PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Ep. 4: Zack Greinke does it all, Escobar's crazy week, Duplantier's future, & more

Episode Date: April 30, 2019

We discuss Eduardo Escobar bouncing back from a rough start, Zack Greinke’s knack for doing everything, and new updates from the D-backs farm system. We also break down why we–like the D-backs’ team as a whole–respect recently DFA’d reliever Matt Koch. 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.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode four of the Rattle podcast. As always, I'm your host, Jesse Friedman, alongside Jeff Weiser. And we are your host here on The Rattle. I'm excited to join you once again here on the show. And Jeff, the Diamondbacks are coming off a pretty solid week once again. They seem to just kind of keep on rolling here as we finish out the month of April. It is April the 30th. As we speak at the moment, the Diamondbacks are 16 and 13.

They are coming off back-to-back losses against the Chicago Cubs. They lost a bit of a rough game on Saturday, 9 to 1. That was ugly in pretty much all facets of the baseball game. And then on Sunday, they lost a bit of a heartbreaker, 6 to 5 and 15 innings. Second longest game in Chasefield history, just under 5 hours and 40 minutes. I stayed up all night long here in Budapest local time. I think it was about 4 a.m. by the time that time. game finished. Diamondbacks lost that one, which was a little bit hard for me to take after I

stayed up as long as I did. But the Diamondbacks did drop those last two games going into the weekend. But prior to that, the Diamondbacks continued to roll. They swept the Pirates all four games there. The Diamondbacks won, which just continued a streak of what I believe is now 10 consecutive wins at that stadium, which is pretty impressive for the Diamondbacks. And they also beat the Cubs in that first game of the series on Friday. So as we speak right now, Diamondbacks are 16 and 13, two and a half games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Jeff, 16 and 13, as we are about to turn the calendar into May,

by all accounts, pretty impressive for the Diamondbacks so far. Yeah, I mean, let's just talk about, let's just talk briefly about who they've had to play since the beginning of the season. I mean, it was always going to be a little bit of a, you know, a tough, start to the season. They opened with four with the Dodgers. And the Padres have not been bad. They got Boston.

The Padres again, the Braves are a quality team. The Cubs are obviously a team that has postseason aspirations. Same with the pirates, even though they've kind of been hit by the injury bug. And now they'll kind of cap off the first month, if you will. I know we sort of started in late March, but now they get the Yankees. So, you know, if you can take a winning record from, from that group of opponents, you got to take that and love it. They have only played four against the Dodgers,

which means there's plenty of games looming, but definitely an encouraging start to the year. Another thing that's been encouraging for the Diamondbacks is that over this last week, Eduardo Escobar, the Diamondbacks third baseman, all-around utility player. He was the National League player of the week. And for a good reason,

You look at the numbers that this guy put up over the course of the last week. He had three home runs. He batted well over 400 on the week. And Eduardo Escobar, I think, was at least for me, was one of the more concerning guys during spring training. He looked very, very lackluster in his time before the season started. And as the season started, really nothing changed. He looked like the same spring training, about 150 hitting at, Eduardo Escobar that we had seen in the month prior right after the season started.

So Eduardo Escobar had a very rough start to the season. I think some people were a little bit concerned, me included, that maybe what happened last year as good of a season as he had with the twins and the Diamondbacks, I started to wonder if maybe that was more of a blip on the radar, maybe something that wasn't necessarily going to last. But with this week that he has just had, Eduardo Escobar, you look at the numbers on the hole for the season. And they're starting to look quite good once again.

