PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Ep. 23: Midway Check-In

Episode Date: August 26, 2020

We discuss the D-backs' streakiness, what's gone wrong so far, several bright spots, and what may or may not be happening in the next few days as the trade deadline draws near. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to episode 23 of the Rattle podcast. As always, my name is Jesse Friedman along with Jeff Weiser, my co-hosts here on The Rattle. And it has been a little while since we've had a chance to do a show. I made a move out to the Pacific Northwest for a job that I took up here. So it's been an eventful season. But nonetheless, we are back to talk about some Arizona Diamondbacks baseball now that things have kind of settled in a little bit on our front. Jeff, the Diamondbacks come in as we speak right now.

They are 13 and 17. It's been kind of a tale of three teams so far, if you will. Over the first 11 games, they went 3 and 8. Then over the next 13 games, they went 10 and 3, and now they have lost their last 6 in a row. So 3 and 8, 10 and 3, 0, and 6. That is how the season has gone so far for the Diamondbacks. they come in, as I said, 13 and 17.

They are playing the Colorado Rockies tied in the fifth inning as we speak. So when you listen to this, they'll probably either be 14 and 17 or 13 and 18. But Jeff, it has been, to say the least, a bit of an underwhelming year so far for the Diamondbacks with a number of things not quite going their way so far. Yeah, absolutely. First and foremost, welcome to the best corner of the country. And yeah, they're getting a lot of mileage out of that 10 and 3. stretch right now because the rest of it has been pretty pretty tough to watch yeah yeah it really has been i mean it you know just it almost feels like um you know in baseball there's things that break

your way and things that don't and um man they just almost feel like they have been a different team at times and um you know the level of pitching um the tenacity of it bats or lack thereof It's just been, it's been really weird. Definitely a team that to me doesn't feel like it's found its groove yet. Yeah, I think, I think we can say that safely. We are exactly at the halfway point with 30 games played, 30 games still to go here in the 2020 season. Man, that's weird. And yeah, it is weird.

We are, Jeff. We are currently six days away from the trade deadline, which is maybe even weirder, that that somehow still hasn't happened. yet on August 25th, but I know we have some questions coming in about what the Diamondbacks might do, if anything, so we'll jump into that here in a little bit. But for the moment, Jeff, you kind of think about the Diamondbacks team in all of the different facets of the game. I guess the silver lining is the defense has been pretty good for the most part. The Diamondbacks have been a good defensive team over the last few years, and I think for the most part,

that is held true here in this season. But you look at the other. three main facets of the game, the offense, the rotation, and the bullpen, and they have had their struggles in all three of those categories on the offensive side. They've got a few guys whose batting averages have come up. Ketel Marte is hitting 328, but with a 791 OPS, the power has really not come yet. Starling Marte has had a pretty good season overall. I would say he's one of the few guys who has performed to expectations. But then you've got Eduardo Escobar with an OPS under 600. Carson Kelly, who is really a bright spot offensively last year.

He has really struggled this season. And the list goes on, unfortunately, Jeff, of guys who have just really struggled to find their stride offensively. And then you go to the starting rotation, and Zach Gallen has been excellent. We'll talk about him a little bit more later. I think he's maybe the biggest bright spot of the. the season at this point. Merrill Kelly had been pitching really well until he went down with a nerve injury yesterday. He was scratched less than an hour before game time. Still the outlook on him

is a little bit murky right now. And outside of that, Jeff, there just hasn't really been anything going on in the rotation that has been anywhere near what we hoped for with the diamond backs with Robbie Ray, really, really struggling, kind of playing around with the mechanics, still trying to find something that works. Madison Bumgarner, of course, throw you know in the mid-80s with his four-seem fastball early in the season something wasn't right there he's currently on the injured list and finally the bullpen we were talking about it before we jumped on the air just a few moments ago i guess archie bradley's been okay he has an a r a four and the the rest of the bullpen stepha chryton has probably been the most reliable

arm in the bullpen but the rest of it has been really really hard to watch hector rondone is struggled. Kevin Ginkle has struggled. Junior Gera has had quite a few off days as well. So, Jeff, you look at this season and in some respect, I'm actually kind of amazed that the Diamondbacks are still 13 and 17 and somehow only one game out of the playoffs as we speak right now. Yeah, I mean, it's been a, you know, when they land, it's been a team effort, but man, when they've lost, it's been a team effort too. And especially for the pitching staff, I mean, collectively they're 25th and ERA. They're the ninth highest in strikeout percentage, but they're the 27th team and walk percentage.

