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It’s the debut as a starter for new please-don’t-call-him-a-catcher Diamondback, Blake Swihart. After coming in to deliver a ringing RBI single with the bases loaded in his first PA [okay, a squibber that went about 50 feet, but #ScorebookDontLie], he now gets the chance to show what he can do in right field, with Adam Jones getting a day off. We’ll see if he gets into the game later. So far, Jones is one of four D-backs to have been seen at some point in every game this season, along with David Peralta, Nick Ahmed and Eduardo Escobar. This is Jones’s second game out of the starting line-up: Peralta and Ahmed have been on the bench just once each.
Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like Lovullo has been more settled with his line-ups. Five men have 22 or more starts, and Christian Walker isn’t far behind with 19 [and has been almost ever-present since Jake Lamb went down]. Catcher, second base and center field are the only positions which haven’t had a regular starter, with Ketel Marte bouncing between the last two mentioned spots, and the three-header beast of catching behind the plate. At that last spot, we’re now 25 games in. The starts have seen 10 go to Carson Kelly, 7 to Jon Ryan Murphy and 8 to Alex Avlia/Caleb Joseph. That’s pretty close to the 40/30/30 split floated by Torey Lovull before the season.