ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:
ROSTER MOVES: The D-backs activated OF Tommy Pham (No. 43) and, following last night’s game, optioned OF Kyle Lewis to Triple-A Reno.
TRADE DEADLINE RECAP: The D-backs made 4 trades prior to the trade deadline:
♦ August 1: acquired RHP Peter Strzelecki (STREZ-lecky) from the Brewers for LHP Andrew Chafin.
♦ August 1: acquired OF Tommy Pham and cash considerations from the Mets for INF Jeremy Rodriguez.
♦ July 31: acquired RHP Paul Sewald (SEE-wald) from the Mariners for INF Josh Rojas, OF Dominic Canzone and INF Ryan Bliss.
♦ July 31: acquired INF Jace Peterson and cash considerations from the Athletics for RHP Chad Patrick.
IN THE WEST: The D-backs are third in the NL West, 3.0 games behind the Giants and 5.5 games behind the Dodgers.
YOUNG ‘BACKS: The D-backs’ 28.1 roster age is the 11th youngest in the Majors…the Guardians (26.1) and Pirates (26.3) have the youngest teams.
♦ The D-backs have 8 active players aged 25 years or younger (Major League season in parentheses):
22: Corbin Carroll (2nd)
23: Alek Thomas (2nd), Geraldo Perdomo (3rd)
24: Brandon Pfaadt (1st), Slade Cecconi (1st)
25: Ryne Nelson (2nd), Luis Frías (3rd), Jake McCarthy (3rd)
♦ The D-backs’ 16 players aged 25 or younger this season are third most in the Majors behind the Pirates (21) and Guardians (17)…in addition to the active players listed above, the others include: Justin Martinez (21), Carlos Vargas (23), Gabriel Moreno (23), Tommy Henry (25), Drey Jameson (25), Diego Castillo (25), Dominic Canzone (25) and Dominic Fletcher (25).
HOMEGROWN TALENT: Slade Cecconi became the D-backs second pick from the 2020 Draft to debut this season, along with Brandon Pfaadt, and eighth pick from the 2019-20 Drafts to make it to the Majors: 2020: Slade Cecconi, Brandon Pfaadt 2019: Corbin Carroll, Drey Jameson, Ryne Nelson, Tommy Henry, Dominic Fletcher, Dominic Canzone
STARTING PITCHERS: D-backs starting pitchers, in their last 8 road starts (5 quality starts), since July 19, are 1-2 with a 4.36 ERA (21 ER in 43.1 IP), .228 opponent average (37-for-162), 10 walks and 28 strikeouts.
VS. GIANTS: Tommy Pham has hit safely in 3 straight games vs. Giants at a .467 clip (7-for-15)/1.367 OPS with 1 home run, 3 RBI and 1 walk.
ROAD DAY GAMES: Jake McCarthy, in his last 8 road day games, is hitting .400 (8-for-20)/.970 OPS with 1 double, 3 RBI, 4 walks, 1 hit-by-pitch and 1 stolen base.
♦ Corbin Carroll has hit safely in and homered in his last 3 road day games, batting .400 (4-for-10)/1.800 OPS with 3 home runs, 4 RBI, 2 walks and 1 stolen base.
♦ Tommy Pham, in his last 8 road day games, all with the Mets, hit .333 (10-for-30)/.894 OPS with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 5 RBI, 3 walks and 5 stolen bases.
MARTE TARGETING 100: Ketel Marte’s 97 home runs as a D-back are tied with Miguel Montero for ninth on the D-backs franchise list.
♦ Marte is 1 of 12 D-backs with 90+ home runs and looks to become the ninth D-back to reach the 100+ home run mark: 224 – Luis Gonzalez; 209 – Paul Goldschmidt; 153 – Steve Finley; 132 – Chris Young; 121 – Mark Reynolds; 110 – David Peralta; 109 – Christian Walker; 108 – Justin Upton; 99 – Matt Williams; 97 – Ketel Marte; 97 – Miguel Montero; 91 – Jay Bell.
GURRIEL LOCKING IN: Lourdes Gurriel Jr., in his last 5 games, is hitting .429 (6-for-14)/1.215 OPS with 2 doubles, 1 home run, 2 RBI.