I mean, you're just not going to get, you're never going to get away with issuing that many free passes. And I know, I mean, there have been a lot of times and we've kind of accepted that from Robbie Ray, just, you know, as it is who he is, is that he walks a lot of guys. but, you know, he's walking more than ever and the strikeouts are down. And so it's just really, really difficult, you know, when it comes collectively like that to overcome. And, you know, I know that there have been times that the bullpen has struggled in the past. I think about last year, you know, the bullpen struggled a bit. And, you know, Tori kind of put it on the offense, you know, and said the offense was creating close games and close situations when there really shouldn't have been. been and I think there's some truth in that.

Yeah. But then again, you know, here we are. And, you know, as much as I'd love to see the offense produce more, you know, they're just not going to, you're going to have to score a lot to overcome this level of pitching. It's just not, it's not acceptable for a team that has playoff aspirations. So that's really tough. And it's even almost harder to stomach when you know they really do have a pretty tremendous defense behind them.

I mean, they are among the better defensive teams in baseball. They really don't have any weaknesses defensively. I mean, everybody's a solid defender, if not better. And so it's just really, really tough to see them give up these kinds of runs. It's just putting a ton of undue pressure on the offense, and it makes it feel like every night they need to score six, seven runs to win. I mean, trying to win a ball game, you know, three to two, it just doesn't even seem realistic at this point. I think a big reason we were hopeful going into this season was the fact that it was short. You had the expanded playoffs going for you, which the Diamondbacks still have going for them.

Like I said, they're only a game out of the playoffs right now. But in the larger picture, I think as much as we were trying to focus our eyes on the fact that anything can happen in a 60 game season, and, you know, the Diamondbacks could come out and win 40 games out of 60 and a 60 game season. knows, you know, the possibilities are endless in a shortened season. But unfortunately, I think we've seen more the flip side of that, that, yes, anything can happen in a 60-game season. Robbie Ray can have an ERA over nine in his walk-year, and Madison Bumgarner can, you know, suddenly lose several ticks on his fastball after things look pretty normal in spring training.

And it's just been, it's been mind-boggling, just going through the different aspects of this team and kind of what we expected versus what we've gotten, it really has been hard to watch in some aspects. And I think at the center of maybe the bizarreness of this season is Catelle Marte, a guy who's still hitting 328 as I talk right now, which is, I believe, one point lower than what he hit last year. He was almost the exact same batting average. And yet his OPS is only 791.

His slugging percentage is just over 400. Somehow the power for Catelle Marte has completely vanished, and it's not just him. There's other guys on this roster who have been pretty similar. Starling Marte, the average is high. The power is maybe a little less than what you would expect. David Peralta, the same story. Christian Walker is batting 300, but his slugging percentage is maybe a little lower than we would expect as well.

So I don't know if there's really anything to diagnose there, Jeff. I don't know if you've really noticed anything, but I think Catelle Marte is kind of at the forefront of this issue of Diamondbacks hitters who were just kind of more poking the ball around than really driving the ball into the gaps or out of the ballpark. Yeah, that does seem to be sort of a team-wide issue for them outside of maybe Cole Calhoun. Sure. Yeah, and I mean, just as I mean, I read off some of the ranks for the pitching staff, but I mean, the team is 25th and weighted on base average. and 28th in isolated slugging, which just really highlights what you're talking about. Poking the ball around, you know, a lot of the, you know, and even for a guy like Starling Marte, you know, it's a high batting average.

Christian Walker is hitting almost 300, but it's a lot of singles. Yeah. You know, not even doubles. I mean, and I don't, you know, trying to buoy everything off of home rounds is difficult. We know that's how a lot of offense is generated in baseball now, but they're not even hitting doubles. And so it's, it has been really tough. You know, I look at like, you know, I look at what Marte has done and, you know, he hasn't, and most of the indicators really haven't changed a whole lot.

He has hitting a few fewer fly balls, but he's not hitting, he's actually hitting fewer ground balls too. He's hitting more line drives. Line drives are great. Yeah. You know, and his hard hit rate is stable. It's just where it was last year. You know, his, the quality of contact looks like it's there.

if there's anything that looks kind of out of whack, it's the fact that he's pulling the ball quite a bit less. And so maybe that hints at, you know, needing to be aggressive and a team that is maybe, you know, feeling a bit of the pressure of the slump that they're in and the slow start that they've gotten off to you and just really aren't maybe sitting back with, like, full confidence and driving the baseball.

And, you know, we've talked about a little bit of that. We talked a little bit about that four-star recording, like David Peralta was a guy that, You know, early in the season, I saw a lot of what kind of felt like passive at bats. And he's been driving the ball more as we've gone along, but it just, you know, it seems like they just have not found sort of a comfort level, and they're just not hunting for pitches in the same kind of way that they have in the past. There's a lot of guys that look, I don't want to say lost, but maybe just less aggressive.

