Zac Gallen seeks to boost his trade value. Maybe.
It begins to feel like Mr. Saalfrank is getting the Mountains of Goose treatment. He has yet to make it into a game since being called up three days ago. Considering how busy the bullpen has been – 8.1 innings of work across Thursday and Friday – it’s a bit of a surprise. But they did lean heavily on the two long men, Jake Woodford and Andrew DeSclafani. Both of them will likely be unavailable tonight, so I suspect we might see the first appearance of our gamblin’ man. Might well depend on how Zac Gallen pitches. His last two outings have been impressive, but as noted at the time, we’ve seen this movie before. THREE good starts in a row though? He might be back. Or, at least back-ish. Back enough to trade, perhaps.
Because I do suspect I’ve gone through most of the five stages of grief in regard to the 2025 Diamondbacks season, and have finally reached “acceptance.” The team has fought like hell to climb out from under the relentless tide of injuries, but there’s only so far that pluck, moxie and a “can do” attitude can take you in the major leagues [it’s more useful when putting on a show to save your beloved community rec center, for example]. It has been a good run, and there’s still reasons to watch. How many of those reasons will still be part of the roster come the trade deadline is a different question…
Therefore, enjoy Gallen while you can. It’s possible, though certainly not certain, that we could be into the last three or four outings of his time in Arizona. It has been a glorious mix of the awesome and the frustrating, with the last season or so, unfortunately skewing toward the latter. If we are now heading towards the drawing of the curtain, let’s hope it’s in a manner appropriate for someone who is arguably one of the top five pitchers in franchise history.