The D-backs got planked and spanked by the Pirates
Recaps
[AZ Central] Diamondbacks continue downward tumble in series loss to Pirates – During their stay in this city, the Diamondbacks had more trades executed (two) than runs scored (one)… Right fielder Corbin Carroll admitted that external distractions likely factored into the struggles. “Probably,” Carroll said. “Those things are natural. Our coaches did a good job of trying to prevent something like that from happening, but I think stuff like that can creep in. I think it’s also a little bit the nature of where some of the hitters, including myself, are at. Just a product of a couple of things.” Third baseman Eugenio Suarez had a miserable series, going just 1 for 11 with four strikeouts.
Team news
[Dbacks Under Review] Mike Hazen’s Future May Hinge on This Trade Deadline – Both Hazen and Lovullo’s seats will not be warm if they can successfully navigate the deadline and the offseason. However, if the team plays to the level I expect in 2026, it’ll get hot real quick. Assuming the team doesn’t go on a run similar to the Detroit Tigers’ last year, they’ll have missed the playoffs in two straight years despite franchise record payrolls. It’s unclear how patient Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick will be if the team gets off to a slow start in 2026. A full-on collapse, one similar to 2010, could spell doom for Hazen.
[SI] Diamondbacks’ Spirit Pirated Away in Pittsburgh – They played 29 innings, and the one run that scored was the ghost runner who started out at second base in the top of the 11th inning in game one. Through the first 100 games of the season, the Diamondbacks averaged 5.15 runs per game, ranking third in MLB. But they scored only seven runs in being swept by the Astros earlier in the week, totaling eight runs in six games. That dropped their runs per game to 4.93. Arizona didn’t have many hits in the series, but they were also 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position. The lone run in game one scored on a sacrifice fly.
[Burn City Sports] Looking at Diamondbacks’ returns after Naylor and Grichuk trades – The move adds to a growing group of young arms the Diamondbacks are assembling to support a staff that has been hit hard by injuries. Who are Arizona’s newest pitchers? What do they bring to the desert?… With the Diamondbacks’ second trade in three days focused on young pitching returns, it’s clear the team will continue to aggressively pursue more arms.
Trade talk
[USA Today] Cubs ‘Expressing Interest’ in Pair of Diamondbacks Starting Pitchers – The Diamondbacks had no intention of trading Josh Naylor so quickly, but the Mariners’ offer overwhelmed them, and they quickly moved, acquiring pitching prospects Brandyn Garcia and Ashton Izzi… The Diamondbacks never engaged in contract extension talks this season with Suárez… Teams that have been heavily scouting the Diamondbacks view Merrill Kelly as their best available pitcher ahead of Zac Gallen. Kelly, 36, has a career 2.25 ERA in four postseason starts. Each are free agents after the season, with the Cubs expressing interest as they scour the market for a starter.
[Dbacks.com] ‘This is the place that I grew up’: Gallen savors possible last start with D-backs – Arizona was the place where his life changed, and playing for the Diamondbacks is where he’s made his mark so far in the game… The soon-to-be 30-year-old met his fiancée after coming to Arizona. He finished third in the 2023 NL Cy Young Award race, pitched in a World Series and became an ace and Opening Day starter as a Diamondback. “This is the place that I grew up,” Gallen said. “A place where I laid roots, a place where I met my soon-to-be wife. So, yeah, Arizona means a lot to me. They gave me a lot of runway in the last six or seven years. I kind of learned a lot about myself. The organization, the community has been great — everything, top, bottom, just the support staff, [manager Torey Lovullo], everything.”
[12 News] D-backs fire sale coming at trade deadline? – “I’m open-minded to a number of different things,” said Hazen. “We’re listening to what people have to say and what people have to offer, and we’re going to do what’s best for the long-term good for this organization.” What about guys who are under contract, like Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, or any of their young core? “In almost every conversation, it’s ‘Would you guys talk about these guys at all?’ If I say, ‘Depends on what you’re talking about. It would be a haul.’ That usually shuts the conversations down pretty quickly. So the majority of the conversations that are real conversations in my mind surround the guys that are coming up.”
[Just Baseball] What Kind of Haul Could Zac Gallen Get? – Many contenders will see him as a No. 3 or 4 starter for their rotation with high upside if they are able to unlock him or fix his delivery and get him back to how he was before this season. His pedigree will raise his value to teams, along with the fact that he’s a rental starting pitcher. Those prices are already high, and every contender could use a starter with the potential that Gallen has. That’s why it won’t be a surprise if a team pays up for Gallen and gives an offer far better than the Qualifying Offer pick Arizona would get in the off-season.
Minor league round-up
Reno 6, Oklahoma City 2
Bryce Jarvis turned in his best start in a bit, allowing one run in 5.2 innings. He did walk four against five strikeouts. But much of his outing was high pressure, as after the teams traded runs in the first, no one scored until the fifth, when an Andy Weber single scored one and Seth Brown’s second double of the day drove two home, giving the Aces a 4-1 lead. They added another in the sixth, and after the Comets pulled one back in the eighth, added one and came close to adding two in the bottom of the eighth, as Sergio Alcántara singled and Juan Corniel followed with a double, but Alcántara was thrown out at home. Corniel scored on an Albert Almora Jr. single. Juan Morillo loaded the bases in the ninth to bring the tying run up with one out, but struck out the next two batters to end it.
Kristian Robinson made his AAA debut and picked up two hits, walked, and stole a base. Almora, Weber, Brown, and Alcántara each had two hits as well.