And by aggressive, I don't mean swinging at the first pitch, but I mean not able to really identify their pitch and then put a good swing on the baseball. It's just been really hit and miss. You mentioned, you know, you don't want to put everything on home runs, which is absolutely true. But the Diamondbacks have really been out homered to an absurd degree this season. They have allowed 57 home runs. Oh, boy.

Entering their, I believe, I believe that's current. That's as of this moment. So as they play their 31st game, they have allowed 57 home runs. and as a team they have hit 26. So they have hit less than one home run for every two that their opponents have hit. And all of that that 26 figure ranks 26th in baseball. And pretty much all of the teams below them have played far fewer games due to the scheduling issues that the league has had given COVID and everything going on with that. So 57 to 26, Jeff, it is once again, I'll go.

back to it being kind of a miracle that the diamondbacks are only four games under 500. I mean, that is a casmic disparity right there. Yeah, it is. Yeah, if you want to see the Grand Canyon and you can't travel there right now, just look at the Diamondbacks home run numbers that don't seem about as vast as the Grand Canyon. Yeah, it's, it is almost a miracle that they are where they are. I mean, you just, in today's game, you know, you can't survive off of that kind of discrepancy. It just won't work. So they're going to have to find it. You know, I think there are a couple of things to be positive about, you know, I think the guy that's been leading the way in the homerun department has been Cole Calhoun. He has eight. Granted, one of those was a very

exciting in the park home run in which he was huffin and puffin, but he made it. So yeah, I mean, he's really the only guy that's, I mean, he's the only player that has more than three home runs this season with eight and so that's that's kind of tough and you know but he's really done his part um starly marty has been really good um and so the two the two outfield additions they've had have been really positive um so that gives me some hope and the other thing that does give me some hope is that the second half of the the schedule for them was always going to be more favorable um right you know they did kind of face the astros you know they had some games with the astros and it looked like oh boy it's not going to be good and they did okay

You know, and the Astros are a little down at the moment with Verlander out, and they were missing George Springer for a little bit. So they maybe got them at a better time, but I do think the second half of the schedule is pretty favorable for them. And so they're going to have to really lean on that while they try to find their footing, you know, if they're going to make it into the playoffs because the level of play is going to need to increase significantly if they're A going to make the playoffs and B going to do anything of note in the playoffs. I think another positive on that note for the team has been Zach Gallen, who I mentioned briefly earlier. This guy looks really freaking good. Yeah, he does. 225 ERA over six starts. He's averaging six innings per start, which last year, that was kind of my only question is, you know,

is he the kind of guy who's really good, but only pitches about five innings? But I think this season he's really delivered on those concerns. and I mean, heck, you look at the teams that Zach Gallen has faced. He lined up with the Dodgers, with the Astros at Colorado, and then against Oakland as well. And those were those right there were some of his best starts of the season coming against arguably, you know, the best offenses and certainly a difficult ballpark there at Corse Field. So he has not had an easy road whatsoever, but he has really, really pitched well, 42 strikeouts over those 32 innings.

Opponents are only hitting 202 off of him. Jeff, it is pretty easy to dream on Zach Gallen right now as a 25-year-olds. He just seems to have pretty much figured out major league hitters here at a very young age. You know, if there was anything to complain about with Zach Allen's rookie year, and again, it's his rookie year. So you're not going to pick it apart too much. But if there was anything to have the beep with, it was that he walked. You know, more guys than you'd like to see.

sure um and the strikeout rate is held solid this year and the walks are down um and really the kind of ratio that he's running right now is absolutely long-term sustainable um if he's able to post these kinds of numbers throughout his diamondbacks tenure uh he's going to be a very very good very valuable pitcher for a really long time and so uh if there's yeah i mean if you're looking for a bright spot on that side of the ball he's a clearly it, you know, by a mile, in my opinion. Diamondbacks have five more years of control over Zach Allen, which just really makes it all that much better. Another thing with him is that the ground ball rate has ticked up a little bit as well, 46% this year compared to 39 last year. So all that to say, Zach Gallen is pretty much trending in the right direction and just about every way that we could possibly imagine.

One guy, Jeff, who I want to touch on quickly, that we were eagerly looking forward to the day that Dalton Bar Show got his first at bat in a big league uniform as the catcher, outfielder, wherever he winds up playing of the future here in Arizona. And so far, he really hasn't seemed to figure it out. He hasn't really had any signature moments yet, no big home runs or extra base hits or anything,

just yet. And I know Tori Lavello has had him batting ninth, so he hasn't maybe had a whole lot of opportunities in big moments like that. But Jeff, I'm curious, just your analytical mind. Have you seen, you know, anything from Dalton Varshow that has you concerned, or maybe this is just, you know, a process that some very good young players go through when they break into the majors? I think it's both. Yeah, I don't, those things aren't mutually exclusive to me. I think, you I think by and large he'll probably be okay. You know, we're only talking about 27 plate appearances, but you're right, they have not been particularly noteworthy. I mean, it's only walked twice in those 27 plate appearances and only notched four hits.

