AZ Snake Pit - Game #48: 5/28, Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 3An unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2022-05-28T22:37:12-04:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/229098122022-05-28T22:37:12-04:002022-05-28T22:37:12-04:00D-backs 2, Dodgers 3: On review... We still can’t beat LA
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<p>At least we weren’t utterly humiliated on national television for once.</p> <h4 id="kFBoAZ">Record: 23-25. Pace: 78-84. Change on 2022: +5. </h4>
<p id="SoF1F8">This series has stood in stark contrast to the one in Los Angeles, where the Diamondbacks somehow managed to lead each of the four games at some point, on their way to being swept. Here, over the first two games the D-backs had not led for a single out, and been tied at the end of just one inning. In the opener, they fell behind before Humberto Castellanos could record an out, and the following day, Madison Bumgarner gave up back-to-back home-runs with two outs in the second. We were down 0-6 and 0-4 respectively by the middle of that frame, which doesn’t exactly breed confidence for tonight. And a nationally televised game involving your Arizona Diamondbacks. What could possibly go wrong? </p>
<p id="uZeGOw">Turns out we only had to wait for about two pitches to find out the answer there, as Mookie Betts flipped Merrill Kelly’s second offering of the game over the fence in right field. As mentioned in the game preview, Betts came into the game <a href="https://stathead.com/tiny/nqf7m">eighth on the list of current active D-backs killers</a>, with an OPS against the team of 1.019, and that home-run is only going to increase the figure. How long is he under contract in Los Angeles again? Welp. That was all the damage there, but after Arizona went meekly down in order, Kelly allowed the first three to reach. Fortunately, he was able to pick the lead man off (after review), likely saving a run. He stranded the other two on the corners, and Arizona were only down 1-0 in the middle of the second. Result!</p>
<div id="KGnXkT"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/mlbfilmroom/00u7mjff3NboqTTTt356/triples-vs-lad-2022-05-28" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media;"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="LjIeWk">Things managed to get better in the Arizona half, with the D-backs making hard contact off Tony Gonsolin. David Peralta led off the inning with a single, and was followed later in the inning by a pair of RBI triples (above), to almost the same spot in the park over by the pool, off the bats of Jake McCarthy and Geraldo Perdomo. Exit velocities on the three hits: 102.5, 103.6 and 103.1 mph. Perdomo was left stranded on third after Jose Herrera grounded out, but even that had an EV of 96.1 mph, as the Diamondbacks took their first lead of the series. Now, we just needed a shutdown inning from Merrill Ke... Hey! Where are you going? It could happen! And it kinda did - only after another hit by Betts, with Kelly leaving him on third-base this time. </p>
<p id="adWoTO">The rest of the third and the fourth were quiet, though it felt more like waiting for the inevitable, as the Dodgers kept leaving men on base and in scoring position. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, doing that proved not to be a sustainable strategy for success by Merrill Kelly. The top of the fifth inning started with Alek Thomas coming an inch short of a nice play on a ball in center, though this was followed by Mookie Betts being retired by Arizona for the first time this millennium. Freddie Freeman almost went deep, much to Fox Sports’ disappointment - they put up the Home Run graphic, just before the umpire emphatically signaled a foul ball - and ended up settling for a walk. Both men then scored on a single and sacrifice fly, to give Los Angeles the lead back, 3-2 in the middle of the fifth.</p>
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<p id="sEe5eR">That was the end of Kelly’s night, having thrown 91 pitches to that point . He allowed seven hits and two walks over five innings, with five strikeouts and three runs allowed, all earned. Not a brilliant outing, but compared to what we’ve seen out of our starting pitching lately, it felt almost Cy Young worth. The graphic above popped up on screen during the Fox broadcast, and illustrates just how badly the Arizona rotation has fallen apart over the past couple of weeks. Given that starting ERA, it’s remarkable the team had actually gone 5-7 over that time, coming into today’s contest. A freshly-recalled Kyle Nelson took over from Kelly for the sixth, and added to his good campaign with a zero, keeping it a one-run game.</p>
<p id="4m9zjM">The problem was more the offense had not been able to get much done against Gonsolin. After the go-ahead RBI triple with two outs in the second, Arizona had only one base-runner through the end of the seventh, a double with two outs in the fourth by McCarthy. It looked like the Dodgers might extend their lead in the seventh, following a lead-off double. The runner tagged for third on a fly-ball, but Josh Rojas alertly kept the tag on, and the Dodger came off the bag for a moment, so the initial safe call was overturned. After Sean Poppen issued a walk, something similar happened. A pick-off was initially called safe, but on replay, the call was overturned. Not a good day for the umpires, I’d say, Arizona going 3/3 on challenges.</p>
