Will the D-backs end April at .500 or above it?
A little behind schedule today, so this may well be a little brief. The D-backs play their final game of April, having gone 13-12 so far, on the heels of splitting the four-game series with the Cubs in March. So today will determine whether they have a winning record for the month, or say “Hello!” to our old friend, Mt. .500 once again. At least the bullpen should be well-rested with two clear days off for everybody but Ryne Nelson, and more than that for the likes of Juan Morillo and Jalen Beeks. Of course, if Corbin Burnes doesn’t pitch a good deal better than Eduardo Rodriguez did yesterday, then the state of the relief corps is not going to make a lot of difference.
Not much news out of New York to report on: we’re still waiting the return of Ketel Marte, which is generally expected to come this weeked in Philadelphia. But there was more information on the A.J. Puk (remember him?) situation. Assistant GM Mike Fitzgerald spoke to Wolf and Luke on Arizona Sports, and he discussed the process and way forward. “We got a consensus across the different people who were asked to take a look at this, that this will not require surgery. Rest and recovery should be decent enough to put him in a spot where hopefully, a few weeks from now, we can ramp up that progression.” It may be the first time someone has spoken to Dr. Neal ElAttrache and NOT ended up under the knife!