If you compare his numbers this year with what he did last year, uh, is really pretty similar across the board, maybe even a little bit better this year. Uh, as he's sitting 286 with five home runs, 17 RBIs. Uh,

suddenly Jeff, Eduardo Escobar has really turned things around and he has done so in quite a hurry. Yeah. I think when we, when we look at players and we sort of like assess the panic level sometimes. the fact that a guy is a veteran, the fact that a guy has been in the big leagues

as long as Escobar has, does provide like a little bit of confidence that, you know, they'll get it back. I mean, I think when to somewhat of a, you know, it's maybe not the best comparison, but when we think about a guy like Christian Walker, when he sort of went into a slump, we were like, you know, what exactly do we make of this

because he doesn't have, I mean, he has an extensive triple-A. record, but he doesn't have an extensive minor or major league record. So you kind of worry a little bit more there. I think with Escobar, you're just kind of waiting for things to even out. I think it's evened out a little more quickly than I'd anticipate. But you noted the five home runs on the year. I mean, he hit three of them in the last week. So yeah, he's been, he's been remarkable and he's a guy that they're going to continue to lean on and need. And he's just going to have to continue to play like a really integral role in the offense. But he's, he's,

He's fully capable. And like you noted, I mean, he was not the strongest in the spring, did not open the season particularly well. But, you know, it's one of those guys that is just totally committed to succeeding. And, you know, there have been some really great pieces written about him, you know, in the last month or so. It was just about his character and who he is as a person. And, you know, some of those things really do matter. Like, when the going gets tough, like, what kind of person are you? And I think Escobar is the kind of guy that, you know, takes it.

you know, can take it, let it roll off and pick it up the next day. And I don't think it bothers him too much. I think he's just a real competitor, like in all senses. And he's an awesome, awesome guy on this team and a cool guy to root for. So I'm really happy for him on a personal level. But the team needs, I mean, he does not have to hit, you know, 429 the rest of the season. But they're going to need to him to, you know, continue to be a big part of the middle of that lineup. Speaking of the Diamondbacks offense, this is a bit of an unexpected turn maybe, but Zach Granky once again tripled in his last start.

He is currently getting 462 with an OPS just under 2000. You want to talk about the more analytics type-based stats, and Zach Granky, at least recently, I haven't looked at it too recently, Jeff, but I saw at one point that Zach Grinke was leading the National League in barrel rate. I think it was minimum 13 plate appearances at the time. But all the same, Granky has been a force to be reckoned with at the plate this season. And in his last start on the mound, I think Granky might have really turned a corner. At least he gave the Diamondbacks maybe a start and outing that he really hasn't given them up to this point. He went seven innings against the pirates. Didn't allow a run.

Struck out seven. I believe he had retired almost, I think it was about 14 consecutive batters at one. point to conclude that start. So Zach Ranky, I think at the moment is looking every bit like the ace that the Diamondbacks need him to be. He is undoubtedly an important part of this team. And Jeff, something I tweeted today, this is a bit of a more fun tidbit that I picked out today. I'm curious your opinions on it. Zach Rankie is probably not the best pitcher in the National League anymore at the ripe old age of 35. I think that ship is probably sailed at the same. point. You still have a very good starter, probably not the best in the league. But you want to talk

about his fielding and his hitting and his base running. And I don't know if those, you know, those things are necessarily key things you want out of a starting pitcher. But I would be hard pressed to find a starting pitcher in the game of baseball who does those three things better than Zach Granky. Yeah, I agree. I mean, it's like, you know, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's bonus. You know, on the cumulative value, it's a small bonus, but it's a bonus nonetheless. It's a fun bonus. It is a super fun bonus. Yeah, the triple's awesome. I mean, you know, no offense, Eduardo Escobar, I had a given Zach Granky, NL offensive player of the week, just for the fun factor of what he was doing. But yeah, no, he's such a well-rounded player and just

someone who understands the game right and i think you know going back to the point about eskabar being sort of that veteran that guy that knows how to sort of get it back i mean with granky it's it's the same thing i mean it was like just a total case of like hide your eyes in that first start um it was ugly but you also knew that he would you know get it back to some degree so he's still like he's still doing his thing and if you watch him i mean he's just i i would i would encourage listeners next time he takes the mound, you know, tonight to really look, you know, where his catcher sets up and his ability to, to hit the glove or miss in his favor, it's outstanding. It's absolutely outstanding. And then, you know, if you have a chance to catch the next Robbie Ray start, maybe compare and contrast those

