ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:
IN THE WEST: The D-backs are third in the NL West, 2.5 games behind the Giants, 13.0 games behind the Dodgers and 4.0 games ahead of the Padres.
VS. PADRES: The D-backs have won 3 consecutive games vs. Padres (Aug. 12-13, 17) and, with last night’s victory, improved to 5-5 in the season series… the D-backs took 2 of 3 in their last series @ Chase Field from Aug. 11-13 and split their initial series (1-1) at Petco Park from April 3-4.
♦ 8 of the D-backs last 11 matchups @ Padres have been a difference of 2 or fewer runs…the D-backs are 3-5 in those games.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Last night’s matchup featured only 3 hits by each side, which marked the first ocurrance where both the D-backs and their opponent had 3 or
fewer hits since June 18, 2021 vs. Dodgers (L, 0-3) and 10th overall game in franchise history (5-5 record):
DATE AZ HITS OPP HITS OPPONENT RESULT
8/17/2023 3 3 @ SD W 3-1
6/18/2021 3 3 vs. LAD L 0-3
9/14/2019 1 3 vs. CIN W 1-0
4/17/2018 3 1 vs. SF W 1-0
9/28/2014 2 3 vs. STL L 0-1
7/21/2008 2 2 vs. CHC W 2-0
5/12/2004 3 3 vs. NYM L 0-1
5/28/2002 3 3 @ SF L 0-1
4/10/2001 3 2 vs. LAD W 2-0
7/10/1999 3 3 vs. OAK L 0-2
SAVE NO. 1 FOR MARTINEZ: Last night, Justin Martinez, who was recalled from Triple-A Reno prior the yesterday’s opening game @ Padres, collected his first MLB save after striking out 3 over the final 4 outs… at age 22-018, he became the second-youngest D-backs’ reliever to collect his first MLB save within his first 5 career appearances, behind Byung-Hyun Kim (20-130…the last D-back reliever to collect a save within his first 5 career appearances was Taylor Clarke in 2019.
♦ In 32 games this season with Triple-A Reno, Martinez went 2-1 with 6 saves, a 1.78 ERA (7 ER in 35.1 IP), 48 strikeouts and a .136 opponent average.
GIVE ‘EM THE HEATER, MARTINEZ: Last night, Justin Martinez recorded a 102.7 MPH pitch vs. Jake Cronenworth in the ninth inning, marking the fastest of his career…
the pitch tied for the sixth fastest among Major League rookies this season (also: Ben Joyce/LAA)…Joyce has the fastest pitch among MLB rookies in 2023 (103.2).
PHAM CONTINUES STREAK: Tommy Pham is riding an 8-game hit streak, batting .323 (10-for-31)/.966 OPS with 3 doubles, 2 homers, 9 RBI and 2 walks… it marks his fi rst 8+-game hitting streak since Aug. 7-16, 2022 while with the Red Sox…the last time he had a streak of 9+ games was June 9-19, 2022 while with the Reds.
CHRISTIAN OVER-THE-WAL-KER: Christian Walker’s 28 home runs this season rank tied for seventh in the NL (also: Max Muncy/LAD and Ozzie Albies/ATL) while his 14 home runs on the road rank tied for eighth in the NL (also: Mookie Betts/LAD, Muncy/LAD, Ronald Acuña Jr./ATL, Nolan Arenado/STL, Austin Riley/ATL and Jack Suwinski/PIT).
HOT AUGUST: In the month of August, Christian Walker is hitting .352 (19-for-54)/.722 SLG/1.119 OPS with 2 doubles, 6 homers and 14 RBI…he ranks among MLB leaders in homers (T-4th), SLG (5th), OPS (9th) and RBI (T-9th) [min. 50 PA].
NL WEST STRETCH: 13 of the D-backs’ last 16 games have been against NL West teams (@ Giants, Dodgers, Padres, @ Rockies, @ Padres)…this Padres series (Aug. 17- 20) will round out 16 total in their last 19 games.
♦ Arizona is 23-18 vs. NL West opponents this season and 14-9 in their last 23 matchups.
♦ From today, 11 of Arizona’s final 40 regular-season games are against NL West teams (@ SD, @ LAD, vs. COL, vs. SF).
OPPO HOMERS: The D-backs 23 opposite field home runs this season rank sixth in the Majors, behind the Yankees (36), Braves (36), Rangers (25), Astros (24) and Brewers (24).