You know, the thing for me is, you know, it's kind of twofold. I mean, he gets striking out almost 30% of the time, which tells me he's, you know, probably a little overmatched and, you know, hasn't really found any comfort. And, you know, if we think about sort of what he's been through, right, I mean, he's getting his first taste of the majors in a year in which he wasn't able to open the year in AAA and sort of find a steady groove, right? He's, you know, had to kind of jump in in the deep end of the pool and just try to learn how to swim. And then he's also hitting the ball on the ground a ton. He's running a ground ball rate that's approaching 50 percent.

And he's fast for a catcher, you know, and it's probably unfair to even call him a catcher almost. I mean, he's not, like, super slow, but you've got to be, you've got to be, like, each row fast to, like, hit the ball on the ground almost 50% of the time and still get away with it. So it's going to be really, really hard for him to find, you know, any kind of real output hitting the ball on the ground that often. So it's going to need to launch the ball a little bit more. We're actually really quite a bit more if he's going to sort of find his footing. But this is, I can't think, you know, and I do sort of. feel, you know, in a way for these guys that are, you know, just trying to get their feet wet

in such a weird scenario. It's going to be really hard to have any sort of like realistic evaluation of like the rookies this year, just knowing what they've been through to get to this point. Yeah, well, speaking of the rookies, another guy the Diamondbacks brought up this year, who on the flip side has actually been quite good over 18 played appearances. It's still a very small sample size. But we, it's hard not to get excited about Andy Young and what he did in those 18 plate appearances. He came up in some really big spots. I remember one game the Diamondbacks walked off a couple weeks ago. He was a big part of getting that started by drawing a walk at the start of the ninth inning. And he's just put together some, some very mature at bats.

And Jeff, it's maybe a little puzzling why he is one of few players not on. the active roster right now. I think a lot of people were surprised by that, me included, and hopefully we get to see him back up at the major league level pretty soon. Yeah, I am a little perplexed by that. I don't, you know, I don't really understand why he's not there. It's a minuscule sample. Like, there's no way to skirt around it. But he has also been the Diamondback's most productive hitter, even in that tiny sample. I mean, the strikeout rate is very manageable. The walk rate is great. He's getting on base, which to me, you know, to run a walk rate like he was, which was about 16, almost 17%, and that's not going to

hold. He's not going to continue to walk in almost a fifth of his plate appearances. But it tells me that he's seen the ball pretty well. And the fact that he's not striking out that much means he's seen the ball well. He's making contact. And he was really driving the ball. He owns the team's, you know, highest slugging percentage, even over that small sample. And again, that would probably even out over time. But he looked really good. And in his wake, the team brought up Kevin Cron. And, you know, I'm just not been impressed really whatsoever with Kevin Cron.

You know, he looks like a guy that will just get himself out. The book is out. It's a lot like what we saw when Yosmani Thomas was up. You know, a fastball or two to sort of establish. at bat and then a bunch of breaking balls and soft stuff away and he will just swing at it. And so I'm not really sure, you know, I suppose they were looking for probably a little more pop. I'm sure that Mike Hazen and Tori Lavello are wildly aware as are we that the team is not hitting home runs. But I'm not sure that they were better served to bring up Kevin Crone, you know, in that,

in that way, rather than just letting it ride with Andy Young. I too am surprised and I don't think it'll be long until we see him back. Yeah, hopefully for sure. One thing we don't talk about very much, but I think it's worth at least bringing up is Tori Lavello and just what he has done as a manager and the lineups he's put together. And I think there have been some occasions when his bullpen usage seemed a little bit odd. We all know Tori Lavello to be, he's a loyalist. right, he is a players manager, and that is kind of his calling card, and there's certainly

positives to that, and that players really enjoy playing for him from what we know. But the flip side is that you wind up with players who have track records that are good, but maybe they're not pitching or hitting or whatever it may be so well in the moment. And Tori Lavello has been known to stick with those guys in those moments for a very long time. far longer than probably any fan would like to see. And so you wind up with, you know, guys like Hector Rondone, who was, you know, an all-star caliber closer for one of the better teams in the league, not that long ago.