two things. Because, I mean, both guys are capable of succeeding, but they do it in very different ways. And so for Granky, it's just like I saw a sequence of him just like painting the outside black with like a 90 mile an hour fastball that, you know, the hitter takes and it's, you know, it's strike two. And then, you know, with two strikes on the hitter, he goes right back to the similar location. But he throws, you know, the hard 87 mile an hour change up. And the pitch just moves enough off the black that the batter swings, you know, and misses it. And it's like, I mean, that whole thing was planned out in advance. I mean, they knew exactly. what they wanted to do. They knew exactly where they wanted to go. And the difference was Zach Granky is he can do it. I mean, he can make it happen. And not very many pitchers have that ability. So, you know, it's super fun to see him field his position as well as he does. I mean, he's like, he really is like having an extra infielder in the infield. And he will run the base as well. But, you know, his ability to pitch is still what pays him. And he's not been letting us down lately, which is awesome.

I think what amazes me about Granky is people talk about the velocity just continuing to drop. And that has, by all accounts, been the same thing. This year, I think he's around a mile an hour or so below where he was last year with the fastball. But it just doesn't really even seem to matter anymore. You talk about Kai, who he throws four pitches. He throws them all extremely well. I think we've seen stints of his career as a member of the Diannobanky.

Diamondbacks, where his change-up has been his best pitch, where his slider has been his best pitch, and when his curveball has been his best pitch. He's gone through phases, if you will, of each of those secondary pitches being his best offering. And I think he's just that versatile and that able to get batters out in a lot of ways that other pitchers just can't do. And it almost seems like as the fastball velocity continues to drop, you know, for most pitchers, you want your fastball and your change-up to have a sizable velocity difference between them. And for Granky, it's hilarious because sometimes his change-up literally comes in faster than his fastball. But, I mean, it poses a whole other problem for the hitter because you got two pitches that

from a timing standpoint, you have to play them the same way. But one of them is a relatively straight pitch and the other one just completely falls off the table. And for a hitter, I just, I can't even imagine what that's like. Yeah, I think, I think velocity is, you know, it's all relative in a sense where, you know, if you've seen Granky for a net bat, you're going up for your second one, you're like, okay, it's not, you know, it's not ripping up there at 98, but it really doesn't matter because he's still going to put it where he wants it. And so, yeah, like you said, I mean, it's hard to tell his pitches apart.

tunnels everything very well. He can aim at the same location with different pitch types, and they're going to move differently. I mean, he's just, it's really masterful. I mean, it really is. And I think, you know, one of the things that, you know, benefits him the most is he just, he throws a lot of competitive pitches, whether their balls or strikes, but they are, they're competitive. They're putting the batter in a reactionary position where they can't just take the pitch. And he doesn't miss like middle middle very often. I mean, he just, he doesn't. Like he doesn't have the stuff to get away with that.

And batters in the majors, I mean, will absolutely punish mistakes. And he does not make them over the plate. He may spike a curveball when he didn't really mean to you. Or he may run that change up out of the zone or the slider, you know, out of the zone to the glove side. But he's going to miss in a way that doesn't expose him. and again, you compare it with someone who lives more on stuff than the ability to control and command their pitches, and it just looks totally different.

It's, I don't know. I mean, it's one thing to get blown away by, like, 98 mile an hour heat at the letters. It's another thing to just, like, you know, take a 89 mile an hour fastball in the corner and have to, like, walk back to the dugout. And you're like, I wonder what that batter is thinking right now. Like he just got rung up on 89 on the corner and it's just like, I bet that batter is more upset that he struck out on the 89 mile an hour fastball alone away than the guy that got blown away by 98th letters. I bet he's more pissed about that.

