this year. But part of me looks at the last four games, and is quite surprised it’s as much as one in four. Recency bias is a very real thing.

This one will also unfold without my attention, much like last night: it was pleasant to be able to switch off mentally, though I did have to resist the urge to check my phone now and again. Taking it out of my pocket and putting it in the bedroom was definitely key to not cracking up. Tonight, I think we’ll polish off the rest of American Ninja Warrior, and we started watching Castle Rock over the weekend, so an episode or two of that is perhaps on the cards. I’ll not be tuning back in until the D-backs have won consecutive games. For those who are watching, and perhaps want to scoreboard watch too, the Rockies are facing the Giants at Coors - that just got under way - and the Mets take on the Dodgers in LA later.