Hey, folks? Anything much happen while I was gone? 🙂
Well, when I left the country, a week past Sunday, the D-backs had just allowed the go-ahead runs in the series finale to the Red Sox. They would end up losing that game, and then the first two in San Francisco. Their playoff chances were basically on life support: FanGraphs had the odds at a season low, below one percent (0.8%, to be precise). But somebody forgot to tell the Diamondbacks. They promptly won five of the next six games which, coupled
with the Mets being the Mets, in the Metsiest way possible, brought them back to 1.5 back of New York with ten games to play, and likely to own the tie-breaker.
No question, it has been the offense which has been getting it done: there have been hypothetical free tacos each of the last six contests. Even in the loss, Arizona still scored eight runs, and collectively, they are hitting .297/.382/.478 for an .860 OPS in the past week. Geraldo Perdomo had led from the front, with a 1.655 OPS over that time. He’s hitting .500, and has six walks plus three HBPs, compared to just two strikeouts. Gabriel Moreno, Jordan Lawlar and Alek Thomas all have an OPS over .900 – so, say what you like about Lawlar’s defense (and “It’s a work in progress” would be kind), he’s getting it done at the plate. More surprisingly, it’s happening while Ketel Marte has posted a .481 OPS.
The ERA over that time has been a decent 3.64, though that is inflated by the nine runs conceded in the Twins opener. More broadly, in September Brandon Pfaadt is the only starting pitcher with an ERA above 3.52, while John Curtiss, Andrew Saalfrank and Ryan Thompson have combined to allow two earned runs over 17.2 innings of work. All told, since their playoff odds reached a season low of 0.2% after the 9-8 loss against Milwaukee on August 29th, the D-backs have gone 13-6, a record beaten only by the Phillies and Guardians. With luck, last night’s walkoff loss will have crushed the Giants’ spirits – their season is basically over now – and they’ll simply roll over and play dead this afternoon.
