Preview, #59: 6/1 vs. Mets

Woo-hoo! And with that said...

Well, it was not a May we’ll want to remember, though there have been plenty worse. The years 1998, 2004, 2010 and 2018 all had a lower winning percentage than this year; curiously, it was also the fourth time the D-backs went 11-17 in May, also doing so in 2008, 2012 and 2016. Considering there have been only ten seasons where we played 28 games in the month (making an 11-17 record feasible), that’s kinda impressive. Compared to last year, the pitching was actually worse: the 2019 ERA was 4.21 compared to 3.87 the previous season. But the offense more than made up for that. The 145 runs scored in May by the D-backs was most for the month since 2006, and close to DOUBLE the paltry 77 in 2018.

Carson Kelly had a particularly good month, batting .360 with a 1.147 OPS, and will likely see increased playing time going forward, now that we’ve apparently abandoned the whole three catcher thing. Ketel Marte (.951) and Eduardo Escobar (.909) were also great: next on the OPS list are Wilmer Flores and David Peralta, and their loss definitely had an impact. At the other end, Blake “Why?” Swihart continues to struggle: he batted .154 for the month, and struck out in forty percent of his plate appearances. Jarrod Dyson’s OPS was also below .600 for the month, as was Alex Avila, though the latter does at least have something of an excuse, with just eight starts to his name.

On the pitching side, Zack Greinke deserved a better record than one win in five starts, given his 2.14 ERA and 27:3 K:BB ratio. Greinke is only the second Diamondbacks pitcher with 20 IP, an ERA below 2.50 and an K:BB of nine or better for a month, the other being Randy Johnson in July 2004 (43 IP, 2.09 ERA, 51:5 K:BB). Jimmie Sherfy allowed one run in 9.2 innings, but is currently sitting in Reno. Luke Weaver and Robbie Ray also had ERAs below three for the month. However, far too many members of the bullpen had a figure above five: T.J. McFarland and Matt Andriese, with Zack Godley above six, and Yoshihisa Hirano + Archie Bradley above seven. If a better June is to be found, change starts there.

A few notes from Torey Lovullo’s pre game press conference:

1.) Peralta had good AB’s at extended Spring Training. He feels good, just a little fatigued. Will not require a Rehab assignment. TL will update tmw morning. Seems very likely to be activated

2.) Jake Lamb also had multiple AB in the extended ST game but did not run. No word yet on when exactly his Rehab assignment will happen

3.) Swihart injured himself during outfield workout drills in Denver. Tried to hit through it but was uncomfortable in his PH AB last night. He had an MRI that revealed a strain in his oblique.

4.) No specific plan for how to use Cron, other than PH and fill in here and there.