Oh, absolutely. Shifting gears just a little bit here on the Rattle podcast. If anyone knows the Diamondbacks farm system well, it is my co-host, Jeff Weiser. And so in this show, as in pretty much all of our shows here on The Rattle, I want to give Jeff a shot to just kind of go through some of the Diamondbacks notable performances as of late in their farm system. Jeff, I saw you tweeting recently about Jimmy Shurphy and what he's been able to do at the AAA level has been really impressive, maybe a candidate to be called up at some point

in the near future Dalton Varsho. I know has also performed well as of late. And to be honest, folks, the reason that I know these things is because I follow Jeff on Twitter and I read his hashtag D-Bax Miners tweets that he comes out with every morning. I suggest you do the same. But with that said, Jeff, go ahead and take it away and give us a little bit of a spectacle of what the Diamondbacks Farm System has looked like as of late. Yeah, I think one of the cool things that's happened here in the last little while in the

last week or so is there have been a few names added to the Kane County roster down in single A full season ball. So a few of the younger guys are working from extended spring training and have now worked their way up into sort of, you know, playing for one of the affiliates. So third baseman buddy Kennedy is there now and he has performed really well in a very, very short stint. And another guy I think that a lot of people are excited about is shortstop Blaze Alexander, who is also now up at Kane County after being picked as a high schooler last summer.

So, you know, I think it's notable in a sense that Kennedy is a year older than Alexander. But thinking about Alexander a little bit, you know, the Diamondbacks obviously weren't able to sign their first round pick, Matt McLean, who they drafted as a shortstop. He ended up going to college playing for UCLA, who is by many outlets ranked as the best college baseball team of the country this year. and McLean has been like an everyday guy for the Bruins, but they moved him immediately to center field and he has not hit well at all. And so I think the Diamondbacks actually sort of, you know, soften the blow a little bit by going overslaught on Blaze Alexander

in the 11th round of the draft last year. And he has quickly made an impact and jumped, you know, started exciting scouts and started like jumping onto lists as a guy with big power potential, a cannon of an arm at shortstop. And like if he has to slide off the position to third base someday, he could definitely do that and be a very athletic third baseman. So I'm a little bummed because I didn't really get to see him at all at Hillsborough. He basically played a few games in the Pioneer League to close out 2018

and then has now jumped to full season ball, which is a pretty aggressive promotion. So some of those things, you know, it's easy to read into them too much, but the organization must have some confidence in his ability to handle that. And so that's certainly a good sign. A guy that maybe is a little less, a little less glowing start of the year

is Taylor Weidner, who's pitched at AAA Reno and has really, really struggled. He has had a pretty tough start to his year. He's made six starts, excuse me, five starts and giving up six home runs in those five starts. You know, that's tough because it's, you know, it's Reno. It's the PCL. And of note, for anyone that's not been kind of following the, you know, conspiracy theories

around the baseball this year, the AAA level of baseball is now using the major league baseball. And so home run rates are up across both AAA leagues, the PCL and the international league big time. So, you know, it's in a sense that's bad. In another sense, it's maybe explainable in some ways, but he'd obviously like to keep the ball in the park. So, and he's also been burned big time by walks, and he's walked 10 guys in less than 20 innings. So he's had a pretty tough start to the year, and he's a guy that I think we all thought we would see at some point this year.

So we'll have to kind of monitor his situation as it moves along. Jimmy Sherfey has been quite good and it looks like he is pretty close to you know it's just really just kind of like waiting for a chance and so I sort of think I got a question on Twitter about like

what does a guy like Sherfi need to do to stick and you know I think the elite relief pitchers you know come up and pretty much stay up but for the rest of them you know they're going to be up and down guys because the organization has those three option years to you know

move the player up and down, you know, as needed based on the roster. And I think, like, I like sure Fee falls, you know, kind of prey to that strategy in the sense where if they can move him back and forth and it allows them to keep another guy who maybe doesn't have any options around, then they're going to do that. And it's, it's about managing, like, the talent of the 40-man roster, you know, just as much or more so even in some cases than managing just the 25-man roster. So we have to kind of think big picture there. And the last note I'll pass along is I'm hoping next month here in May to make a trip or two to Visalia.

