Snakepit Roundtable: And another series win!

At time of writing, the Diamondbacks are.500 and closer to the Rockies than the Padres. How we feeling?Spencer: Not gonna lie, pretty awful if Im being honest with myself. I had exceptionally high hopes that I did my best to curtail because life happens. Were now in mid-April, losing another game to Milwaukee of all teams. Its early and wait until sample sizes are worth paying attention to, but like. on paper this team shouldnt be playing the way they are. Worried is an understatement. Im more interested in the 2025 draft than I am the games being played on April 12, 2025led me to think Burnes pitches excellently but his results are Saturdays game all five runs were scored in the ninth argument could be made that the Diamondbacks bat excellently, but inning-to-inning results are Lovullo said that D-back players need to continue to remember how good we are.He went on to say the importance of dynamic approach and believing in : I totally get not liking the negative expectation perspective, especially if its just being pessimistic for pessimisms sake. No one likes someone who is constantly a joy-killing debbie downer. I DO try to be so over the top ridiculous that itsclear that I am saying it in a joking, tongue-in-cheek, non-serious fashion e.g. predicting the team to go 1-161 when they had already won two games. If I cant do that, I just try to have realistic expectations. Besides, theyre now 9-7, two games better than.500 Jordan Lawlar Jersey, so there now is very little reason to be pessimistic in the first place.ISH95:Im with Ben. The fact we lost by zero games last season makes each loss this season sting even more. Theres always a nagging thought of what if this is the loss that makes them miss a wild card spot. All things considered, though, it really hasnt been that bad. Couple of tough losses, but the pitching staff just put together their first string of five quality starts in a row since 2018, and, 17 inning scoreless streaks aside, there have been reasons for hope from the offense. Mostly named Corbin Carroll and Geraldo pitching has struggled so far this season. What is one thing youre looking for to know theyre turning a corner?Spencer: I dunno. Its hard to find a fault with a quality start that your offense loses for you. Id like to see pitching into the 6th/7th inning regularly regardless of the name/number on the jersey. Id also like to see arms pick up their defenses slack more often. Its time to admit we arent the defensive juggernaut were used to and good pitchers need to figure out how to get batters out in real time rather than hypothetically. FIP is a fine stat, but actual results matter. 1AZfan1: Concur with Spencer re: Quality Starts. Weve now had 5 straight Quality Starts after Gallens Sunday effort. I made mention of it in my Friday night recap and Ive only grown more curious after extending our streak two more games: did we have a streak of three, four, or five straight Quality Starts at any point last season? Well, I did the research and from what I can tell, we had 3 different streaks of 3 straight Quality Starts and a fourth streak that stretched for 4 Quality Starts in a rowgood while the rotation has been mixed - look no further than Gallen himself who has had one undeniably great start with now three mixed ones. This weekends series against the Brewers featured a Milwaukee offense who was incredibly bad with RISP, going 4-for-22across the three games and just 1-for-11 in the final two games. Thats a full 50 points lower than the league and likely points to the Brewers getting more unlucky than anything else. The rotation simply has to be more consistent if this team is going to get where it wants to go. Preston: The pitching has struggledby ERA and ERA+. FIP wise, the pitching has been right about average, and in terms of WHIP, the Diamondbacks rank sixth in the league. The reason for the higher ERA and lower ERA+ is simple: the Diamondbacks have stranded the second-fewest number of runners in all of baseball. This isnt a bullpen issue; the percentage of inherited runners scoring is actually better than average. An astounding 44%, basically, of batters that reach base are scoring. Thats 37% across the league and 29% for the Padres. Reversion to the mean fixes :When Diamondbacks pitchers keep the first batter of nearly every inning off the bases, Ill know they have turned the Saturdays game, outs happened for 6 of 9 first : I agree with Spencer. Although the starting pitching has been an issue, the inconsistent offense isnt helping. There are issues with it but I think once the offense is rolling, itll be easier for the starters to do their isnt running. Worried about it?Spencer: No. Hes in scoring position on first. Id rather see him focus on getting on base and carrying the team as he has so far in 2025 than watching an arbitrary stat like stolen bases accumulate. 