<p id="BYNUue">After Noe Ramirez did his job in the top of the eighth, the streak of offensive futility was broken by Cooper Hummel, coming off the bench to pinch-hit for Herrera. He drew a walk, becoming the tying run on base. Unfortunately, Rojas and Pavin Smith both struck out looking. Ramirez gave up a lead-off double in the ninth; Joe Mantiply stranded it there, leaving the Dodgers 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position today. That’s likely the only reason the score was as close. Old friend Daniel Hudson came in to work the ninth. and was greeted rudely by Ketel Marte with a double, to give us hope. Well, until Christian Walker hacked at the first pitch, David Peralta struck out and McCarthy went down swinging, too.</p>
<p id="SvdvAE">What, you expected something different?</p>
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<p style="text-align:center"><a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2022-05-28&team=Diamondbacks&dh=0&season=2022">Click for details</a> at Fangraphs.com
<br><b>King Kong: Ketel Marte: +19.4%</b>
<br>Clyde: Sean Poppen, +12.6%
<br><b><i>Harambe: Christian Walker, -23.1%</i></b><i>
<br>A.P.E.: Peralta, -17.7%; Rojas, -14.1%; Smith, -14.1%; Thomas, -11.8%; Kelly, -10.7%</i></p>
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<p id="XwEJpi">Nothing Sedona Red in the comments, though cracking 300 is a worthy number. Same two teams tomorrow afternoon as - and, stop me if you’ve heard this before - the Diamondbacks will try to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers. 1:10 pm first pitch there, with Zach Davies starting for Arizona. </p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2022/5/28/23145986/d-backs-2-dodgers-3-on-review-we-still-cant-beat-laJim McLennan2022-05-28T19:00:00-04:002022-05-28T19:00:00-04:00Gameday Thread, #48: 5/28 vs. Dodgers
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<figcaption>Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>On this day in 2016, Harambe, a gorilla, is shot to death in his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. </p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2022/5/28/23145914/gameday-thread-48-5-28-vs-dodgersJim McLennan2022-05-28T17:54:25-04:002022-05-28T17:54:25-04:00Diamondbacks Game Preview #48: 5/28 vs. Dodgers
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<figcaption>Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Maybe Merrill Kelly will have better luck?</p> <div id="XJrTqI">
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<h3>Today's Lineups</h3>
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<th align="left">DODGERS</th>
<th align="left">DIAMONDBACKS</th>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Mookie Betts - RF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Daulton Varsho - DH</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Freddie Freeman - 1B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Josh Rojas - 3B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Trea Turner - SS</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Ketel Marte - 2B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Will Smith - C</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Christian Walker - 1B</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Edwin Rios - DH</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">David Peralta - LF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Justin Turner - 3B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Jake McCarthy - RF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Cody Bellinger - CF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Alek Thomas - CF</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Chris Taylor - LF</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Geraldo Perdomo - SS</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Gavin Lux - 2B</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Jose Herrera - C</td>
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<td class="td-last td-name"></td>
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<td class="td-last td-name">Tony Gonsolin - RHP</td>
<td class="td-first td-name">Merrill Kelly - RHP</td>
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<h4 id="HR6T1J">Roster moves</h4>
<p id="zmxhWE">The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:</p>
<ul>
<li id="CC7ENn">Reinstated LHP Kyle Nelson from the injured list.</li>
<li id="QS6TXd">Transferred RHP Luke Weaver to the 60-day injured list (right elbow inflammation).</li>
<li id="MNiJhf">Optioned LHP Tyler Holton to Triple-A Reno following last night’s game.</li>
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<p id="QbPhc4">We quite often mention “D-backs killers”, which would be those players who seem to play better against Arizona. Right now, Fernando Tatis Jr. leads the active list of those who fall into that category: across 30 games against the Diamondbacks, he has a triple-slash line of .368/.435/.868, for a whopping 1.304 OPS. Some of the names at the <a href="https://stathead.com/tiny/nqf7m">top of the active leaderboard</a> there are ones you’d expect: Mike Trout hits well, film at eleven. But the presence of A.J. Pollock and Eugenio Suarez in the top ten, both with OPS’s over a thousand when facing the D-backs, and over more than thirty games, is a little harder to explain. Though I’m just impressed Pollock stayed healthy enough to face us 31 times. </p>