But he has an ERA over 10 this year. And we've still seen him in a number of those higher levered situations. And at some point, you got to give Tori some slack because, frankly, just about everyone in the bullpen has an ERA over nine, it feels like. and so it certainly is not that he has a wealth of options to go to back there. But Jeff, I'm curious how much of the struggles that the Diamondbacks have had this season, how much of that do you think might be due to Tori maybe kind of mismanaging or having a little bit too much confidence in some of his guys in different moments?

Yeah, I mean, I do think it's bitten them at times. You know, there was, I'm struggling to recall the exact game, but there have been some times when, like you said, Rondone, or maybe it's ginkle, you know, in an instance, is left in, you're like, why is he not going to chape in here? Like, these guys have faced their three batters. And now you have a, you know, now you have a lefty coming up and you're going to let, you know, with two men on, you're going to let Rondon go ahead and face him. Like, not really loving it. So I do think he's giving guys some slack and really tried to let guys kind of like walk through it. But, I mean, with Ron Dome in particular, I watch it pitch.

I mean, you can look at his face and he looks a little shaken, you know. I feel like it was a game last week. But, you know, the first battery faces, the very first pitch he throws is, you know, lined into the gap for, you know, for a base hit. And it's just like, you could just see it on his face. Like, oh, man, here we go again. And so it seems like there have been, you know, there have been enough of these games where they've been on the losing end of things where you know, maybe that's the spot to try to let these guys, you know, write the ship a little bit, you know, build some confidence. So, so I'm not sure. But I do think the other part of that is just,

you know, like you said, a lack of directions to go. It's like, I mean, sure, he's not doing well, but, I mean, what are you going to, you're going to get the ball to somebody else? I mean, most of the other guys aren't pitching very well either. And Stefan Kreiton has been really good, over 13 appearances. He leads to the team in appearances. You know, he's been fantastic. but you just can't go to him every night. Chaffin's had his struggles, and while I think he's probably pitched slightly better than the results have shown, he's also been pretty hitable quite a few times out,

and you've got to pick your spots with Archie Bradley. So, you know, I think Tori's been a little hamstrung and not really knowing where to go with guys, and that's left him with having to go back to the well and hope these guys figured out, and they really have not stepped up to the occasion. So, yeah, I just, It's an area where, I mean, Yon Lopez has not been great.

Cheney Aguera has not been great. You know, now we have Clark and Young and kind of starting roles. You'd probably rather have them in the bullpen. Widener's been not great. It's just really nowhere to really go. And I don't know really what's languishing down at the alternate site, but I don't think there's a whole lot there either. So he's kind of having to write it out for now.

And I know we'll get to it a little bit, but it does look like an area to be addressed. yeah i feel like when we've talked about this on the show before but just the diamond backs over their over their history really since i was born i could probably count on one hand the number of really good relievers that this team has had it's just it's never been a strength they've never really had you know some and it feels like other teams are pumping out these guys who throw a hundred and two miles an hour just left and right. And the diamond backs have just not really had anyone like that for quite some time. And I think there was maybe some hope that Yohan Lopez coming up as a younger guy throwing

98 in the minor leagues could come up and be that guy. But he is just proven to be very hitable. Kevin Ginkle, kind of a similar story. They're okay, but they're just not nearly to the level that a lot of other teams have access to. and Jeff, I know we talked about this before we went on the air, but you were talking about how the Diamondbacks have for years now, especially under the regime of Mike Hazen, they've kind of just gone on, you know, low-money veteran guys

who they can bring in for one season, and then that's it. And that's kind of been the structure of their bullpen outside of Archie Bradley. It's basically been Archie Bradley plus a bunch of those guys. and maybe a couple guys from the minor leagues who made the roster. That's kind of been the structure of this bullpen for several years now. And at some point, you have to wonder, you know, when are the Diamondbacks going to be able to come up with a strategy in the bullpen that, you know, isn't a bunch of, you know, 34-year-olds who, you know,

might have been good closers five years ago, but just aren't the same guy they were then. Yeah, I agree. And, I mean, Archie Bradley, me, let's face it, he's like, supposed to be in this role. I mean, he was supposed to be a starting pitcher. Um, and I know those guys don't always work out. And a lot of them become relievers. But yeah, I mean, that's the guy that they seem to have, you know, done the best with. And, you know, it's a lot of, um, you know, it's a lot of bargain hunting. It's a lot of bargain shopping. And the results are going to vary pretty wildly when that's the way you go about it. Um, you just, you just can't count on it.

