Recaps
[Arizona Sports] Diamondbacks squander chance to sweep Reds ahead of difficult road trip – Cincinnati scored five runs in the eighth inning with Spencer Steer hitting the game-opening, three-run home run off Juan Burgos. Two hits for the Diamondbacks set a season low after they scored 10 runs on Saturday. Zac Gallen delivered six innings with one earned run and seven strikeouts. The lone run scored during the sixth inning on a little league home run from Noelvi Marte. Marte hit a triple and scored when
shortstop Geraldo Perdomo’s throw to third base skipped off Marte’s foot. “Gerry apologized to me, but I told him I appreciate him making the effort to try and get that guy out at third base,” Gallen said.
[AZ Central] Diamondbacks offense fails to launch, Reds roll a 5 in the 8th to avoid sweep – The Diamondbacks began the day with the same record through 130 games as last year’s Detroit Tigers, a club that sold at the trade deadline before authoring an improbable run to the postseason. Of the many differences between that club and this one, the most obvious reared its ugly head in a 6-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, Aug. 24. The Diamondbacks do not have the bullpen of those Tigers, and theirs melted down in a five-run Reds eighth inning.With a chance to pull a little closer to a wild-card spot, the Diamondbacks instead remain 5 1/2 games back of the New York Mets, who lost in Atlanta earlier in the day. The Diamondbacks are 64-67.
[Dbacks.com] Gallen, D-backs embrace fight in gritty playoff push – If you feel like you watched Gallen battle the Reds opposite Brady Singer in 2025, it might be because you have — the two clubs faced off with the same starting pitcher matchup on June 8. That day, after the D-backs wound up on the wrong side of the scoreboard, they sat six games out of a playoff spot with a whole lot of baseball left to play. Now, there is still time, albeit less of it… But the mission remains the same. “We play for a gritty state,” Lovullo said. “We’re going to be as gritty as we can be. … I want to get on a run. I’ve been waiting for that eight out of 10 [wins], 10 out of 12 type of run, and we’re playing that type of baseball where it’s sitting right there. We just got to go out there and finish the job.”
Team News
[D-backs Under Review] Tyler Locklear’s Struggles Could Force the D-backs to Rethink First Base in 2026 – He hasn’t done a good job of checking off pitches out of the strike zone, with a 32.1% chase rate this season. The lack of discipline at the plate has negatively affected both his contact and quality of contact rates. Locklear is sporting a whiff rate of 31.9%, which is exceptionally high and led to his astronomical strikeout rate. His hard-hit rate of 40.0% and barrel rate of 5.0% are low for the type of hitter the D-backs ultimately need him to be. The expectation is that Locklear will develop into a 25-30 home run bat in the middle of the order, so those are two key batted ball metrics to watch as he tries to become that type of hitter.
[Arizona Sports] Daniel Eagen, Tommy Troy among Diamondbacks prospects on the rise – “ I think our amateur group definitely saw a lot of this potential in [Eagen],” farm director Chris Slivka told Arizona Sports. “He’s got swing-and-miss breaking stuff. He comes from a high slot with some deception to the delivery. I think he creates some vertical angles that are tough on hitters. I think the velocity’s crept up a little bit since he’s started his pro career, but the way the breaking stuff has continued to develop and then also his changeup, I think it’s made him a pretty well-rounded starter with a four-pitch mix.” MLB Pipeline has him ranked No. 15 in the system with an ETA of 2027, which can be sped up if he continues to pitch like this.
[SI] Good, Bad and Ugly from D-backs’ Intense Series Win vs Reds – It’s to be expected at this point with a young, inexperienced group of relievers. There have been some good results, but Arizona’s bullpen struggled in tight games this series. D-backs’ relievers blew a 4-3 lead in game one, forcing extra innings. They nearly melted down in extras, if not for the exceptional defense. In game three, Juan Burgos suffered his worst outing of his D-backs’ career, allowing an inherited runner from Kyle Backhus to score and then giving up four runs of his own while getting just one out. John Curtiss gave up and unearned Ghost runner due to his own throwing error as well. Arizona is going to have to ride out this iteration of their bullpen for the time being. It comes with growing pains, and Sunday’s game had its fair share.
[AZ Central] Arizona Diamondbacks heading for tough road games at Brewers, Dodgers – The Arizona Diamondbacks’ schedule becomes grueling, with seven games combined against two of Major League Baseball’s leading teams — also division leaders. Following the series finale at Chase Field against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, Aug. 24, in which RHP Zac Gallen is scheduled to start for the Diamondbacks, the team embarks on a seven-game road trip to Milwaukee, followed by Los Angeles to face the Dodgers. No team in MLB has been hotter than the National League Central-leading Brewers through the first three weeks of August. The Brewers won 14 straight games from Aug. 1-14 before losing to the Cincinnati Reds Aug. 15.
And, elsewhere…
[MLB] ‘Bob’ is back. Which other long-lost names could follow? – When the Rays put 26-year-old Bob Seymour, fresh off a promotion from Triple-A Durham, into their lineup on Aug. 15, he became the first Bob to appear in a Major League game since pitcher Bob Howry in 2010. Of course, every other recognizable iteration of “Robert” has shown up on an MLB roster since… It’s a once-popular name – hundreds have appeared in the game since Bob Addy made his debut for the Rockford Forest Citys in 1871 – that is apparently being phased out of society and baseball. That got us thinking: Which other outdated names haven’t we seen in MLB for a while? So we made a list of 10 that haven’t shown up in at least several years, some for more than 20.
[Reddit] 2018: the year everyone drafted wrong – None of the 10 best players in the 2018 draft were actually picked in the top 10. In fact, only 3 of them went in the first 2 rounds. Here’s what a redraft would look like, if everyone actually drafted correctly. Pretty wild to imagine this alternate MLB. Other notable players in the draft: Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, Kris Bubic, Lawrence Butler, Brice Turang. Bohm, India, and Mize weren’t terrible picks. [Jim: The D-backs picked 25th and went with Matt McLain who didn’t sign. They used the comp pick for that to sign Blake Walston. They could have signed Cal Raleigh or Tarik Skubal…]
[CBS Sports] Chinese Taipei tops Nevada, becomes first non-U.S. winner since 2017 – Chinese Taipei is the 2025 Little League Baseball World Series champions after defeating Nevada 7-0 on Sunday in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. After six straight champions from the United States, Chinese Taipei won its first LLWS since 1996. Lin Chin-Tse was pitching a no-hitter and leading 2-0 going into the fifth inning when Nevada finally got its first hit. The Mountain Region representatives couldn’t get more, however, with a double play ending the inning and keeping them off the board. Nevada struggled with wild pitches and walks throughout the game and as the gap became bigger, the frustration was clear from the best team in the U.S.
