The team’s tendency to finish series strong continued.
Recaps
[AZ Central] Diamondbacks blow out Padres to avoid series sweep – Finally, the Diamondbacks could feel some joy. Ketel Marte watched his home run fly, then skipped out of the batters’ box with a levity that has been rare in recent days and weeks. In the bullpen and in the dugout, players smiled and raised their arms skyward. This was the type of moment the Diamondbacks have spent nearly two weeks searching for… Every hit began to feel like a battle. They could never quite get untracked early and create an easy offensive day for themselves, the type of afternoon or evening where the hits and runs flow naturally. On Sunday, Marte’s homer helped instigate one of those days.
[Arizona Sports] ‘Mad’ Diamondbacks aim to build off hitting outburst from win over Padres – Manager Torey Lovullo said the energy was fantastic in the dugout, explaining he sensed the club was mad but focused. “Hitting is contagious, and when things go right, and it’s usually built off successful pitching, that just keeps the flow of the game going,” Lovullo said. “So I feel very strongly this group is ready for a run offensively. We’ve had a couple bad work weeks mixed in with a couple good work weeks. We’re better than what we have been doing. We know that and it’s just time to be consistent and be stubborn.”
[SI] Diamondbacks Bust Out of Slump with 11-4 Win Over the Padres – Ryne Nelson had been out 15 days due to an elbow contusion. He looked sharp early on, retiring the first five batters he faced. But he ran into trouble after two quick outs in the second inning, allowing three runs. The big knock was a Jackson Merrill two-run homer. A double and two singles also led to a Padres run in the 3rd inning, but Nelson was able to shut it down from there, throwing two more scoreless innings to complete his outing. This is what was most important to Nelson. “I just wanted to go out there and put some zeroes up. It’s never good when we’re scoring and you go out there and give up a couple of runs. So being able to throw up those zeroes was big.”
Team news
[SI] The Diamondbacks’ Season is on the Brink of Disaster – Torey Lovullo acknowledged how dire the situation is. “It’s obvious right now that we are grinding, things aren’t going well, and we just aren’t getting the job done.” It’s been a stunning development for a team that went all the way to the World Series in 2023 and then invested in a franchise record high payroll. But a combination of injuries, multiple losses early on in close games they should have won, a perenially poor bullpen, and more recently the total disappearance of the offense has led to a start few would have envisioned.
[Dbacks.com] Bats break out, but can D-backs sustain? – The key for the D-backs is figuring out how to continue the offensive surge because they have had big games this year, only to struggle to score runs in subsequent contests. “I just think it’s about having good at bats,” outfielder Jake McCarthy said. “I know that sounds super cliché, but we could wear guys down, maybe get in the bullpen a little earlier by seeing [more] pitches, just passing it to the next guy. Obviously, we all want to slug, we all want to have a ton of hits. But a walk here or there, just moving a guy over early in the inning [makes a difference]. So, again, it sounds really simple, but I think when one through nine does that, it gives us a better chance.”
[AZ Central] Paul Sewald set to return from injured list – “Really good,” Sewald said of how he felt during his most recent rehab appearance. “At this point, there’s no worrying about my oblique. It’s just worrying about pitching.” That was not the case late last month. Something felt funny in his left oblique during a rehab outing with Triple-A Reno, prompting Sewald to speak up. As it turned out, there was no cause for concern. Sewald, who threw an inning in an extended spring training game on Saturday, will take today off, travel with the team to Cincinnati and is expected to be activated ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Reds.
[Arizona Sports] Diamondbacks prospect Deyvison De Los Santos showing improvement after MLB chance – De Los Santos — who signed with the D-backs at 16 years old from the Dominican Republic in 2019 — said the experience with Cleveland taught him a lot about maturity and routines. Five-time All-Star Jose Ramirez took a mentorship role with De Los Santos, according to Guardians reporter Zack Meisel of The Athletic. “I see it just like another challenge and will just continue to work hard,” De Los Santos told Arizona Sports via Spanish interpreter Alex Arpiza. “Waking up with a purpose and being able to learn from any possible mistake that might have been done in the previous game.”
And, elsewhere…
[ESPN] Takeaways from Dodgers’ series sweep of Braves – The Braves arrived in L.A. with the best record in the major leagues and left with the second-best record in the National League East, falling two games behind the Philadelphia Phillies — not to mention one game behind the Dodgers. But the season is young. Sentiments fluctuate. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a reasonable baseball observer who doesn’t still believe the Dodgers and Braves are the two best teams in the NL and perhaps, even after the Braves’ miserable weekend, the entire sport. So what, exactly, could we glean from their first head-to-head matchup this season?
[MLB] These 9 hitters have made changes for the better – When you break hitting down to its molecular level, the only thing anyone really has control over is when they’re going to swing the bat. This early in the season, statistical improvements are especially delicate, but if they can be linked to a change in approach, they start to feel a lot more concrete. With that in mind, here are nine players whose adjustments have improved their results in the early going.
[Washington Post] A frank look at hot dog prices at MLB ballparks – Last year, USA Today gathered hot dog prices from 28 of MLB’s 30 teams. Building on that important research, and inspired by readers’ reactions to the price of concessions at Nationals Park after the team’s annual ballpark tour for media members ahead of Opening Day, I sought to compile a list of the cheapest hot dogs available at every ballpark, regardless of size. The following summary is based on hot dog prices obtained from hospitality vendors, teams and, in a few cases, the MLB Ballpark app.