MARTE IN A GROOVE: Ketel Marte, in his last 16 games, is hitting .333 (22-for-66)/.405 OBP/.621 SLG with 4 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, 13 RBI and 8 walks.
CARROLL IN SOLID COMPANY: Courtesy ESPN Stats & Info, Corbin Carroll reached 25 home runs and 35 stolen bases in his 134th game, the second-fewest games needed to reach those stats by any player to debut since 1900, behind Mike Trout’s 128 games.
GO FOR GINKEL: Since June 1, Kevin Ginkel is 4-0 with 3 saves, a 0.53 ERA (2 R-1 ER in 17.0 IP), 16 strikeouts and just 5 walks allowed over 16 appearances.
♦ Among relievers since June 1 (min. 15 G), his .313 opponent OPS is first, .098 opponent average is second, 0.59 WHIP is third and 0.53 ERA is fourth.
STARTING PITCHER – RHP BRANDON PFAADT ♦ #32
AT A GLANCE: Entered this season as the D-backs’ No. 4 prospect by The Athletic (No. 38 overall) and MLB Pipeline (No. 59 overall).
- The D-backs’ 2022 Minor League Pitcher of the Year led the organization in wins, ERA and strikeouts…went 11-7 with a 3.83 ERA (71 ER in 167.0 IP), 218 strikeouts and 1.16 WHIP in 29 starts at Double-A Amarillo and Triple-A Reno.
- D-backs’ fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft out of Bellarmine University (2018-20), their second-highest pick behind Todd Wellemeyer (4th round, 2000).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Seeking his first Major League win.
- Making his ninth career start and fourth on the road.
- The D-backs are 4-4 in his 8 starts.
- Has 3+ strikeouts in all 8 starts this season.
- Recalled on July 22 prior to the game @ Reds…in his last start with the Aces on July 16 earned the win @ Las Vegas, tossing 5.2 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts and allowing 6 hits and 2 walks.
LAST START: Did not factor in the decision in the D-backs’ 4-3 win vs. Mariners on July 29 (ND; 3 ER in 5.2 IP).
VS. GIANTS : Posted a no-decision in his lone start on May 14, 2023 vs. Giants (1 ER in 5.0 IP)… allowed a solo home run to Michael Conforto in the fourth inning.
HOW SWEEP IT IS: Opposing batters are hitting .188 (9-for-48) with 14 strikeouts on his sweeper.
AHEAD IN THE COUNT: Has a .185 average (10-for-54) with no walks and 18 strikeouts when he is ahead in the count.
IT’S UNDER CONTROL: Has walked 2 or fewer batters in 6 of his 8 starts.
0-2 GOT YOU: Has a .244 (19-for-78) opponent average and 30 strikeouts with 2 strikes and opponents are 3-for-13 (.231) with 7 strikeouts on an 0-2 count.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: The Giants and D-Backs conclude their series this afternoon with SF seeking a series win…last night’s win lifted the Giants to a 6-2 record on their longest homestand of the year with today’s game being the last on the nine gamer… the victory yesterday also secured a 10th straight series win or tie vs. Arizona in this ballpark dating to 2020…SF’s longest series won/tied streaks since Oracle Park opened in 2000 are listed below (min. 1 game in series).
Giants, Most Consecutive Series Won/Tied vs. Opponent at Oracle Park since 2000 (Stats, LLC)
Opponent Consec. Series Won/Tied Years
vs. San Diego Padres 12 2000-2003
vs. Colorado Rockies 11 2010-2014
vs. San Diego Padres 10 2011-2014
vs. Arizona Diamondbacks 10 2020-2023
vs. Philadelphia Phillies 9 2014-2023
YOU MAKE ME WANA ROLL MY WINDOWS DOWN AND…: Today the Giants and Cruise announced a multi-year partnership that will see the self-driving car company be the official uniform patch of the Giants through 2025…the new patch will be seen on select SF’s uniforms beginning with today’s game and grow to include the full set in the near future…for more on the announcement, click here.
HEART & SOUL: IF LaMonte Wade Jr. was named the Giants Heart and Hustle award winner earlier this morning by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association…the award honors active players who demonstrate a passion for the game of baseball and best embody the values, spirit and traditions of the game.