<p id="u4Zeoi">But let’s turn the tables and look at the D-backs who have done particularly well against our current opponents, Los Angeles, when wearing Sedona Red. You won’t be surprised to learn that the current pickings are kinda slim. With a 50 PA minimum, Christian Walker <a href="https://stathead.com/tiny/xvfBE">leads the way</a> among active players, mostly through having hit 15 home-runs in only 180 at-bats against the Dodgers. That helps off-set a lower batting average and on-base percentage, with his slash becoming .239/.296/.528 for an OPS of .824. That’s decent, and is good enough for third, behind Goldy (unsurprisingly) and Pollock (surprisingly again). Also did not expect to see Nick Ahmed or Jake Lamb in the top ten. </p>
<p id="FUxjYW">If we <a href="https://stathead.com/tiny/jkphJ">expand the list to all-time</a>, with the same 50 PA minimum, there are also names I wasn’t thinking we’d see. The best D-backs hitter against the Dodgers is... a man probably better known for <em>being</em> a Dodger: Shawn Green. Over two seasons and 29 games versus his old club, he batted .324/.402/.611 for a 1.013 OPS. Just below 1.000 is another name I didn’t expect: Carlos Quentin, who hit .327 versus Los Angeles, with almost as many walks as K’s (8:10). Also on the podium is O-Dawg, who had the most playing time of the top three (41 games) and batted .331. Goldy and Gonzo round out the top five, no surprises there. I’ll revisit this in upcoming series and see who our best hitters are against each opponent. </p>
<h4 id="Ox1ocK">Torey Lovullo notes</h4>
<h4 id="29z4mw"><a href="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23594574/lovullo.mp3">Torey Lovullo audio</a></h4>
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<p id="8kbSHV"><strong>Infielder Tipping Pitches:</strong></p>
<p id="2clJX5">Something special for Oldenschoole. Check out the last 6+ minutes of the audio. </p>
<p id="mXjdKr">Torey acknowledged that infielders tipping pitches is definitely a thing that happens in major league baseball. He has his own term for it called “Stomping”. He joked that if we see it, please let him know. It’s something they pay attention to all the time. He’s very focused on this to the point where I doubt it’s being overlooked. </p>
<p id="lule4t"><em>“Stomping looks like the middle infielder can see the signs and therefore is going to start to move in the direction where he feels the ball is going to be batted. Traditionally if it’s soft it’s going to be hit more to the pull side, if it’s firm it’s going to be hit more to the middle or right at you. I look at our stomping potential probably very four to five pitches. I don’t look at it all the time. But if I see a very curious take, I’ll start to look for stomping. “</em></p>
<p id="fBkewl">Torey said he felt that players are more prone to stomp when they see the sign, but with the pitch com it’s less likely to happen. There are even Decoy Stompers, which is something his guys do. </p>
<p id="Eb5tSM"><strong>Injury Updates: </strong></p>
<p id="W2bqLJ"><strong>Kyle Nelson</strong> was activated from the Covid IL. He said that he was fortunate to be just mildly symptomatic. He was able to throw live BP to stay fresh and stretched out during the IL stint</p>
<p id="wHQPzU"><strong>Daulton Varsho</strong>, struck on the upper right back on a pitch from Ryan Pepiot Friday night had further imaging Saturday and was diagnosed with a right scapula contusion and remains day to day. Listed in the lineup as DH initially, Manager Torey Lovullo said he would re-evaluate just prior to game time Saturday. Right now, the issue is primarily throwing, but he may still be able to hit. If Varsho is unable to throw Jose Herrera will continue to start at catcher with Cooper Hummel as backup. </p>
<p id="IE7Ivb"><strong>Jordan Luplow, left foot</strong> x-rays were negative, and he remains day to day. </p>
<p id="VkMNPI"><strong>Zach Davies</strong>, right leg contusion, will start on Sunday</p>
<p id="mgTzct"><strong>Nick Ahmed</strong> was in the clubhouse today, meaning he cleared Covid protocols but has not yet been activated from the IL. Per Lovullo Ahmed is still feeling very tired and “gassed”. </p>
<p id="O9VKCO"><strong>J.B. Bukauskas</strong>, (60-day IL, Shoulder) threw a 25-pitch bullpen yesterday</p>
<p id="ZvlXEf"><strong>Carson Kelly</strong> (Oblique) continues to take BP in the cage. He is progressing in positive way but timing to return to rehab games is still TBD </p>
<p id="3BnsWd"><strong>Luke Weaver</strong> threw 25 pitches in an extended spring training game today and all reports were positive. He was transferred to the 60 Day IL, but that appears to just be a roster management move and not an indication of any setback. Weaver first went on the IL April 8<sup>th</sup> and it’s unlikely he would have been activated prior to June 7<sup>th</sup>. </p>
<p id="8qyvCR">Bullpen Coach <strong>Mike Fetters</strong> has Covid. He is mildly symptomatic and feels good. </p>
<p id="Mdv9KJ">Dan Carlson is filling in as bullpen coach</p>
<p id="QFFNdA">First base Coach <strong>Dave McKay</strong> has also been out with Covid and reports feeling well. </p>
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https://www.azsnakepit.com/2022/5/28/23145775/diamondbacks-game-preview-48-5-28-vs-dodgersJim McLennanJack Sommers