ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:
HERE’S THE STORY
♦ The D-backs are 2-2 on their opening 6-game road trip @ Dodgers (2-2) and Padres (April 3-4)
♦ Yesterday’s win secured the D-backs first series split or win vs. Dodgers since April 25-27, 2022 at home (2-1), May 8-9, 2018 for a road 2-gamer (1-1), April 13-15, 2018 for a road 3-gamer (2-1) and April 14-17, 2017 for a road 4-gamer (2-2).
♦ Corbin Carroll is hitting .389 (7-for-18)/1.088 OPS with 2 doubles, 1 home run and 1 RBI in 6 career games vs. Padres.
♦ Christian Walker, in his last 7 games vs. Padres (since Sept. 5, 2022), is batting .320 (8-for-25) with 1 double, 3 home runs and 7 RBI.
♦ Nick Ahmed, in his last 14 games vs. Padres (since April 27, 2021), is hitting .340 (17-for-50) with 7 doubles and 8 RBI.
♦ Ryne Nelson made his Major League debut on Sept. 5, 2022 @ Padres (W; 0 ER in 7.0 IP), where he set the Dbacks record for most scoreless innings (7.0) in a debut and tied for the most strikeouts (7) [also: Zack Godley in 2015 and Max Scherzer in 2008].
SMALL BALL
♦ Jake McCarthy collected his fi rst career RBI bunt yesterday @ Dodgers…he is batting .444 (4-for-9) on bunts in his career (3 bunt hits in 2022).
♦ Since 2022, Arizona’s 26 bunt hits are the third most in the Majors, behind the Giants (29) and Nationals (27).
♦ The D-backs’ 82 bunt attempts since 2022 (sacrifi ce hits + bunt hits + bunt outs) are the most in baseball, ahead of the Angels (77) and Nationals (65).
♦ Since 2017, Arizona is batting .386 (80-for-207) on bunts
TRANSPORTIN’ CORBIN
♦ At age 22-224 days, Corbin Carroll became the youngest D-back in franchise history to steal 3+ bases in a game.
♦ He is the youngest Arizona player to steal 3+ bases since Mark Reynolds (4 SB; age 25-290) on May 20, 2009 @ Marlins (Game 1).
♦ It marked the fi rst 3+-steal game by a D-back since Josh Rojas on July 25, 2022 vs. Giants and just the second occurrence since Gregor Blanco’s 3 stolen bases on Oct 1, 2017 @ Royals.
SAVE NO. 1 FOR MCGOUGH
♦ At age 33-153 days, Scott McGough is the oldest player to earn their fi rst career save since Minnesota’s Caleb Thielbar (35-143 days) on June 23, 2022 vs. Guardians.
♦ McGough is the second oldest D-backs pitcher ever to record his first career save, behind Yoshihisa Hirano (34-187 days) on September 11, 2018 @ Rockies [source: Elias Sports Bureau].
SAN DIEGO SLUGGER
♦ Christian Walker’s 13 home runs @ Petco Park since 2019 are tied for second most by an opposing player (also: Justin Turner and Joc Pederson), behind Charlie Blackmon (14).
RHP RYNE NELSON ♦ #19
AT A GLANCE: Selected by the D-backs in the second round (56th overall) of the 2019 draft.
• Attended the University of Oregon, where he was a 2019 First-Team All-Pac-12 selection…finished his junior year with a conference-high 104 strikeouts and finished fourth in the nation with a 14.40 K/9 IP.
• A Nevada native, attended Basic High School in Henderson where he was a shortstop and pitcher.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Made his first Opening Day roster and is making his fourth Major League start (third vs. Padres, second @ Petco Park).
• Did not pitch after Sept. 21 after he was placed on the 15-day injured list (right scapula inflammation).
• Enters 2023 ranked as the D-backs’ No. 5 prospect by The Athletic (No. 8 by MLB Pipeline)…rated No. 7 and tabbed by Baseball America with the Best Fastball in the system.
VS. PADRES: Is 1-1 with a 2.19 ERA (3 ER in 12.1 IP), 0.89 WHIP and .167 opponent avg. in 2 career starts.
• Won his Major League debut on Sept. 5 @ Petco Park, tossing 7.0 shutout innings with 7 strikeouts and no walks.
• Became the second D-back since 2003 to make his MLB debut as a starter @ Petco Park (also: Merrill Kelly in 2019) since Edgar González on June 1, 2003.
WHAT A DEBUT IN SD: Set the D-backs record for most scoreless innings (7.0) in a Major League debut (later tied by Drey Jameson on Sept. 15) and tied for the most strikeouts (7) (also: Zack Godley on July 23, 2015 @ Brewers and Max Scherzer on April 29, 2008 vs. Astros).