1AZfan1: Yes, hes in scoring position at firstbut the guys behind him are still able to GIDP when hes at first and he cant score from first on 3 straight flyouts, either. If were stringing hits together or getting a bunch of homers, Corbin doesnt have to steal. But when we arent, as has been the case for much of this past week after Marte went down, it helps to manufacture a scoring situation instead of relying on big knocks or stringing hits together. Ben: Ironically, we got to see Corbins first steal of the year today in-person! But no, Im not worried about it. I think it likely has more to do with the situations in which hes found himself rather than anything wrong with Carroll himself. I do however think there needs to be a discussion about moving him in the lineup while Marte is on the IL shelf. Right now, there just isnt the production from the bottom of the lineup on a consistent basis to get on base for him to then drive in while simultaneously not having the consistency to be driven in himself by someone behind him. Preston: Hes the most valuable player in the National League so far. I think that answers the :No, not runnerson first base, through Saturday the Diamondbacks have 21 hits that likely score ranks third in the Majors behind the Cubs with 22 and the Yankees with should he steal second when he can often score from first? With joy, consider that the Diamondbacks 21 hits was higher than the Dodgers who had 15 pointis that with a runner on first base the Diamondbacks 1.62 ratio of Doubles/Triples/HRs to GIDP is above the 1.31 league following chart shows this seasons batting results with a runner on first from Baseball Savant. Wesley: You dont need to steal bases when youre hitting them out of the Ballpark. Im sure hell finish the year with at least 20-30 stolen Giants are one of the big surprises so far, are they for real or are they going to come back down to earth?Spencer: I still think they are going to crash down the earth. But I wouldve said the same of the 2021 Giants into August. I feel bad for the fans of the team if they do continue to over achieve though, because I dont like the current roster and Id be worried they set themselves back again by trading minor leaguers for a team thats likely to lose in the first round of the playoffs again. Good for the 2027 diamondbacks if/when that happens though. 1AZfan1: I dont expect them to keep a.700 winning percentage, but theres no reason to think they wont be there until the end. Their pitching, especially the bullpen, has been otherworldly so theres likely regression coming there, but SF is a great park to pitch in so if their offense can keep sniffing league average they should pitch well enough to get at least 85 : Theyve looked very strong in the opening weeks, but Im not convinced just yet. Annoyingly, theyve been much better than I expected along with the rest of the NL West to this point. Ive been impressed that theyve had two series against 2024 playoff teams and went 5-1 against them - including going into Yankee Stadium and taking two out of three against a strong team. However, weve seen plenty of examples of teams with hot starts to the season fizzling out at some point so lets check back in about a month or so. Preston: Their underlying numbers are stronger than I would have expected. They could keep it up, but its early days. Their pitching should be fine, but can they score runs?Makakilo:The latest power rankingsranked the Diamondbacks two spots better than the power ranking supports my view that the Diamondbacks will finish the season with more wins than the : Im skeptical that the Giants are legitimate, and I expect them to eventually fall back to earth. Despite hitting like it, Mike Yastrzemski isnt the reincarnation of his grandfather Corbin Carroll Jersey, and I expect a significant drop off from the 316/.458/.553 triple slash line and 197 OPS+ hes currently sporting. Jung Hoo Lee has a 197 OPS+, but I dont think he will fall back to earth quite as much as I expect Yas to Flores isnt a 166 OPS+ hitter either. Robbie Ray has been pitching quite well, to the tune of 129 ERA+, but there are always questions with health. Overall, their Pythag W/L going into Sundays game is a game worse than their actual W/L. If they dont fall back to earth? The Dbacks are going to have a very tough time making it into the playoffs.ISH95: Im very skeptical of them, myself, but Id be hard pressed to put a specific reason on it. I just wasnt very high on them as a team going into the season, and now Im just expecting them to fall back to where I thought they would s a food you love, but completely understand other people hating?Spencer: Ive always enjoyed spiced food. Indian, authentic Chinese, Mexican, etc. For me it adds to my dining experience, but it isnt for the faint of heart. And for many Americans whose ancestry is Western European, I totally understand not having a system that cant handle the flavor and its effects on the body. It isnt for everyone and thats ok. 1AZfan1: Little Caesars pizza. I totally understand that as pizza goes, its closer to F-tier than S-tierMy Scottish grandparents lived next door to me when I was growing up here in Tucson/Marana. My grandfather would eat kippered herring and little me thought if grandpa is eating it, I will too! So I love all fish and occasionally eat that as well. I also prefer unsweetened tea, and my favorite is earl grey tea teabags. Perhaps I would have ended up liking unsweetened tea/earl grey/kipper on my own, but I kind of doubt it. Pickles- I love pickles, but it seems like there area lot of people that hate them. Wesley: Most prominently, its gotta be blue veined cheeses and various fermented foods like pickles, kimchi, fish sauce, etc. I am not a huge fan of liver, so I completely understand why someone wouldnt like the taste of pat, foie gras, or liverwurst. I can handle the mineral-y liver aftertaste when its mild like in those, but anything stronger I cant, so I totally get not like those either.ISH95: Sushi. I can, and have, eat it all day, but at the same time, Im well aware that its raw fish, Im well aware what can come with raw fish, and I totally understand if that isnt something someone wants to eat. Ben: I really like well-prepared tofu, but I completely understand why people have a natural revulsion to it. I suspect that most folks havent had tofu in any great form Zac Gallen Jersey, which probably colors their perception, but it can be so filling and satisfying when done well!

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