D-backs Preview #58: 6/3 @ Brewers

I was half-expecting to see a roster move involving Madison Bumgarner today, but that hasn’t heppened. More detail in Jack’s section below, but it appears the team are hopeful Bumgarner will be back quickly. Still, it seems almost inevitable that he’s going to miss a start. The team does have an off-day on Monday, which could be used to skip his spot in the rotation, so they may be able to work around his absence for a bit. But it does look like Merrill Kelly will remain the only member of the team’s Opening Day rotation to be free of significant health issues this year. Considering he was the one we were perhaps most concerned about going in, after his thoracic outlet surgery.... Well, #YCPB.

This evening’s alternative to the D-backs game. We’ll probably be catching up on TV stuff mostly. Queen of the South is coming down to its last couple of episodes, after a five-season run. I’ve definitely enjoyed it: it’s a bit more gritty than the Mexican version of the story, La Reina del Sur, and I appreciate that. I suspect the ending is going to be rather bloody, and give the heroine, Teresa Mendoza, probably about a 50/50 shot at surviving. I’m not sure whether I want to see her go off happily into the sunset, or out in a blaze of bullets, Scarface style. Probably the latter, I think. Happy endings do not sit well with me generally.

WHELP, NOW A MAJOR EDIT JUST ONE HOUR AFTER TOLD OTHERWISE ON ZOOM

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:

• Recalled RHP Humberto Castellanos (No. 54) from Triple-A Reno.
• Placed LHP Madison Bumgarner (left shoulder inflammation) on the 10-day injured list.

Torey Lovullo notes

Madison Bumgarner’s MRI showed left shoulder inflammation. He won’t throw for a couple of days, but Torey said after talking with the medical team he was hopeful it would be a “quick flip”. Asked if that meant he might avoid an IL stint, he seemed to indicate there was a good chance of that but it’s not yet been determined.

NOTE: His next scheduled turn would be Tuesday in Oakland. Monday is an off day. They could even push him back an extra day and let him start Wednesday. My guess is no throwing for next two days, and then a bullpen Sunday to see how feels if he can throw at all. If no issues after a bullpen then he might indeed avoid the IL. However if he’s still too sore to throw a bullpen over the weekend then an IL stint would seem to be in order

Zac Gallen: Had a follow up MRI today but Torey didn’t have all details, but everything he’s heard has been encouraging. He is scheduled to throw a bullpen tomorrow and if that goes well he will face hitters off a mound in the near future.

Ildemaro Vargas: “He’s instant energy”

Ketel Marte’s defense in CF: I asked Torey his thoughts on why Ketel has been struggling in CF and what can be done to get him on right track. (both Visually and via Statcast and rDRS metrics the falloff compared to 2019 has been tremendous)

“I agree with you. The information that you’re digging out is something that we’re aware of. Just getting back on the field was one thing, but getting back on the field and performing at a championship level is what our goal is every single day.”

Speaking of the teachings every single day they impart to the players, including Ketel:

“What we’re going to do about that , we’re going to create an awareness , which we have. And then there’s going to be some work inside of the day that’s going to allow him to go out there and get some reads and get some breaks and take the right angles to the baseball. It’s not necessarily closing in on the ball or moving full speed it’s just the first moves to the baseball, the angles to the baseball , those are the things we feel he could do a little better job with”.

Asked specifically if it were the harder low line drives right to CF that were the most problematic:

“Ketel’s working his but off, trust me. We created awareness several days ago on some of the things that we wanted to see him improve on. He’s accepted that so I don’t want to sit here and pile on him because he worked so hard to get back here. Yeah, maybe the line drives, the angles the reads on some of those line drives caught him by surprise early. I think there’s been some minimal improvements. It’s that first step for me it’s the first step coming in on some balls that might be a little slower development. It’s about fast movements and direct lines to the baseball. “

Is the absence of Dave McKay, who Ketel worked closely with in his transition in 2019 a big factor ?

I will just go ahead and say that Dave McKay is the best coach and teacher that I’ve ever been around. So I’ll let you take it from there.

Asdrubal Cabrera had simulated live at bats in sim games and ran out of the box and on the bases at about 75% effort.

Torey Lovullo audio [or link]