The Diamondbacks are targeting Sep. 10 as a potential return date for Jordan Lawlar to Triple-A Reno.
My latest
@PHNX_Sports
prospect report, on Lawlar, Gino Groover's promotion, a position change for Tommy Troy, what's new with Jansel Luis and more:
Alright, hear me out
#Suns
fans...
#Dbacks
2001 World Series run vs. Yankees:
Game 1: W
Game 2: W
Game 3: L
Game 4: L
Game 5: L
Game 6: W
Game 7: W
#Suns
vs.
#Bucks
:
Game 1: W
Game 2: W
Game 3: L
Game 4: L
Game 5: L
Game 6: ???
Game 7: ???
The table is set.
Corbin Carroll has struck out looking seven times in 2023.
You could make a compelling case that not a single one of those seven pitches was actually a strike.
On top of his fan altercation in the first inning, Tommy Pham described another outside the team hotel:
"She was drunk. 'F you, Tommy Pham, that's why we got rid of you.' I'm like, 'Lady, I reached free agency. They didn't get rid of me ... In fact, they tried to re-sign me.'"
Christian Walker on not making the All-Star team:
"It stings a little bit, but it is what it is. Those guys deserve it. Nothing but credit to them.
"To be honest, I got the support and the respect of my teammates and my peers and my coaches, and nothing else really matters."
Torey Lovullo on the Tommy Pham incident:
"These fans are awful to Tommy ... I don't know the details of it. I just didn't like what's coming out of these fans' mouth. It's real, I'm not making that up. If you get near our dugout, you'd be amazed at what's being said."
Brandon Pfaadt is the fourth pitcher in Diamondbacks history to strike out nine in a playoff game.
The others: Brandon Webb, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson.
Of all Dodgers hitters, David Peralta might be drawing louder boos than anyone.
In an LA Times story that was published today, Peralta said that this would feel like a home game for the Dodgers.
The Diamondbacks’ offseason haul:
3B Eugenio Suárez
OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (re-signed)
LHP Eduardo Rodriguez
DH/OF Joc Pederson
OF Randal Grichuk
LHP Jordan Montgomery
Ketel Marte said that X-rays were deemed unnecessary for his ankle. He said that he’ll need a day off, but he expects to be back in the lineup on Monday.
D-backs win, 6-5, in one of the best playoff games you'll see. The Phillies had a 5-3 lead heading to the eighth. Alek Thomas hit a pinch-hit, two-run dinger against Craig Kimbrel, Gabriel Moreno singled home the winning run with two outs.
The NLCS is tied, 2-2.
Immediately having a home run ball changed to a foul ball, Gabriel Moreno homered on the very next pitch.
It is 4-0 Diamondbacks.
This is unbelievable.
Apparently, the Chase Field rainout set off a chain of peculiar events in the building.
Madison Bumgarner is currently listed as the D-backs’ pitcher on the lineup board, and Stephen Vogt — today’s manager for the Guardians — is listed as Arizona’s catcher.
What a difference in less than four years for the
#Suns
.
Eric Bledsoe on Oct 22, 2017:
"I Don't wanna be here"
Chris Paul on Sep 27, 2021:
"This is home for me."
Theoretically, the probability of a 50% shooter making all of 14 field goal attempts is 0.0061%.
That’s what the
#Suns
’ Chris Paul did tonight in New Orleans.
Andrew Saalfrank, who was called up from Triple-A Reno one month ago today, entered with the bases loaded and one out, and did not allow a run to score.
Two years ago, the Diamondbacks lost 110 games. This year, they are going to the World Series.
Corbin Carroll had three hits and a sac fly. Gabriel Moreno added two key hits. Brandon Pfaadt was good. The bullpen did not allow a run.
Game 1 in Arlington is on Friday.
Merrill Kelly on the conditions at Chase Field:
"Still super hot. I had to change my jersey after the fourth inning. I don't know if it's just the stadium being old ... but I'm definitely sweating more here than I am other places."
Corbin Carroll is the first player in Diamondbacks history to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award.
Carroll qualifies for MLB's Prospect Promotion Incentive, so the Diamondbacks will receive an extra pick immediately after the first round in the 2024 First-Year Player Draft.
Per
@JeffPassan
, the Diamondbacks have signed Jordan Montgomery.
Montgomery posted a 3.20 ERA last year in 188.1 IP in the regular season, followed by a 2.90 ERA in the playoffs on the Rangers’ path to a World Series championship.
What an offseason this has been for Arizona.
The 2023 Diamondbacks now have the second-most postseason wins (4) of any team in franchise history, trailing only the 2001 club that won the World Series.
After slashing .400/.431/.655 in spring training, Diamondbacks shortstop prospect Blaze Alexander has made the Opening Day roster.
Emmanuel Rivera was designated for assignment.
Corbin Carroll hit a pinch-hit, two-run, walk-off home run.
Down 6-0 after three and 8-2 after six, the Diamondbacks scored seven runs in the final three frames to beat the Nationals, 9-8.
Wow.
Obligatory last-day-of-season ballpark photo.
