Another opponent arrives, salivating moistly…
Roster move
The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:
- Recalled RHP Humberto Castellanos from Triple-A Reno.
- Placed RHP Matt Peacock on the Bereavement List.
Our sympathies go to Peacock. At least this should be a relatively low-impact loss for the team, since he started Saturday’s game. Indeed, it basically gives Arizona an extra bullpen arm for now. That’s no bad thing, considering how short the D-backs’ starting pitchers have been going of late. Caleb Smith’s six inning outing the other day was something of an aberration. Indeed, it was only the second outing in June where an Arizona starter has recorded an out after the fifth inning. In 18 starts this month, they have thrown a total of 70.2 innings – an average of just 3.93 innings per start. That’s the lowest in the NL and it’s not even close, six fewer than than the next worst Phillies.
Arizona’s starters are 0-11 with a 7.90 ERA in June. That’s not good. Among teams with 70+ innings pitches in a month, it’s currently the highest ERA for any MLB rotation since the 2007 Orioles had an 8.44 ERA over the final month of the 2007 season. The only two other teams with a worse starting ERA in the wild-card era the 2004 Rockies (8.20 over the first month) and the 1996 Tigers, who were 0-14 with a 7.92 ERA at the end of the 1996 season. In case you were wondering, the 2004 Diamondbacks didn’t have a month with a rotational ERA above 5.71, more than two runs better than the current figure. Having Brandon Webb and Randy Johnson might have helped a bit there though…
Torey Lovullo notes
- Eduardo Escobar is available off the bench today. He has a “very slight strain in his right quad, the function is good and he’s going to manage it”
- Matt Peacock was placed on the bereavement list, and Humberto Castellanos was called up. Castellanos will work out of the bullpen, and Torey expects Peacock to be able to return within the 3 day time frame to make his next start.
- Carson Kelly’s diagnosis was confirmed with further imaging. He has a “small” fracture in his right wrist. He will be at Salt River Fields for the treatment and recovery phase. There is no time table for his return.
- Madison Bumgarner threw a 20 pitch bullpen today. He feels good.
- J.B. Bukauskas and Taylor Widener will throw live AB’s tomorrow and Kole Calhoun will take some of those live AB’s.
- Taylor Clarke is still in treatment phase and has not yet begun a throwing program
- Tyler Clippard will throw a bullpen tomorrow.