D-backs Preview #53: 5/29 vs. Cardinals

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:

• Reinstated INF Christian Walker (right oblique soreness) from the 10-day injured list.
• Optioned INF/OF Andrew Young to Reno following last night’s game.

Another move in the right direction, healthwise. Wonder if Walker will be the spark that gets the team back on the right track? He last appeared for the team on May 11th, since which point the team have gone 1-15. Seems as possible an explanation as anything else. Meanwhile, Young somehow failed to live up to his blistering start, which saw him hit four home-runs in his first ten at-bats of the season. He’s 0-for-16 since his last RBI on May 15, with ten strikeouts. That includes his last six plate appearances, which all ended in a K. It seems safe to say the league has caught up to him. Meanwhile, in his brief Reno stint, Christian went 4-for-17 with two homers, a walk and six strikeouts.

I guess I needn’t say too much more about what the D-backs are attempting to do tonight. We all know it. Certainly, in terms of experience, tonight’s pitching match-up is very heavily skewed towards the Cardinals. St Louis’s starter, Adam Wainwright, had 335 career starts, going back to 2007 - and that was this third season in the majors. Meanwhile, Arizona’s Seth Frankoff has.... two. His career ERA of 9.45 is more than six runs higher than Wainwright’s 3.40. Though this is baseball, and you just never know. Last night’s game didn’t quite unfold as the way you would have expected, given the match-up. So, we’ll just have to see...

Tonight’s alternative to the D-backs game. Well, I’m recapping this one, so there IS no alternative. Though I’m pretty sure I could fake something in advance which would be a reasonable facsimile, e.g. full of generic phrases like “The Diamondbacks had their chances in the late innings, but once more, failed to capitalize on them.” This would allow me to slide out, and join the pool party at SnakePit Towers tonight; Mrs. S has invited over a local Rocky Horror shadowcast she works with, so they’ll be hanging out. And, I presume, doing the Time Warp. Yes, again... But, instead, I will be sitting in a dark room, with the game on one monitor, feverishly beavering away for the recap on the other. You’re welcome.

Torey Lovullo notes

No audio tonight, but here’s what Torey had to say.

• Christian Walker. Torey had a good sense today would be the day. Christian has worked extremely hard to make this happen, and we’re excited to have him back. It’ll layer in another good right-handed hitter. On top of that, he’s a very smart player that’s respected in the clubhouse, so just getting him back will put us in a better place and make us a better team.
• Andrew Young was a tough sendout, in the same way as for Daulton Varsho and Josh VanMeter, it’s important for Young to get reps.
• You can see at times we were challenged against lefty starters. We were able to compete, but Christian “is a different animal”. He, Ketel and Carson coming back give us a whole different look against left-handers.
• Matt Peacock threw a bullpen yesterday, and is going to be the starting pitcher tomorrow.
• Asdrubal Cabrera had some at-bats and light jogging. He is working real hard and the results have been encouraging. He’s doing a lot better than expected. It “doesn’t make a lot of sense, but he’s a tough man.” He wants to be on the field and help his team-mates.
• Zac Gallen threw both on flat ground, and 17 pitches off the mound.
• He gave the team a day off practice today, “mentally just to give them a bit of a blow.”
• He appreciate the fans support through these tough times, and wants to promise them that the team will continue to fight. We’re in this together.
• Christian Walker also spoke to the media, and said he is really looking forward to getting back on the field. It doesn’t matter whether the team is winning or losing. He said it wasn’t so much a re-injury, his oblique just wasn’t quite ready; “some more reps and more strengthening” were needed. The extra 10% of game intensity caused the set-back. The rehab games in Reno give him an little extra trust.