The D-backs have the NL home-run leader. But for how long?
Recaps
[SI] Eugenio Suárez Powers D-backs to Massive Sweep of Cardinals – The Diamondbacks, as they often do, exploded in the first inning. Corbin Carroll recorded his 13th triple of the season on the first pitch he saw, his third three-bagger in two games. Geraldo Perdomo brought him home on a fielder’s choice, Josh Naylor walked, and Eugenio Suárez blasted his 34th homer of the season to give Arizona a 4-0 lead off Cardinals’ starter Miles Mikolas. Suárez wasn’t done there, however. He’d crush a solo homer in the third inning to extend Arizona’s lead. Sunday’s game marks Suárez’s second straight multi-homer game — the first time he’s done so in his career.
[Dbacks.com] Déjà vu for Geno as second straight multi-homer game seals D-backs sweep – Suárez was asked after the game whether he thinks the team sent a message to the front office with the sweep. “Yes, obviously,” he said. “You know, we want to try to make it a hard decision for them. I think everybody feels happy where we are right now. We’re back to .500 and that’s a good message for everybody. We want to stay together and try to win games. I think we got a chance. There’s a lot of games left, and now we with this series sweep, it’s a good message for everybody.”
Team news
[Arizona Sports] Diamondbacks sign top draft pick Kayson Cunningham – Cunningham signed for $4,581,900 after he was picked 18th overall by Arizona in the MLB Draft on July 13. The 5-foot-10 prep infielder was committed to play college ball at Texas, but he elected to join Arizona’s organization straight out of high school. The left-handed Cunningham has plus hit and run tools, according to MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, and he hit .509 during his senior season. He won the 2024-25 Gatorade Texas Baseball Player of the Year and the USA Baseball Player of the Year.
[AZ Central] Ketel Marte says he lost $400K worth of items in burglary – “Happy to be back here to continue doing my job and face what happened,” Marte said in Spanish. “It was a difficult situation, but we’ve come back here to start over after what happened. It doesn’t feel good. The whole world knows what happened, but these things will get taken care of.” Marte said he was in a hotel in Atlanta for the All-Star Game when he learned that his home had been broken into. He said the value of losses was around $400,000. He followed through with plans to go to his native Dominican Republic after leaving Atlanta, then returned to Arizona.
[Dbacks Under Review] Not For Sale Yet! D-backs Start Second Half with Home Sweep of Cardinals – After playing their best three games of the season against the St. Louis Cardinals, the D-backs sit at .500, and the entire vibe around the club has shifted. This team still has a long way to go to convince Hazen to add to this club, with nine games remaining before the July 30th deadline. But the long journey begins with a single step. After the weekend, Arizona is just 4.5 games back of San Diego for the final Wild Card spot. They’ll have a tough matchup coming up next in the Houston Astros, a team that’s caught fire after another slow start.
Rumor round-up
[Just Baseball] What Kind of Haul Could Eugenio Suarez Net the D-backs? – Suarez is the best rental slugger on the market since pre-Covid. He is fresh off an All-Star appearance, isn’t expensive in terms of money, and is hitting better than nearly all of the sluggers that have been traded since 2021. Perhaps the Kris Bryant package in 2021 is semi-comparable, as he netted a No. 9 prospect and a No. 30 prospect in return, in a buyer’s market. Since this is a seller’s market, prices will be higher. The teams that could use a third baseman of Suarez’s caliber would be the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and the New York Mets. While the fit is cleanest with the first two teams, all five of those teams would be able to fit Suarez in and enhance their playoff odds and World Series odds tremendously.
[Arizona Sports] Mike Hazen leaves door open for team to be buyers at trade deadline – Hazen joined MLB Network Radio on Sunday and said he is undecided on what direction the D-backs will go at the deadline. He added that most of the calls he’s getting from other teams assume they will be sellers. “I would love nothing more than to really help the sellers by choking out the supply because the Diamondbacks players aren’t available… We are in a pretty precarious situation relative to where we are in the Wild Card race where you can look at one way or the other,” Hazen said. “It’s ultimately going to be my decision on what direction that ultimately takes us.”