I'll be in the area kind of mid-month. And so I'm excited to go down and hopefully catch a rawhide game or two. So stay tuned. May have some good content there coming to the Rattle soon from Visalia, the booming metropolis of Vysalia, California. Oh, absolutely. It is booming. I was there a couple years ago. You know, I mean, you've got Sequoia National Park right there, so I actually do have some respect for Viceroyer for that reason. But I digress. Another prospect in the diamond back system that has received a lot of play, and rightfully so, is John DuPontier. And I think he is very quickly starting to earn the hearts of Arizona Diamondbacks fans.

hands, especially because of what he did in his last outing against the Chicago Cubs, a game that the Diamondbacks admittedly did lose in 15 innings. But John DuPontier showed some major guts in that outing. There was a point, I believe it was the 13th inning, I want to say, when John Duplanteer, or maybe it might have been earlier, it might have been the 12th inning. But DuPontier was facing the bases loaded coming up against the middle of the Chicago Cubs lineup. and somehow a strikeout, a pop-up, and an incredible fielder's choice by Nick Ahmed later, and Duplante was out of the inning.

And that really seemed to be the spot in the game, in an extra inning game where the Diamondbacks thought they were going to be done. And DuPontier stuck it out against some of the best hitters in baseball. And I think it was really telling of just who he is as a person and what he's all about. and you saw some good stuff in that game. The four seamer, the two seamer, both looked pretty good. It seemed like he had pretty decent command of his fastball.

And then on top of that, a change-up and a curveball, the occasional slider, he showed some pretty good stuff against the Chicago Cubs. And I know the Diamondbacks did just send him back to AAA, which personally I didn't see is that significant of a move because he was so gassed after that outing against the Cubs, he probably wouldn't be able to pitch for quite some time at the major league level. But nonetheless, this is a guy who I think we're going to see back very soon at the big league level.

And I think he might be here to stay. Yeah, I agree. He's going to, you know, they're sort of in a tough spot with him where they're having to balance the needs of the current 25-man roster and sort of what's needed. They've had, like you said, some of these marathon games or games where they've needed some length out of the bullpen. And then also managing him as a starter, which they'd like to continue to get him stretched out and have him be a rotation option. So I think it's a really, if you think about kind of from a player development standpoint, a tough spot to be in with John as they have a need and he's clearly capable of helping them. But at the same time, they're trying to manage him for the future. So it's a little tricky.

I think that it's hard. And I think that's probably part of why he was sent down is they, you know, ideally would like to, you know, get T.J. McFarland back, be able to soak up some of these innings, you know, get some longer outings from their starters or continue to do so. They've had a decent run of that. And so if they could, you know, continue to do that and allow him the time and space to stretch back out and get, you know, get back to being capable of throwing like, you know, 100 pitches in the night. I think that'd be preferable, but there may meet the road in a sense where that goal or that strategy has to go out the window in order for the big league club to stay in contention.

And so he's going to be a really fascinating case study as to how they continue to manage that. And at some point, you know, is it just like, hey, he's going to go down and he's going to stay there. And if we need the longer innings, we'll let Taylor Clark pick them up or something like that. So I'm not sure, but he's, he's, you know, really proven himself capable of, of helping. You know, his strikes, he's thrown, you know, plenty of balls, you know, but he, his strike to ball rate isn't, like, stellar. But everything moves for him, and he's been awfully hard to hit. I mean, in eight innings, he's only given out three hits. So I think that part of it we have to really like it and be encouraged by.

