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The Arizona Diamondbacks came off a great series against the Toronto Blue Jays where it seemed everything was working rather well. We got Kevin Cron and Christian Walker in the same lineup (I know right??), a great Zach Greinke performance and W’s. As the Diamondbacks came into the city of brotherly love and put up 13 runs, while also somewhat falling apart in the last two innings. Let’s get to the recap shall we!
The first inning, believe it or not, was drastically different then what I am used to typing in these recaps. Jarrod Dyson homered on a ball that was high and outside and somehow managed to hook it down the right field line. Ketel Marte then hit another bomb, this his 16th on a 75.4 mph curveball that was right in the sweet spot of the plate. The fun did not stop there as David Peralta launched an absolute tank to center field on a 3-2 slider. The next three Diamondbacks got out and the bottom of the first inning for the Fightin Phils was a little different. Jean Segura parked one to left with 2 outs however a walk to Rhys Hoskins was the only other base runner of the inning. In the second inning, the Diamondbacks went 3 up 3 down and the Phillies were able to drive in a run after a Scott Kingery tripled brought Maikel Franco up to the plate. Franco grounded out to short but it was enough to score him. Inning three was the same for our boys and the Phillies were able to squeak another run across. Jean Segura was the talk of the umpires as a challenge kept him on the bags and Rhys Hoskins singled to score Segura. A J.T. Realmuto single was for none as a ground out from Jay Bruce ended the inning.
In the fourth inning, the Diamondbacks came to play. An Adam Jones walk started the inning and Eduardo Escobar decided to break things open with a homer to right field, his 16th of the season. A Christian Walker....walk brought up Alex Avila who decided to take a que from Escobar and added his own homer to right field. Two more singles would clog the basepaths as nothing came about. Scott Kingery launched a home run which continued his hot night and was the only run of the bottom of the fourth inning.
Now stop me if you’ve heard this before, Adam Jones finds a way to get on and Eduardo Escobar brings him home off a home run. Well this is exactly what happened as an 83.1 changeup stayed on the inside part of the plate enough to allow him to crush it to left. Ildemaro Vargas added his own home run this time with 2 outs. The bottom of the fifth and bottom of the sixth inning for the Phillies were uneventful with only a single coming from Rangel Suarez. Eduardo Escobar doubled and continued his hot night in the top of the sixth inning which scored Ketel Marte. The seventh inning was uneventful as well (trust me on that).
Now, here’s were the fun(not fun) begins to start. After a top of the eighth that only had a David Peralta walk, Matt Andriese came in for Zack Godley who did not give up a run.
I KNOW I FOR ONE AM COMPLETELY SHOCKED!!!
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Arizona Diamondbacks:
Positive: Eduardo Escobar 27.9%
Negative: Taylor Clarke -25.1%
Philadelphia Phillies:
Positive: Rhys Hosksins 12.3%, Scott Kingery 14.0%
Negative: Ranger Suarez -10.3%, Jerad Eickhoff -54.9%
Andriese decided to take a 92.8 mph four seamer on the top half of the plate that was mashed for his sixth of the year. They were not done!! Nick Williams homered which was overturned and resulted in a double, a Bryce Harper single brought in Williams and once the inning was over Andriese’s night was over as well. With Escobar and Walker reaching, Avila grounded into a double play. That would not hurt the Diamondbacks too much as Ildemaro Vargas homered again to be the reason for the Diamondbacks 2 run ninth inning.
Greg Holland came on to replace Andriese and immediately gave up a nuke to Rhys Hoskins. After a J.T. Realmuto ground out, Jay Bruce also dropped a nuke to center. Holland was able to get an out on a challenge and a Maikel Franco line out to end the game.
A little something different...
Now usually I end these recaps with a little blurb that goes over the game in summation and yadda yadda. We are going to try a little something new. With the draft occurring just a week ago, there are a few thoughts and things to look for that I think are intriguing.
First, the direction of the draft room was evident from the first night. Bet on high school talent and find ways to work the money in your favor. Corbin Carrol is a very toolsy outfielder with a very projectable body. His slot value right now is about $3.75 million but look for the Diamondbacks to possibly go over that amount. The second pick was left hander Blake Walston who is incredibly projectable at 6’5 and 175 pounds. A good pitch mix that includes a good slider and a promising changeup. His slot value is $2.65 million and you have to think that there is a deal in place to get him to sign around that value to enter the team’s system. Brennan Malone was a very intriguing pick as a power arm from IMG academy. All three of these first picks have something in common and it revolves around cash. Here is where things get interesting, the team’s next five picks were all college players. With Tommy Henry being someone I loved coming into the draft. His game against UCLA last night was very good and he did get Matt McClain out so I know Diamondbacks fans will be happy about that.
The exponentially more intriguing thing is what the scouting department did after the 10th round where signing players above a certian amount causes somewhat heavy penalties. Guys like Avery Short in the 12th round (MLB Pipeline’s 159th best prospect), Dylan Eskew (130th), and my favorite pick in Jerrion Ealy (66th) are all huge swings and if connected with could be grand slams for the front office.
In the coming days, make sure to bookmark the 2019 MLB draft tracker webpage and check to see signing bonuses for the Arizona Diamondbacks draftees to see how they are allocating resources.
Roll Call:
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