[Newsweek] Diamondbacks Reveal Aggressive Trade Deadline Plan, Targets: Report – With the Diamondbacks expected to cut ties with so many players, including Eugenio Suárez, Josh Naylor, Zac Gallen, and Merrill Kelly, they shouldn’t have any issue in acquiring young pitching. The Diamondbacks could target Cam Schlitter in a potential Suárez trade with the New York Yankees. They could target Hunter Dobbins or Richard Fitts in a potential trade with the Boston Red Sox. The possibilities are endless for Arizona if it’s going to sell as aggressively as everybody seems to think. Either way, the Diamondbacks need to add more pitching. Their farm system has the talent, but adding more top-end arms that are near big league ready could help this team turn it around in the next two years.
[USA Today] 18 biggest questions for MLB second half – The Arizona Diamondbacks, who have wallowed in mediocrity all season, hold the most cards. They’ve got Suarez, Gallen and Kelly, first baseman Josh Naylor, reliever Shelby Miller and outfielder Randal Grichuk all on the trade block… The Yankees and Red Sox, each looking for a starting pitcher, have sent scouts to watch Diamondbacks starters Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly in Phoenix, with the Yankees also keeping a close eye on third baseman Eugenio Suárez… While the Diamondbacks plan to call up top prospect Jordan Lawlar to play third base once they trade All-Star Eugenio Suárez, scouts who have watched Lawlar insist he should be moved off the infield to center field.
[SI] Yankees Asked About Diamondbacks All-Star, Insider Reports – According to New York Post MLB insider Jon Heyman, the New York Yankees have inquired on Suárez, looking for a potential trade. Heyman singled out the Yankees, but implied that New York may not be the only ones. Suárez’s name has been thrown around in speculation and mock trade articles for weeks, and that will only continue as the Deadline grows closer. “You see a lot on social media… it’s a lot of rumors. But my mentality right now is come here to be focused day by day, try to win games, try to help my team win and stay focused on my job,” Suárez said.
And, elsewhere…
[MLB] 10 things I learned behind the scenes in the replay room – As many times as I’ve walked past and even set foot in what is officially known as the Zoom Replay Operations Center in MLB’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan, I’ve never actually been in there while games are going on. To the best of my knowledge, no reporter had. So, this seemed a topic worthy of … wait for it … review!… If you’ve ever heard a broadcaster say something to the effect of, “They have angles in New York that we don’t have,” what they are referring to are angles from the other broadcast crew, not some proprietary, MLB-owned angle.
[ESPN] Braves’ Perez, irked by Yanks’ Chisholm, catches MLB’s eye – According to multiple reports, MLB is investigating the incident that occurred during the Yankees’ 12-9 victory, when Perez pointed to his head while conversing with Chisholm. Chisholm drew the ire of Perez, who was upset the Yankees’ All-Star might have been relaying signs from second base to his teammate, shortstop Anthony Volpe… “I was just saying, ‘Be smart.’ I like that guy. He’s one of my favorites,” Perez told MLB.com, in reference to Chisholm. “And he got mad about it. I don’t know why he got mad about it. So, I was like, ‘Take it easy,’ and he started doing some [stuff].”
[Wikipedia] Steve Dalkowski – Pitching for the Kingsport (Tennessee) Orioles on August 31, 1957, in Bluefield, West Virginia, Dalkowski struck out 24 Bluefield hitters in a single minor league game, yet issued 18 walks, and threw six wild pitches. Dalkowski had been unnerved early in the game when he beaned a batter, sending him to the hospital. Orioles assistant farm director Harry Dalton attended the game, and stated the ball rebounded off the batter’s helmet like a pop up to second base. Dalkowski pitched a total of 62 innings in 1957, struck out 121 (averaging 18 strikeouts per game), but won only once because he walked 129 and threw 39 wild pitches.