♦ Corbin Carroll’s 8 opposite field home runs rank tied for the most in the Majors this season (also: Chrisitan Yelich/MIL) while Christian Walker’s 7 oppo homers rank tied for third.
♦ Walker’s 4 opposite field home runs on the road rank tied for fourth in the Majors.
DIAMOND DEFENDERS: The D-backs’ .991 fielding pct. is the best in the Majors, while their 40 errors are the fewest, ahead of the Cardinals (47) and Rangers (47).
♦ Arizona’s 40 errors are the fewest in franchise history through the first 121 games of a season…the previous low was 48 in 2018.
♦ The current franchise low for errors in a full season (excluding 2020) is 75 in 2013 and 2018.
SWIPIN’ BAGS: Since Aug. 4, the D-backs’ 16 stolen bases are second in the Majors, behind the Royals (18) and ahead of the Reds (15).
♦ Arizona ranks third in the Majors this season with 124 stolen bases, behind the Reds (139) and Rays (130).
STARTING PITCHER – RHP BRANDON PFAADT (FOUGHT) ♦ #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’ fi fth-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: Making his fourth straight start against an NL West opponent (previous:
Giants, Dodgers and Padres).
- Making his second consecutive start against the Padres.
- Seeking his first Major League win.
- Has allowed 3 earned runs or fewer in his last 3 road starts.
- Has 23 strikeouts in his last 4 starts (23.0 IP).
- Recalled on July 22 prior to the game @ Reds.
LAST START : Struckout a career-high 8 batters on Aug. 13 in his lone start vs. Padres (ND; 3 ER in 5.2 IP).
VS. PADRES: SEE LAST START
HOW SWEEP IT IS: Opposing batters are hitting .153 (11-for-72) with 24 strikeouts on his sweeper.
AHEAD IN THE COUNT: Has a .152 average (12-for-79) with no walks and 31 strikeouts when he is ahead in the count.
IT’S UNDER CONTROL: Has walked 2 or fewer batters in 10 of his 11 starts, including 4 walks in his last 4 starts (95 BF).
0-2 GOT YOU: Has a .190 (22-for-116) opponent average and 50 strikeouts with 2 strikes and opponents are 3-for-24 (.152) with 12z strikeouts on an 0-2 count.
RENO REVIEW: Went 6-2 with a 2.52 ERA (11 ER in 39.1 IP), 0.69 WHIP and 69 strikeouts in 12 starts with Reno this season.
- Ranked among Pacific Coast League leaders at the time of his promotion on May 3 in strikeouts (T-1st), WHIP (2nd), ERA (5th), win percentage (5th, .667), opponent average (T-5th, .245) and innings pitched (10th).
- 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. 200 K’S: In 2022, was the fi rst Minor League pitcher to reach the 200-strikeout milestone since 2011, while his 218 strikeouts were the most since Brandon Claussen/NYY in 2001 (220).
SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Hill has his best outing with Padres since being acquired, but Padres muster just 1 run in 3-1 loss
- 43-year-old left-hander Rich Hill allowed 3 runs (earned) on 2 hits in 5.0 innings of work…he allowed a walk and 2 homers with 3 punchouts.
- Reliever Pedro Avila worked 4.0 scoreless innings with just 1 hit allowed, lowering his ERA this season to 0.81.
- Trent Grisham hit a 2-out, RBI single to right field in the 5th inning for the Friars’ sole run…Jake Cronenworth and Garrett Cooper both doubled.
Padres playing 13 games in 13 days & 19 games in 20 days
- Today is the 14th game of the Padres playing 19 games in 20 days, and their sole off day in the span from August 4-23 was on August 10…they’re also in a stretch of playing 32 games in 34 days (from August 4-September 6).
- Since Aug. 11, the Padres also began playing 13 games in 13 days, with 7 of those 13 games vs. Arizona.
Padres & D-backs to play a split doubleheader due to Hurricane Hilary
- Due to Hurricane Hilary’s expected arrival into Southern California this weekend, MLB rescheduled Sunday’s game as part of a split doubleheader at Petco Park on Saturday, August 19th…the 1st game will begin at 12:10 p.m. PT, while the originally scheduled 5:40 p.m. PT game will remain unchanged. Seth Lugo sets a new career-high with his 19th start of 2023
- Seth Lugo’s 19th start of the season tonight is the 3rd most among the pitching staff, behind Blake Snell (25) and Yu Darvish (22)…with his start today, it’ll set a new career high in a season, besting his 18 starts in 2017 with the Mets (after the ’17 season, he moved primarily to the bullpen with New York).
