Another day, another blown lead?
Roster move from yesterday
The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:
- Selected RHP Keury Mella (KAY-ooh-ree MAY-uh) from Triple-A Reno.
- Placed RHP Taylor Clarke (strained right Teres Major) on the 10-day injured list.
- Transferred RHP Seth Frankoff (right forearm soreness) to the 60-day injured list.
That one arrived too late for yesterday’s preview, the timestamp on the email being 6:03 pm. It may have been a case of needing to get the arriving player cleared and at the park on time. It’s a bit of a resurrection for Mella, who sucked from 2017-19 while with the Reds, posting an ERA of 7.94 over 17 innings, but was then great for the D-backs last year (1.80 ERA in 10 innings). I had him marked as a dark-horse candidate for this year, but the team apparently felt differently, designating him for assignment in February, without even a look in spring training. He passed through without being claimed, and went to Reno, where he has had a 3.86 ERA over 18.2 IP, with a K:BB of 19:7. Curious to see how he does here.
Last night was the blown lead of all blown leads, tying the franchise record by being the second time the team has lost a game after leading it by seven runs. It was the D-backs 13th loss where they had the lead at some point. That’s actually considerably fewer than the NL average, which may be higher than you’d expect. Across the whole league, 207 of the 501 total losses have involved the loser blowing the lead, a 41.3% rate. Arizona, at 13 of 48, is down at 27.1%. In the other 35 defeats, they never led, which is perhaps testament to their dismal performance this year. The last time the D-backs never trailed in a game? The 11-3 win over the Miami Marlins on on May 11, more than five weeks ago.
Zac Gallen notes
- Zac Gallen will make his return and start tomorrow. His quick return is somewhat of a surprise.
- He pitched in a sim game, then had another bullpen, and then pitched a 3 inning rehab start in the AZL. He dominated in that start, striking out the first 7 batters. ”The strike zone is a little bit bigger, I wish they’d bring that strike zone up here” he said laughing. He said he was able to get the same intensity he would have gotten in a rehab game in Reno. He will most likely need several starts to get completely stretched out, but they determined it was better to just stretch out in the majors then “waste bullets” on rehab in Reno. Both Gallen and Torey insist that the medical staff says there is no additional risk handling this way.
- Gallen was working on using his legs a bit more and “cleaning up the arm stroke” which they felt was getting a little long to avoid future injury
- Asked about sticky substances he joked that he was surprised that it took this long to ask. He hinted that he was encouraged to use that stuff while in the Marlins organization, but didn’t want to comment further until the commissioners office gives a full interview and discusses what was used and the specific findings behind their investigation. But “you can read between the lines”
Nothing much from Torey, he echoed the company line that it was safe to bring back Gallen so quickly. Here’s the audio for them both.
Leave a Reply