I mean, relievers are already volatile as it is. Um, and I understand that that's probably why haven't really wanted to invest there, but we're seeing what a lack of investment has really left them with. And it's a lot of guys on short contracts or guys that are under team control that were kind of fringe you to begin with. And they sort of continue to really pay the price on it. Yeah, I know we talked about it over the winter, you know, and there being a limited budget, and even with moving, you know, Granky's money, you know, or the vast majority of it

off the books. I mean, you know, they only had so much to span. They had other holes to plug. And so they did and didn't really get attacked the relief market. And, you know, the results sort of speak for themselves. And it's just, I'm with you in a sense where this team at some point is going to have to either develop better relievers internally or start spending some money in this area because this isn't, this isn't really cutting it. And there may be years where they spend the same amount of money on relievers and maybe it works out better. But for consistency's sake, and, you know, guys like us being able to sleep well at night, this level probably isn't, you know, probably just isn't going to do it.

And so I wonder if that's around the corner. I mean, you know, Taylor Clark is now starting games. Yeah, he probably was better served in a relief role. Alex Young had had some really, really good relief outings, but he started tonight. And so I think that those kinds of issues, we might be even seeing a bit of a trickle-down effect from the fact that, you know, you have multiple starters on the injured list or about to go on the injured list or guys that have had, you know, shortened outings. You know, Luke Weaver hasn't been able to pitch very much. He's, I know, averaging about, looks like about four innings per start. I think it's just all kind of piling up on them

and they don't really have anywhere to go right now. I want to jump into our questions from our listeners. Mike wanted to know, is there a Robbie Ray market and what does the potential return look like? He was also curious if there are any other surprise players who could be traded by us at the trade deadline. It's a good question, Mike. I mean, like we said, the trade deadline is only a few days away,

as strange as that is. Jeff, I'm curious your take on the, Robbie Ray thing. I don't know if it's really worth trying to trade him at this point. I mean, you're not really going to find a contender out there looking to add a guy who ZRA is nine. You know, maybe in his next time out, if he throws a complete game two hitter, you know, maybe that conversation changes and there's a team interested in acquiring a guy who has a pretty decent track record. But Robbie Ray is probably not in the picture for me as far as trades go. And And other than that, the Diamondbacks don't really seem to have any other real trade options on their roster that they would want to try to get anything for.

Andrew Chafin and Jake Lamb were the other guys of note who are about to finish up their walk season. And obviously neither of them have had good season. So it might be a pretty quiet trade deadline from what I can tell. Yeah, especially in terms of being sellers. You know, when your team's not very good, there's not a lot to sell. So I think that that may have kind of worked itself out a bit. Yeah, I don't think so. I don't think Ray is a guy that gets moved.

I don't think the market's probably there. And just on principle alone, you never really want to sell low. So I don't think they probably trade him. You know, it would be really fascinating to know what was on the table in regard to what Robbie where it was worth at the trade deadline last year because whatever that was compared to this year is got to be wildly different. So I don't think he's probably a guy that moves. And, you know, up and down sort of the pitching staff, there isn't much to sell. I mean, you're not going to sell. Obviously, he's that gallon. You're not going to sell League Weaver. So, you know, you're kind of,

it's probably kind of rolling with it. I think if they wanted to be sellers, a guy like Stefan Crichton, a guy like Andrew Chaffin, might be. those might be guys that would probably be pretty attractive to other clubs. And even with Chafin's sort of speed bumps, I think you could look at him objectively and say, well, you know, he's had some outings. It wasn't sharp, but it's not like the stuff has changed dramatically. And it's worked well in the past. So, I mean, maybe those directions if they really want to sell.

But yeah, from – and then on the hitting – you know, on the position player's side, I don't think there's really much you're trying to get rid of. I mean, they just signed David Peralta to an extension. I don't think anyone really probably wants to take that kind of commitment on, I don't see a whole lot really to be for sale. You know, one direction they could go would be maybe moving a guy like Stephen Vote, you know, and just giving Dalton Varshal like consistent reps behind the plate with Carson Kelly. Yeah.

But that's not going to like, you're not going to acquire like, you know, a couple top 100 prospects or, you know, anything for Stephen Vote. So, yeah, they're kind of in a tough spot. I mean, I think if they want to do anything, they probably have to buy. I don't think there's much to sell. Yeah, George Valencia asked a similar question. He was also curious if there are any specific players that the Diamondback should go after. I've seen a few people on Twitter.

I don't know if this is a joke or something that's actually serious. But a couple of people that I follow on Twitter have thrown out the idea of trying to go get J.D. Martinez round two from the Boston Red Sox, a team that has struggled probably even more than the diamond backs have this season. He might be available, and Jeff, the diamondbacks have certainly had their offensive struggles, but J.D. Martinez is also a pretty good baseball player, and there's a lot of money there, and I really don't think the diamondbacks would really be a fit. And outside of a wild card like him, the diamondbacks have many needs in the bullpen and in

the rotation, but, you know, I mean, even if you can find your way into the playoffs, there's there's so many teams in it this year. And I think it's, uh, it's just a bit of a crap shoot being a team in the diamond backs position at this point in the season. Jeff, do you think it's safe to say no,

no J.D. Martinez round two. Do you think we should shut down that pipe dream? Probably. Um, my Boston is kind of a dumpster fire. So I mean, that is, I at least give credit,

you know, in terms of looking there. Um, but yeah, they're probably, like that's probably not the best deal. Martinez is off to, you know, kind of the worst start that he's had in quite a long time.

