The Snakes grabbed a W in their first divisional road game on the day that former D-back and Giant Evan Longoria officially retired.
Game Recaps
Arizona Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll, Merrill Kelly outstanding in narrow win over Giants by Nick Piecoro [AZ Central]
Baseball’s top home run hitters this season are Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber, a pair of hulking sluggers whose names are synonymous with majestic blasts. Each has slammed 14 long balls through the season’s first 6 1/2 weeks.
Right behind them is the 5-foot-10, 165-pound Corbin Carroll, an outfielder perhaps best known for his blazing speed. After going deep twice off Giants right-hander Justin Verlander to help the Diamondbacksand right-hander Merrill Kelly come away with a 2-1 victory at Oracle Park on Monday night, May 12, Carroll finds himself just one home run shy of the big boys.
Carroll’s Homers and gurriel’s Catch Make Merrill Kelly’s Gem Stand Up by Jack Sommers [SI]
Game saving catch for the Diamondbacks from Lourdes Guerriel Jr.
— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) May 13, 2025
Diamondbacks News
What to expect from MLB’s No. 4 overall prospect Lawlar in the big leagues by Sam Dykstra [MLB]
A plus-plus runner, Lawlar will push opposing defenses with his wheels. He recorded sub-4-second home-to-first times on two bunt singles back in April, and he was 13-for-14 in steal attempts in the early season with Reno.
A generally selective hitter, the 2021 first-rounder tends to feast on velocity. According to Baseball Savant, he’s seen 60 pitches of 95+ mph in Triple-A this season and batted .357 with a .571 slugging percentage against them while whiffing on only 19.2 percent of his swings. He’ll miss on breaking and offspeed pitches with more regularity, but not an overly worrisome rate for a player his age and at that level. His splits against righties (.325 AVG, .583 SLG) and lefties (.375, .563) were both good as well, helping his case to play regardless of opposing starting pitcher.
Dan Bickley is irked by how the Diamondbacks have managed their rest [Arizona Sports]
Kristian Robinson Continues Breakout Season with Amarillo by Michael McDermott [SI]
Entering the fifth inning in a 1-1 game, five of the first six hitters in the inning reached. A walk to Caleb Roberts, followed by singles from Ivan Melendez and Manuel Peña gave Amarillo the lead. Kristian Robinson had the big blow of the inning, turning around an elevated fastball and splitting the left-center gap for a two-run double. LuJames Groover plated Robinson with a single to cap off the inning.
Around the League
Longo announces retirement, to sign 1-day contract with Rays by Adam Berry [MLB]
Evan Longoria never really got a chance to say goodbye as a player.
He didn’t know that his last game with the Rays would come on Oct. 1, 2017, before they traded him to the Giants that December. He didn’t embark on a farewell tour with the D-backs leading up to Game 5 of the 2023 World Series, his last appearance as a Major League player. And he never properly returned to Tampa Bay as a visitor, only coming back to Tropicana Field last year with his family to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.
But the greatest player in Rays history will have his moment next month.
The team announced on Monday that Longoria will sign a ceremonial one-day contract and officially retire as a Ray on June 7, with a pregame ceremony honoring his legacy and impact before Tampa Bay’s game against the Marlins at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
How Many Wins is a Pope Worth? by Michael Baumann [FanGraphs]
The Cubs tried to claim Leo XIV right off the proverbial bat, but the myth of Pope Cubs Fan didn’t survive the afternoon. (For what it’s worth, and again I say this as an irreligious person, I think falsely claiming the pope’s allegiance is legitimately profane. Like the kind of thing that gets you sent to a circle of Hell you don’t visit until near the end of Inferno.)
The truth is even weirder: The pope is not a Cubs fan, but a White Sox fan. (What a massive blow to Barack Obama, who surely woke up last Thursday thinking he’d go down as the most famous White Sox fan of all time.) So said his brother, and a family friend whose dad went to Game 1 of the 2005 World Series with the man then known as Father Bob. He even showed up in a crowd shot during the broadcast of that World Series game.
FanGraphs Power Rankings: May 5-11 by Jake Mailhot [FanGraphs] {Ed. Note: The Diamondbacks climbed up one spot to 11th in this batch of power rankings.}
Ronald Acuña Jr. To Begin Rehab Assignment by Darragh MacDonald [MLB Trade Rumors]
Here in 2025, things have gotten out to a rough start. Strider was reinstated from the IL last month but made just one start before a hamstring strain put him back on the shelf. Jurickson Profar, signed in the offseason to bolster the outfield in Acuña’s absence, played just four games before receiving an 80-game PED suspension. Reynaldo López made just one start before requiring arthroscopic shoulder surgery and is going to be out for several months.
MLB 2025 trade deadline X factors to watch by Buster Olney [ESPN]
The teams already viewed as potential subtractors might not have the talent contenders want.
Clubs such as the Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins and White Sox don’t have much to offer in the eyes of rival evaluators. Other teams have monitored Marlins righty Sandy Alcantara and White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr., but both are struggling early in the season. Alcantara has an 8.42 ERA in seven starts since his return from elbow surgery, while Robert’s early slash line is .186/.293/.326, which doesn’t boost other teams’ interest — nor the leverage of the White Sox.
Question of the Day