Thank you to all of you for following my coverage in what turned out to be one of the most memorable seasons in Diamondbacks history.
If you’re flipping Suns/Lakers tickets at absurd prices to Lakers fans as a side hustle, you need to find another hobby. Please keep that building orange, people.
#Suns
Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald on his deceptive heater:
"One of my favorite things is to just blow somebody away with a 90 or 91 mph fastball and they just look up at the scoreboard like it doesn't make any sense."
This is Alek Thomas' first start against a lefty since the D-backs faced Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the NLDS.
He has gone 2-for-3 with a single and a double.
Brandon Pfaadt's 22 postseason strikeouts rank third in Diamondbacks history, trailing only Curt Schilling (63) and Randy Johnson (62).
(Yes, he has a bit of a ways to go catch them.)
Alek Thomas just put a 14-pitch at-bat on Michael Grove and it ended in a solo homer. D-backs lead 10-0.
Thomas has seen 29 pitches in four plate appearances tonight.
Some personal news: After 5+ years covering the team from afar, today I am officially moving to Phoenix to work full-time as an Arizona Diamondbacks beat reporter for
@PHNX_Sports
.
I'm ecstatic to get started!
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo beat the reporters to the interview room tonight.
We entered to find him sitting in the second row, notepad/pen in hand, ready to ask the first question.
Obvious fact that somehow feels profound:
Either this is the last time the Diamondbacks will play at Chase Field in 2023, or the Diamondbacks are going to the World Series.
D-backs win, 4-3, on a two-out, two-run, walk-off single by Jake McCarthy in the bottom of the ninth. It was McCarthy's third hit of the game. This was McCarthy's fifth multi-hit effort in his past six games.
The Diamondbacks are 68-53.
Tommy Pham on Brandon Pfaadt’s outing:
“He was great. If anything, I would have left him in. You don’t want to take out a guy like that with so much momentum on our side.”
With Golden State win, Phoenix still needs 1 more win to secure Monty Williams and
#Suns
staff trip to
#NBAAllStar
game.
2-6 cutoff date.
PHX 39-9 (4 gms left)
GSW 37-13 (3 gms left)
Win vs. Spurs puts PHX at 40-9. Could lose next 3 and have better record even if GSW wins out
Christian Walker won the NL Gold Glove Award at first base for the second straight year.
Gabriel Moreno won the award at catcher in his first full major league season.
Ryan Thompson, DFA'd by the Tampa Bay Rays less than two months ago, got the final out in a bases-loaded jam in the sixth and then faced the minimum in the seventh against Betts, Freeman and Smith.
D-backs take Game 1, 6-3. Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte and Gabi Moreno all homered against Corbin Burnes. Christian Walker tacked on a big two-run double in the ninth. Evan Longoria made multiple incredible defensive plays. The bullpen did not allow a run in 6 1/3 innings of work.
Jordan Montgomery was fantastic in his Diamondbacks debut:
6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 78 pitches (54 strikes).
He retired eight batters on two pitches or less.
Paul Sewald on what surprised him most after being traded to the Diamondbacks:
“Corbin Carroll’s even better in person than he is watching highlights on TV.”
Per the D-backs, Torey Lovullo has invited Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell to be part of his All-Star Game coaching staff.
Lovullo will manage the National League since the D-backs represented the NL in the World Series last year.
D-backs win, 5-1. Merrill Kelly was very good, tossing five innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts. Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. silenced the crowd with back-to-back homers against Aaron Nola in the second. Ketel Marte added two RBI hits.
Game 7 is tomorrow night.
All of this has happened in the last turn of the rotation:
Merrill Kelly: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K.
Zac Gallen: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K.
Alex Young: 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 K.
#Dbacks
Archie Bradley hopes his pitching career isn't over. But he knows that whenever it is, he'll have a job waiting for him with the team that started it all.
"At my core, I'm a Diamondback."
Story, free & unlocked for
@PHNX_Sports
:
Corbin Carroll on netting the Diamondbacks a draft pick with his NL ROTY Award:
"That's probably what brought the most weight to chasing something like this ... Not for the personal fame or attention, but that ability to benefit my team."
Torey Lovullo after taking a closer look at last night’s missed calls to Gabi Moreno and Nathaniel Lowe:
“I was up until 3:30 in the morning steaming mad. I’ll leave it right there.”
D-backs GM Mike Hazen on the Dodgers' $1 billion-plus offseason:
"I don't really pay much attention to what they do. We need to figure out what we're doing, how to make our team better, what we're going to do to be better than 2023. That's really all I'm focused on."
The D-backs' last turn through the rotation:
Pfaadt: 5.1 IP, 2 ER
Henry: 6 IP, 1 ER
Montgomery: 7 IP, 3 ER
Gallen: 5+ IP, 3 ER
Cecconi: 6 IP, 1 ER
They went 1-4.
D-backs win, 5-3. They swept the Guardians. Josh Bell hit two more homers. Eduardo Rodriguez gave up three runs in 5 2/3 innings in his debut. Justin Martinez converted his second straight save.
The Diamondbacks are 63-52. They are 3.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West.