• Came 1.0 inning shy of tying Geraldo Guzmán’s D-backs debut record (8.0 IP) set on July 6, 2000 @ Astros.
2022 REVIEW: Made 3 starts with Arizona in his first Major League stint and went 1-1 with a 1.47 ERA (3 ER in 18.1 IP), 0.82 WHIP and .145 opponent avg.
SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Padres take Game 4 against Rockies, split 4-game set
• Padres’ starter Seth Lugo went a career-high-tying 7.0 innings with 1 run allowed (a home run), punching out 7 in the process.
• Xander Bogaerts collected a pair of RBI with his 2nd home run in as many days, and Trent Grisham homered for his 1st of the year.
• Josh Hader made his 2nd appearance this year and logged his 1st save…he’s now worked 2.0 innings with 0 hits and 3 strikeouts.
Rocky series highlights
• In the series, Xander Bogaerts hit safely in every game, with 4 of his 6 hits going for extra-bases (2 doubles and 2 home runs)…he’s hitting .429 to start the year (6-for-14) with 5 RBI and 2 walks.
• After Padres batters went 0-for-15 with RISP in the 1st 2 games, they went 5-for-13 (.385) with RISP in the last 2 games.
• San Diego starting pitchers have gone at least 6.0 innings in 3 of their 4 games to start the year (outlier was Blake Snell’s 4.1 IP on Opening Day)…Nick Martinez went 7.0, Micahel Wacha went 6.0, and Seth Lugo went 7.0 yesterday.
Packed at Petco Park
• Yesterday’s attendance was 43,972, the 4th sellout of the 2023 season…the total attendance for the Opening Series was 174,915, setting a new Petco Park record for a 4-game series (previous record was 168,171 from April 9-12, 2015 in our Opening Series vs. SF).
• Last year, the Padres’ home total attendance of 2,987,470, just shy of the Padres home attendance record of 3,016,752 (set in Petco Park’s inaugural 2004 season)…the Padres expect to exceed that mark this year, even with 2 of our home games being played in Mexico City against the Giants (March 29-30
Roster Move
• Today, RHP Michel Baez cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A El Paso.
STARTING PITCHER – RYAN WEATHERS 40
Vs. the Snakes
Received the first regular season action of his career in on April 3, 2021 after making his ML debut in the 2020 Postseason vs. LAD…in that outing, he tossed 3.0-shutout innings of 1-hit ball and became just the 3rd Padre to earn a save in his 1st career regular season app…in 1985, Gene Walter (August 9) and Lance McCullers (August 12) did so within days of each other. He’s scoreless in 3 of his 4 career appearances vs. ARI, with all 6 of his ER allowed against the Snakes coming in an Aug. 6, 2021 start across 3.0 IP at Petco Park. No current Diamondback hitter has more than 2 Major League at-bats vs. Weathers, as 9 D’ Backs combine for a .467 AVG (7-for-15) against him heading into tonight’s matchup.
A look back at 2022
Spent the majority of his season with El Paso (AAA), establishing career highs in appearances (31) and innings pitched (123.0) and tying his career high in starts (22, also: 2019 w/ Single-A Fort Wayne). Posted a 6.73 ERA (92 ER, 123.0 IP) and Triple-A opponents hit .328 against him…his 31 home runs allowed were the 3rd-most in all levels of minor league baseball, trailing only Las Vegas’ Parker Dunshee (38) and Greenville/Portland’s Brian Van Belle (32). Recalled by SD from ELP on June 15 for his 19th ML start…allowed 4 ER and 4 BB while striking out 3 across 3.2 IP vs. CHC at Wrigley Field in SD’s 19-5 victory…optioned back to ELP the following day.
Piling up the punchies
Reached the 200 strikeout mark in his professional career with his third and final strikeout April 22, 2022 at Las Vegas…he has 207 minor league strikeouts vs. 81 walks for a 2.56 SO/ BB ratio in the minors, while he has 75 SO vs. 34 BB in the Majors for a 2.21 SO/BB ratio.
Great day for a debut
The 7th overall pick in 2018, who hadn’t pitched above A ball, made his ML debut in Game 1 of the NLDS vs. LAD on October 6, 2020 (1.1 IP, 2 BB, SO)…at 20 years and 294 days old, he became the 1st Padre to ever make their ML debut in the Postseason, the 5th player in ML history to debut in the Postseason and the 2nd-youngest to ever debut in the Postseason (KC’s Adalberto Mondesi, 20.095 in ’15).