And I'm sure his confidence continues to grow with every outing, too. a question we were asked actually a couple weeks ago by Matthew so apologies to Matthew because this is a question we unfortunately didn't get to in our last couple of shows but I wanted to make sure we hit on it today Matthew asked what would it take to get Duplanteer or Widener called up as starters with Taiwan Walker coming back soon and Jeff you mentioned the pitch count issue with Duplantee he's not stretched out as you would normally expect him to be at this point this season. And then you also talked earlier about Taylor Widener and the fact that he just has not really looked like the same guy, which albeit, I

think when pitchers make the jump from double A to AAA, I think that that can happen, especially for the Diamondbacks with their AAA team based out of Reno and of course the enormous hitter type environment that we've seen in the PCL. But do you think either of these guys are legitimate candidates to serve as starters with the diamond backs at some point this year. I think so. I think for, I think we covered it with De Planteer that it's going to be a matter of giving him the time and space to get stretched out to do so. But he's capable. I think Widener, you know, obviously he's made five starts. Like you're not going to close the book on that just yet. So, so that's a little bit of a different scenario. But yeah, I think that both of them

are capable of doing so. You know, Widener's pitch counts have been up there enough that it looks like he has, you know, plenty of capacity to pitch, you know, out of the big league rotation. So that's, you know, that's encouraging. The thing that's working against Widener is that he's not on the team's 40-man roster at the moment. So someone has to get the boot in order for him to come up. And that's something that the team's probably going to be a little reluctant to do until

they're forced to do so. So I think that sort of works against him, plus his track record, you know, far this year hasn't been great. You know, and you can see it, you know, there's kind of a relationship there between like, oh, look, when he's, you know, he's given up some home runs, he starts walking guys. It's like, does he start being a little tentative in the strike zone? You know, that's just not going to work at the major league level. So, you know, there's probably like one more hurdle for him to clear, you know, before he's really ready. But depending on how this team, you know, continues to carry itself through May, June, and July.

it would not be a shock to see these guys, you know, come up and get a chance. Injuries are going to happen. You know, they're about to get Taiwan Walker back, but the thought that you're going to keep the rest of the guys healthy all season is probably naive. So whether they're ready or not, they may get their turn, you know, ready or not. So, I mean, you can envision a scenario, right, where if T.J. McFarland just had some rest, like John DePontia comes up and throws three or four innings. And then T.J. McFarland is planned to come in and throw, you know, two, three innings. Afterwards, you kind of mix that righty, lefty matchup, you know, in a way to sort of mitigate the fact that Diplantei can't go super deep if he's not stretched out yet.

So I think there's some ways to do it in which they can make it work where these guys do, you know, assume the role of a starter. And let's not forget Taylor Clark. I mean, he is on the 40 man. And depending on how things line up, like when they need a starter. I mean, a lot of it depends on when these guys. guys have thrown. So, you know, if they need a starter on Thursday, you know, someone gets hurt in Wednesday night's game, they need a starter, you know, coming up and they can't, you know, make the days of rest work. Like maybe it's Clark instead of the planter. So there's like that whole logistical piece of it as well. Another guy on the Diamondbacks who is fulfilled roles like the ones that you're talking about, you know, guys who start on occasion or guys who come out of the bullpen and give you a few innings there is Matt Cook. We actually got a question recently from Jean-Carlo who asked a question about Cook, which I won't

address for the sole reason that Matt Cook has now been DFAed by the Arizona Diamondback, so he is no longer on the 25-man roster here. And Cook is an interesting case because this is a guy who, Jeff, we were talking before the show. you know, every baseball team has that guy who's going to get kicked in the teeth when things aren't going well. Someone's going to take the hit for your team on occasion out of the bullpen. And Matt Cook has filled that role for the Diamondbacks. And the numbers, obviously in his time here, especially this season, have not looked good whatsoever.

I believe he leaves this roster with an ERA still north of nine. So by no means were the results good with the Diamondbacks. in his stint here. But at the same time, you've got to give at least some respect to a guy who has filled a role that really no one wants to fill on a baseball team. Absolutely, yeah. And I know that, you know, his teammates respected him for taking that role and taking that job and just, you know, having to go out there and just, like, gut out some appearances

that were really long in games that they were down by a lot, you know, understanding that, you know, his job was really just to sit out there and throw as many pitches as it took to reach, you know, the last out of the ninth inning. Right. And that's got to be tough. So, you know, I know, like I said before, his teammates definitely, you know, picked him up and respected him for that. And, you know, to my knowledge, I don't think anyone's claimed him on waivers. So there's a chance that he stays in the organization. I'm not sure that someone's going to, you know, he's out of, he's obviously out of options, which is why he was DFA in the first place.