So I don't think they go that way and want to pay that kind of money. And frankly, like, it's just, it's weird. We don't really know who the heck is going to sell. Like, it's a little wild. I mean, the picture's a little more clear in the American League. I mean, Seattle, Texas, Kansas City, Detroit, you know, Boston, Baltimore. I mean, you kind of, you know, by and large, in the American League, the playoff, is all the teams that are going to make the playoffs are almost already set um so that makes it pretty

tough i don't know that you know teams like pittsburgh really have much to get rid of you know i don't think i know strasberg is down for washington i mean maybe the gnats kind of folded in early but you know i'm not really even sure completely who's going to be selling i mean san francisco is sitting there going like we're not very good but also we just play Stremski and what else do we need, right? And if we just play kind of okay for the rest of the year, we might wind up with a playoff. So I think it's a little harder to identify on the National League side,

and it's just going to be slim-piggings. I mean, the expanded playoff situation, you know, basically takes at least six teams out of probably the seller market and into the perhaps the buyer market, or at least the stand-pat market. you know, I'm really interested actually to see how this trade deadline goes, you know, irrespective of the time of the back. So just don't know to what level teams are going to feel like buying and selling.

You know, expiring contracts are one thing. But everyone has to sort of adjust their standards. Like if you want a starting pitcher, you're not going to give up a premium for a starting pitcher when you know he's only going to make five more starts during the regular season. Yeah. It just like the return in terms of like on field production is just going to be so limited. I mean, that said, you know, it's still getting into the playoffs and they're still going to be a World Series champion crown. So I'd be really interested to see how prices for the market in general adjust based on this.

You know, and if those prices are really down, like maybe the debacks take advantage of that, you know, and become, become buyers. I mean, maybe that's an opportunity. But it is also an opportunity that's going to apply. to, you know, 16, 17, 18 other clubs. And so they're certainly going to have their hands full in terms of competing, and maybe that artificially drives the prices back up. I'm not sure. I'm so waiting to see how that shakes out.

Yeah, I mean, you also have the added issue of there being no minor league baseball this year. And we don't see a lot of, you know, major leaguer for major leagueer format trades these days. So I think you might see teams a little bit more hesitant to acquire some of those younger prospects who haven't, you know, haven't played in months and you don't really know, you know, what they're going to look like a year from now when hopefully minor league baseball is going again. Yeah.

And we don't also, I mean, we also are like, it is not a foregone conclusion that there will be minor league baseball next season. Right. So, I mean, yeah, do you really want to trade for the guy that, you know, was listed at, you know, six, three, 195 pounds? And when you, you know, go to do the medicals, he weighs 235. I mean, I know. the pandemic has not been necessarily great for me and my fitness.

So maybe it's been true for others as well. So yeah, I mean, I think it does add a level of complexity. You're absolutely right. We got another question, which is really interesting. Downtown JCO on Twitter sent this one in. Why is the team struggling so much on the road? I don't know if that's a question we can really provide a definitive answer to, Jeff. But it is interesting.

The Diamondbacks entering the homestandstand they're playing right now had won seven consecutive games at Chase Field. And on the road, it's just kind of been abysmal. So I don't know if there's really anything to that. Maybe it's just more of a coincidence than anything else. I mean, heck, there's nobody in the stands anyway, so you figure it doesn't really matter. But, you know, there also could be a factor of just being more comfortable in your home

stadium and, you know, kind of knowing the lay of the land, being more familiar with the batter's eye, that kind of. kind of thing. What do you think, Jeff? I don't know. I'm more willing to sort of chalk it up the sample size noise. I don't know that the schedule, you know, has been, you know, particularly heavily weighted in terms of like quality of opponents one way or another. They certainly played more games on the road. That's for sure than they played at home. But, I mean, yeah, for me, it feels more like a function of them being hot and cold as opposed to being, you know, at home or on the road. So it's one of those things I think it'll probably even out, you know, over the course of the

season, but the season being so short, it may still, you know, end with a bit of a discrepancy, but I don't think there's anything too much to the, to the home road split at this point. Final question we got from our listeners, though I do want to give Matt Steele a shout out because he's the one who kind of turned us on to the idea of Cotel Marte's power. He wanted to start a search party for Cotel Marte's power with I am on board with because the Diamondbacks definitely need that if they're going to get where they want to this season. But last question comes from Timbo Fowler on Twitter. He asked, what second half record would you predict will be necessary to make the playoffs?

