Paul Sewald return to the roster. Alek Thomas suffered a setback. Zac Gallen completed a dominant start, but still didn’t look himself.
Diamondbacks News
Arizona 6, Cincinnati 2
Zac Gallen pitched six shutout innings. His performance was followed by Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte going back-to-back in the seventh. Paul Sewald returned to action and pitched a conditioning outing, allowing one earned run on a home run by Tyler Stephenson.
Gallen Looks Good in Return
Pitching on 10 days of rest, Zac Gallen returned to the mound after having left his last start due to a tight hamstring. While Gallen didn’t look his sharpest, he was nonetheless incredibly effective, tossing six shutout innings and striking out six. Gallen only allowed one hit, but did walk three. The Arizona ace only needed 79 pitches to complete his outing before being pulled by Torey Lovullo out of an abundance of caution.
Carroll’s Return to Form Aids Gallen’s Return to Mound
Corbin Carroll had two hits, including a two-run homer in the seventh inning. Zac Gallen tossed six innings of one-hit shutout baseball. The Diamondbacks cruised to a game one victory.
Are Players Returning from Injury too Quickly?
A setback for Alek Thomas in his attempt to return from injury raises questions, as he is far from the first Diamondbacks players to suffer a recovery setback in the early stages of the season.
Druw Jones Starting to Heat Up
It still is not pretty, nor is it happening with impressive form, but Druw Jones has begun to find his groove and is starting to make strides while getting some impressive results.
6 scoreless frames. 1 hit allowed. 6 punchouts.
Just another day in the life of @zacgallen23. pic.twitter.com/WJYDzAQWN5
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 8, 2024
Other MLB News
MLB’s New Blackout-Free Streaming Service May Already Be Dead
Evan Drellich from The Athletic reported that the current expectation is that Diamond will, in fact, emerge from bankruptcy thanks to a new plan backed by Amazon.
While that would throw a wrench into the league’s potential streaming package, some analysts he spoke to believed MLB would accept a new deal with Diamond. Streaming services are notoriously unprofitable, and owners enjoy the long-term commitments and guaranteed paydays of television media deals.
MLB Warns Teams Against Encouraging Players to Withdraw from High Schools to Avoid Amateur Draft
That this needed to happen is simply a sad state of affairs.
Durant-led Boardroom, MLB announce Strategic Partnership
When MLB and the Kevin Durant-led sports and entertainment company Boardroom linked up in Arizona in February, it wasn’t just a one-off event. It was the genesis of a partnership that’s here to stay.
A moment almost 3 years in the making.
Back in September 2021, Ryan Vilade made his Major League debut. Last night, he got his first Major League hit! pic.twitter.com/0FUCAwqlyZ
— MLB (@MLB) May 8, 2024
The Gospel of Juan Soto
Alas, there is simply no way Arizona will ever stand a chance of landing Sotot for DH starting in 2025.