So I don't know if anyone's really going to jump to acquire Matt Cook and then try to send him down because he'd get exposed to waivers again. So he's going to be stuck in that kind of transactional purgatory perhaps for a little bit. But I think there's a scenario in which he ends up back with the organization. And his role is his role. His stuff is his stuff. he's you know we kind of know who he is and unfortunately for him like this is kind of where his big league career is kind of settled out but um you know it's he was he was valuable in his own way in the sense that you know the 20 innings that he pitched are 20 innings that other guys didn't

have to pitch and honestly that was his job and he did it before we finish off this episode of the rattle podcast one more thing that we want to hit on real quick is an article that jeff wrote yesterday, which you can find over at the rattle.net. And Jeff, I want to talk a little bit about what you wrote. I'll give a brief preview. The Diamondbacks destroy opposing bullpens. And this is something that I've seen. I'm not sure exactly who it was, but I've seen this talked about on Twitter a few times

by a few different people who have noticed this. And this is really how. the Diamondbacks have made their living this season. You want to look at a lot of these games that they have won. They're not doing their damage against the starting pitcher. They're trying to get the starting pitcher out of the game. And once they do, they're capitalizing on the opposing team's bullpen. And it is worked out very nicely for the Diamondbacks.

But what you uncovered in your article is that the Diamondbacks aren't really alone in doing this. No, they're not. I mean, their OPS is more than 100 points higher. in innings six through nine, which are the innings we would expect to find relief pitchers throwing. So for whatever reason, they've just crushed, you know, later in ball games. And, you know, the seventh inning has been like especially fruitful for whatever reason. So they just continue to pile it on it. And I thought that was so strange.

And then a colleague of mine in baseball prospectus, Rob Arthur, who's much smarter than I am, wrote a great piece about how relievers across baseball are being used differently this season than they have in the past. And, you know, that trend has sort of been developing, but I think we've seen it really take hold, like, more broadly here in 2019, where relievers are being asked to throw multiple innings more often. We're seeing fewer and fewer of the, like, one-inning ace, fewer bullet pins that have, like, the seventh inning guy, the eighth-in guy, and the close. are, we're just not seeing that happen nearly as much, and I think part of it is, you know, teams trying to limit exposure

that third time through the order for their starters, and starters are getting the hook a little more frequently, and they're kind of looking for that guy with a little length to kind of bridge to the back of the bullpen, and we didn't, like, I made the point of the piece, but we don't have to look very far to see that. I mean, the Diamondbacks have that in Matt Andries. He's that guy that can come in

with two outs in the fifth inning, record and out go six the inning if he survives and does well depending on the matchup he may start the seventh inning rather than just you know turning it over to Yoshi or Archie or something so I think we're seeing some of that

and with some of that quantity has come of reduced quality if you will and we're starting to see the bullpins just kind of you know we've maybe baseball has pushed so far in that direction that now you know reliever ERA

are starting to exceed starter ERAs for the first time in a very, very long time, at least at this early juncture of 2019. So what do we take from that? I mean, you know, the Diamondbacks have done their damage, but so is the rest of baseball to a degree. So, you know, that ERA trend kind of encapsulates. So it's not entirely unique to the debacks, although I would say that they, by and large, have been far better at it than most teams.

but it is something that is happening more broadly as well. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for listening to this fourth episode of The Rattle podcast. We, as always, really appreciate it. Be sure to check out our website at www.w. www.the rattle.net where you can read Jeff's piece, as well as some other new and exciting content that we have coming out shortly. If you have not already, as well, be sure to follow us on Twitter at The Rattle

AZ where you can keep it locked to our podcast and our articles and get it all right when it comes out. So be sure to do that as well. Thank you once again so much for listening. For Jeff Weiser, I'm Jesse Friedman, and we will see you once again here on the Rattle podcast next week.