And I think that's a good question because, as we've said, only one game out as of right now. The playoffs are certainly still within reach. Jeff, just kind of having monitored the standings off and on for the last couple of weeks, It seems like the eight seed in the National League generally is about one or two games under 500, which makes sense. You know, you have eight out of 15 teams. So it's right around the kind of midpoint of the league is probably going to get in. So we figure right around 500 or maybe a little bit underneath that.

So my guess is if the Diamondbacks went around 16 and 14 from this point forward, which would give them a final record of 29 and 31. I think I don't know if I would bet a house payment on that, but I think that could very well get the Diamondbacks in the playoffs. And if not 16 to 14, I think 17 and 13 finishing an even 500 probably would do it. Yeah, I'm with you. I think probably finishing 500 probably feels a little safer. You know, if I look at the standings, you know, I have them here in front of me.

It's like, you know, running down. San Diego for second place in the division now feels out of reach. You know, and six games ago, that wasn't the case. It kind of felt like, hey, maybe they take that second spot in, you know, West and just get straight in. But now you're almost certainly fighting for one of those two wildcard spots. And, you know, it's a lot to be seen. Like, St. Louis has only played 19 games.

How do they finish up? You know, they're behind, you know, in the games count, you know, are similar for the Mets to a degree similar, certainly for the Marlins. The East has been kind of a mess in general. So I'm with you. I think they probably need to finish 500 to feel like, you know, even, you know, remotely close or secure to getting in. So I'm going to lean that way.

I think they probably need to finish 500 to get in. But, you know, one game short of that, yeah, maybe. But there are a lot of teams with a similar. winning percentage to what the dime backs have right now. And yeah, I don't feel, I don't feel especially good about it. And one of the things that gives me the most pause is that they have the second worst run differential in the National League. Yeah.

And that to me is scary because it's one thing to, you know, we went through this last year, right, where the team had a really good run differential at times, but was sort of languishing in that 500 area. This year, they have a negative 25 run differential and they have one of the worst records in the National League. So when those things line up, I tend to get a little more scared. So it's really going to, like, you're not going to luck your way into this. It's going to have to be real legitimate improvement.

Yeah, the Diamondbacks have not been helped by the fact that I did the math yesterday. They have scored two runs or less in 13 out of their 30 games, which is almost half of their games they have scored two runs or less. And I mean, two runs is you're almost never going to win a game by scoring two runs. your pitching is really, really on that day. But, Jeff, like you said earlier in the show, the latter half of the schedule is a heck of a lot better for the Diamondbacks. It's a lot more in their favor than the first half was.

And as of about a week ago, we were, you know, very optimistic. They were 13 and 11. They had soared above the Padres. Things were looking good. And one thing about this team is that you never want to get too high or too low with the Diamondbacks because if they go on a cold streak, there's probably a four or five game winning streak around the corner not too far in the distance.

So as much as right now might be a little bit of a downer moment for the Diamondbacks in this season, Jeff, I think it's safe to say all hope is not lost and who knows what the latter half of the season has in store. Absolutely. I mean, they have six against the Dodgers remaining and they have three against the Astros remaining. And the rest of the games are against teams that,

At least on paper, they really should beat. I mean, the Giants, a bunch, the Rockies, a bunch, the angels who have, you know, had a really tough time this year, the Mariners, the Rangers. They've just got to, and I know we, you know, we talked about this right as the season was kicking off, but they've got to start owning these series against lesser opponents. Sure. They've almost played down to their competition, and it has not served them well. So, um, hope is not lost. I think, you know, uh, it wouldn't be weird to see, you know, just like any year for a team to start, you know, where the Diamondbacks have started now. You wouldn't like give up on them.

Um, and so we shouldn't do that now either. Um, and I'm with you. So I think they have a pretty favorable schedule. Um, they'll be at home a good bit and, um, they'll play some, you know, probably cumulatively an easier schedule. So I am optimistic. I think there are a lot of guys that are a lot better in their stats show right now. And all it's really going to take is, you know, a couple of them sort of turning around at a good time. And, you know, we might change our team pretty quickly.

Well, look at that. Ending on a positive note, as we like to do here on the Rattle Podcast. That is all that we have here for episode 23. Thank you so much for your patience in this season, as things have been a little hectic on my end. lately, but excited to jump back into things here with the show. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at the RattleAZ if you haven't already. We'd love to interact with you on Twitter. And hopefully it won't be too long before we're back on the air to talk more about the 2020

Arizona Diamondbacks.