- He’s worked 97.1 innings this year, and his 10 quality starts are already a career best (more than his 8 in 2017)…the most innings he’s ever thrown in a single campaign were 101.1 IP in both 2017 and 2018.
- Lugo’s 47.4 ground ball percentage so far is his highest in any full 162-game season, trailing just his 51.5% in the Pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Pads have hit .317 with RISP in the last week
- San Diego batters have hit .317 (19-for-60) with RISP in their last 7 games since August 11…they also have a .397 OBP and .500 SLG in that span with RISP, but they’ve gone just 3-4 in that time in those games…their .317 clips with RISP in that time ranks 3rd best in the National League, trailing the D-backs’ .341 clip and the Braves’ .382…in their last 19 games since July 28, Friar batters have hit .294 (50-for-170) with RISP, ranking 4th-best in the NL.
Ha-Seong Kim’s 5.7 WAR among position players is 3rd highest in MLB
- Per Baseball Reference WAR for position players, Ha-Seong Kim’s 5.7 WAR ranks 3rd in all of baseball, behind just Mookie Betts’ 6.1 and Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 6.1.
- On Tuesday, August 22nd vs. Miami, it will be the Ha-Seong Kim bobblehead night, and in a pregame ceremony, he’ll be honored as the Padres’ representative for the 2023 Heart & Hustle Award. Keepin’ it clean
- San Diego fielders have committed 50 errors in ’23, T-4th fewest with Baltimore and ahead of just the Cardinals’ 48, Rangers’ 47, and D-backs’ 40…the Padres’ 30 outs above average lead MLB, however.
STARTING PITCHER – SETH LUGO 67
Lugo set for 4th career start vs. ARI, 2nd in a row
33-year-old Seth Lugo takes the mound for his 19th start of the season, surpassing his 18 starts from 2017 for the most in a single season in his career…he has made a total of career 12 appearances (3 starts) vs. ARI, going a combined 0-2 with 2 SV in 2 SVO, 2 HLD and a 3.94 ERA…he made his 4th start of the season vs. ARI on April 21 at Chase Field and posted his 3rd quality start of the campaign (6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER)…last Sun, he left the contest with a 3-2 lead after 5.0 innings of 6-hit, 2-run ball but did not factor into SD’s eventual 5-4 defeat. Last winning decision came in first career app vs. DET, leaving Mets as only team yet to face Lugo last winning decision since came five starts ago on Fri, July 21 @ DET…he’s 1 of just 4 pitchers to have made at least 12 starts since May 10 and have 1-or-fewer winning decisions…his 3.96 run support average is 10th-fewest in the Majors since May 10 (min. 12 starts)…the Tigers were his 29th team to face, and he’s now squared off against every ML club except his former squad, the New York Mets…on the season, his 10 quality outings tie for 3rd-most on SD’s staff w/ Darvish, behind Musgrove (11) and Snell (13).
Limiting the free passes
Lugo has walked 2-or-fewer in 15 of 18 starts in ’23, including 7 starts with 0 free passes… the 7 starts with 0 walks allowed over 5.0+ IP is T-2nd most among all NL pitchers this season…he ranks in the 90th percentile in BB%, and his 5.2 BB% is 2nd-lowest in his career (5.1 BB% in 2019).
First time through
Michael Wacha (.179) and Yu Darvish (.186) rank 4th and 5th, respectively, among all qualifying NL starters in opponent AVG the first time thru a batting Order…Lugo doesn’t qualify, but his .219 AVG (33-151) the first time thru woud rank 16th in the NL…opponents are batting .311 (46-148) the 2nd time thru and .275 (22-80) the 3rd time thru.
NL West Success (except for 1.0 inning)
Lugo has allowed 16 ER in 33.1 IP vs. NL West opponents this season, but half of his ER (8) came in 1 inning vs. LAD (T-4th on Aug 7)…remove that inning, and he has a 2.24 ERA (8 ER, 32.1 IP) vs. the division this season…overall, he owns a 3.59 ERA in (55 ER, 138.0 IP) in 61 career appearances (13 starts) vs. the NL West.
Inside the curve
Just like in ’22, Lugo ranks in 1 the 100th percentile in curveball spin rate, averaging 3,244 rpm, but opp are hitting .289 against it compared to the .159 clip against it in ’22…he is averaging 60.8 inches of vertical drop on his curve – which is 5th-highest vertical drop – and an average of 7.6 inches and 14% more drop – of all ML curveballs