60: Last night’s win was the Giants 60th of the season…they are one of three National League teams to have reached the 60-win mark heading into play today…the other two are Atlanta (69-37, .651) and the Dodgers (61-45, .575).
ON THE SHORES: SF has won eight of its last 10, and nine of its last 12 games at Oracle Park…if you look further back, the Giants are 15-7 (.682) over their last 22 games here at home… since June 11, SF’s .682 winning percentage at home is second-best in MLB…only the Braves have been better at home in this stretch (17-6, .739)…after this quick five-game trip, the Giants return here for a six-game homestand August 11-16.
I WONDER IF YOU REAL-IZE: Last night’s win was the Giants 43rd this season by three runs or fewer, tied for second-most in the Majors behind Baltimore (44)…furthermore, the Giants have the Majors best winning percentage in games decided by three runs or fewer (43-23, .652) (SIS).
III’VE BEEN WAIT-ING TILL I SEE IT IN YOUR EYES: For a second straight day the Giants overcame an early deficit to end up in the win column…last night’s comeback win was SF’s 29th of the season, third-most in the NL behind Cincinnati (35) and Atlanta (30) and sixth-most in MLB overall.
IF I JUST BREEEAAATHEEE!: According to Sports Info Solutions Giants hitters have a .764 OPS in high leverage situations this year (11th-best of 30 MLB clubs)…on the flip side, Giants pitching has permitted only a .665 OPS in high leverage situations, second-lowest of any team in the Majors…only the Orioles (.639 OPS) have permitted a lower OPS in those spots.
THE OPENER (FEAT. THE BULLPEN): The Giants are turning to LHP Scott Alexander to open this afternoon’s game…it’s Alexander’s fourth time opening this year and SF is 2-1 in his previous three “starts”…the Giants have been pretty successful using a bulk innings/featured pitcher behind an opener this season, going 14-5 in 19 games doing so…the team’s ERA in these games is 2.86…SF used this strategy on Monday but lost in extra innings.
D-UP: Since July 1, the Giants have been one of MLB’s best defensive teams in terms of fielding percentage…SF’s .994 fielding % since that date is second-best in the Majors behind the Twins (.997)…the Giants have made only six errors in that span (27 games, 241.0 innings)…from the start of the season through June the Giants had a .980 fielding % (30th in MLB).
WILLLLLMAAAHHH: IF Wilmer Flores went 3-for-4 yesterday and carries his 15-game on-base streak into tonight’s game… since June 1, Flores’ 1.127 OPS is second-best in the Majors behind LAA’s Shohei Ohtani (1.303) (min. 125 PA)…the 15- game on-base streak is the fifth-longest active streak in MLB (third-longest in the NL)…thus far, Flores has been worth 1.9 fWAR, which would be the best of any season in his career (previous best was 1.7 in 2015 with the Mets).
ANOTHER PAT ON THE BACK: C Patrick Bailey enters today’s game with +15 defensive runs saved this year in 458.0 innings according to Fangraphs…the +15 DRS lead all MLB catchers (while he ranks 28th in innings caught this year) and are fourth-most of any position player in the Majors entering play today…he trails only COL’s Ryan McMahon (17 DRS in 736.2 innings), SD’s Fernando Tatis Jr. (17 DRS in 744.1 innings) and TB’s Wander Franco (16 DRS in 880.0 innings).
CATCHING ON…: Since Bailey was promoted on May 19, Giants catchers have posted a .730 OPS in 66 games, 10th-best among team’s catchers in that span…the duo of Bailey and Blake Sabol have combined to drive in 44 runs in that span, tied for second-most by a team’s catchers…only the Rangers catchers have driven in more (48)…prior to May 19, SF’s catchers had a .642 OPS (22 of 30 teams) and driven in 12 runs (T-25th of 30 teams).
BEACH DAY?: The Giants will enjoy an off day tomorrow before trekking across the bay Saturday to open up a weekend series with the A’s…the road trip will continue in Anaheim Monday-Wednesday before SF returns home to welcome in old friend Bruce Bochy and his Texas Rangers a week from Friday.