Amarillo 6, Corpus Christi 4
The Soddies got things going right away against rehabbing big leaguer J.P. France, scoring three in the first inning. Manuel Pena and Tommy Troy started the game with singles, but two outs followed to make it look like it might come to nothing. Ryan Waldschmidt delivered a single to score Pena, however, and after Ivan Melendez walked, Caleb Roberts singled home Troy and Waldschmidt to make it 3-0. Waldschmidt would single home another run in the fifth, and J.J. D’Orazio would get a painful RBI, as he was hit by pitch with the bases loaded. When Waldschmidt scored in the seventh on a Roberts sacrifice fly to make it 6-1, things looked fairly comfortable.
They instantly became uncomfortable as Nate Savino couldn’t find the strike zone. After walking two, he found too much of the strike zone and allowed a three-run home run. Eli Saul allowed two base runners in the eighth but kept things scoreless, and Zane Russell worked a perfect ninth.
Earlier, Avery Short had a better outing in his second game back from the IL, and Jonatan Bernal struggled with wildness but allowed just one run. All ten Soddies’ hits were singles, with Troy picking up three of them and also stealing two bases. He’s got an OPS of .845 and 20 steals on the year.
Hillsboro 8, Tri-City 7
When the winning run is 90 feet away and there are two outs, there are few batters better to have at the plate than Cristofer Torin. You wouldn’t want him up when you need a home run; he has just nine in his professional career, which has contained over 1400 plate appearances. But he’s unlikely to strike out; with the exception of his first stint at Visalia, he’s walked either more frequently or almost as often as he has struck out. And he came through for the Hops, lining a pitch down the right field line that bounced over the fence even though all it needed was to find the grass. (He was robbed of the double because of the game circumstances but will probably be happy with the result.) And so the Hops won in walk-off fashion. But before Torin’s heroics, it was the Anderdson Rojas and Druw Jones show; Rojas went 4-for-4 and Jones went 3-for-4 and scored three runs, including the tying run earlier in the ninth inning.
Ricardo Yan had started and struggled, getting through two innings and allowing three runs. But the trio of Daniel Nunez, Rocco Reid, and Carlos Rey allowed just one run in five innings, while the offense plated six of their own. Unfortunately, Joangel Gonzalez gave up a home run to David Calabrese in the eighth inning, putting the vacuum cleaners Dust Devils up 7-6. Jones singled, Junior Franco doubled, Angel Ortiz had a sacrifice fly, and Franco was cut down at the plate on a Modeifi Marte grounder to set up Torin.
Visalia 11, Rancho Cucamonga 7
It was close and back-and-forth through five innings, before the Rawhide broke things open in the sixth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases, JD Dix hit a sacrifice fly, then Trent Youngblood followed with a ground ball to short that plated a run and didn’t record an out, as the shortstop threw home. Carlos Virahonda singled home another run, and Jakey Josepha tripled in two and then scored on a wild pitch. That made it 10-3. The Quakes instantly pulled back two, but Ruben Santana doubled in Count Youngblood in the eighth to make it 11-5, but again the Quakes pulled back two.
Ryan Bruno came up to pitch the bottom of the ninth. He struck out Jackson Nicklaus, then walked the bases full to bring the tying run to the plate with just one out. He buckled down and got two more strikeouts to conclude proceedings.
Every Rawhide batter had at least one hit, and Youngblood and Yerald Nin had two. Jose Alpuria stole two bases, bringing his season total to 15, and Youngblood stole his 18th in row since he was caught on his first attempt.
And, elsewhere…
[ESPN] Ichiro joins Sabathia, Wagner, Parker, Allen in Hall of Fame – “For the third time, I am a rookie,” Suzuki said, delivering his comments in English despite his long preference for conducting his public appearances in Japanese with the aid of an interpreter. For the American audience, this provided a rare glimpse into Suzuki’s playful side. Teammates long spoke of his sense of humor behind the closed doors of the clubhouse — something the public rarely saw — but it was on full display Sunday. When Hall voting was announced, Suzuki fell one vote shy of becoming the second unanimous selection for the Hall. He thanked the writers for their support — with an exception. “Three-thousand [career] hits or 262 hits in one season are achievements recognized by the writers,” Suzuki said. “Except, oh, one of you.”
[MLB] CC’s HOF induction a celebration of the people who shaped him – Sabathia’s speech was entirely about family. He made it clear that he has or would individually thank those he wanted to thank in person. But with his mother, Margie, his wife, Amber, and his children — sons Carsten and Carter and daughters Jaeden and Cyia — in attendance, his induction speech was rooted in telling stories about the people who shaped him. Especially “a village of women who raised me, guided me, made me laugh, protected me and a few times literally saved me. No one has more fun hanging out with the fellas than me,” Sabathia said. “But I was so blessed to have so many loving and caring women in my life.”
[Newsday] All 5 Braves opening day starters are out with injuries – The Atlanta Braves placed right-hander Grant Holmes on the 15-day injured list on Sunday, meaning all five of the club’s starters on Opening Day are on the injured list. It began during the season’s first week with right-hander Reynaldo López (placed on the list on March 29 with shoulder inflammation following one start, resulting in surgery), right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver (May 29, strained elbow, resulting in Tommy John surgery), left-hander Chris Sale (June 21, fractured rib cage diving to field a grounder in the ninth inning of a five-hit shutout of the New York Mets shortly after being selected to his ninth All-Star team) and right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach (July 2, fractured elbow).