A Different Kind of Air Quality Concern

 

D'you think they're sitting in the Coors Field clubhouse, prepping for a game which is likely gonna have multiple longballs and unstable pitching, going 'gather round, the Pirates have called the game due to an air quality concern. Can...can teams do that?' The Rockies have had an air quality concern for 33 years now. They somehow got to a World Series in 2007, even with said air quality concern. I mean the smoke in the Northeast is bad, maybe it'll screw up the Pittsburgh humidor yet again, but...the Rockies are hearing this going 'thicker air?? what a concept'. Kyle Freeland's gonna find something to burn down so he can pitch decently again. 

Anyway, the Rockies are still last in the NL West and expected to stay there, but it's not without some fun performances from the hitters. Any way you look at it, this team has gotten great production from T.J. Rumfield, Hunter Goodman, Jake McCarthy, Cole Carrigg, Troy Johnston, Mickey Moniak and Kyle Karros. That's...more than a few. The issue with the 2025 team was not just the atrocious pitching, it was the anonymity of the lineup, the lack of power in a power park, all of the above. When you get guys who can mesh well with the park, and when they're all working, even if it's a bad team you're still going in the right direction. Cole Carrigg's been in the league for 31 games, and he has an .871 OPS, 22 RBIs and 4 homers. McCarthy is a .300 hitter after the D-Backs let him come over here, he's got 10 homers and a team-leading 53 RBIs. I did not expect Jake McCarthy to have more RBIs than Hunter Goodman, but here we are. Happy for him honestly, he was really struggling in Phoenix. Rumfield is getting some Rookie of the Year buzz, he's been skillfully on target without being solely a power bat; same thing with Troy Johnston. And then Goodman's 5 homers away from his 2025 total, so he's probably gonna be chasing 35+, maybe even 40. 

That's half the battle right there, this team can put their heads together and score runs, and it's not a full on cop-out every game. The pitching still leaves a lot to be desired, and the early lead the bullpen had has been basically shattered, with Victor Vodnik, Juan Mejia and Zach Agnos all having very rough seasons. Somehow Jordan Romano hasn't shat the bed too greatly yet, but it's early. Tomoyuki Sugano's hurt, so now it's down to Ryan Feltner and Gabriel Hughes to be the only people in the rotation to seem to be able to keep runs down this year. Michael Lorenzen is 3-9 with a 6.22 ERA. YEESH. Even if the team's hitting, this pitching staff still isn't it, and bringing in young, efficient options hasn't helped because it's impossible to pitch competently if half your season's played in Denver. It's purely impractical at this point. At least the Vegas stadium is gonna be domed. 

There's still fun to be had with this team. Maybe a trade or two, maybe some more breakouts, maybe some genuine promise from Carrigg, maybe even a Zac Veen appearance. But whatever happens will mostly be a side-plot to this already convoluted year, sad to say. Maybe some of this will carry over to next year, provided there's actually baseball next year.

Coming Tomorrow- Somehow one of the most consistent veteran pitchers left in the game if Verlander and Scherzer both retire. 

And For My Next Trick...

 

I just talked about how the Rangers are nowhere near the menace they were last year, the kind that made them a surprise World Series team. But the Diamondbacks, the team they beat to deliver the championship, have been trying a similar strategy to last season, and it's kind of been working. Obviously not all of the pieces of the 2023 team are there, as Merrill Kelly's hurt, Christian Walker just hit the IL and Andrew Saalfrank is...likely never gonna be allowed to pitch again, but pretty much everybody else is, and they're all surging.

One of the main points of concern this season for the D-Backs was Corbin Carroll, and how opposing defenses just kinda figured him out. Carroll has picked up speed a tiny bit, and at the very least has 39 RBIs and 20 steals. I chalk this up to a sophomore slump of the highest order, and I'm not counting him out entirely yet. Pretty much everyone else who made the 2023 lineup a force is doing well right now. Ketel Marte is hot, he's notched a 25-homer year while hitting .300, that's a very good thing. Geraldo Perdomo and Gabriel Moreno are both hitting well after slow starts. Eugenio Suarez had a nice July, hitting .333 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs last month; hopefully that means he's ready for the bigger months of the year. And now we're seeing Jake McCarthy hit full throttle, he's hitting .294 with 72 hits in 90 games. 

Nobody here is solely here for power, as there's a lot of very versatile, I-can-do-contact-as-well types [Gurriel, Walker, Pederson] who have helped the cause tremendously. And yes, while Christian Walker being down is slightly worrisome, I think Josh Bell will fill the void pretty amicably. Dude just needs time to get hot, maybe he needed a change of scenery after all. 

The Diamondbacks have also, even without Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez, found some rotation depth without needing to make additions. It's as simple as just...waiting for Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson find their sweet spots. Nelson's had a lot of really nice starts lately, and Pfaadt's got his ERA below 4. Montgomery and Cecconi are still troublesome, but I'm not worried for them entirely yet. I mean, Montgomery overworked himself last year and this season is the result, so his arm will eventually get back to where it was. It just might take time. 

The D-Backs are a game behind the Padres for 2nd place, and they're firmly embedded within the wild card race, which is just where they want to be. Unfortunately, like last year, the wild card race is jam packed with 5 other teams within a game or so of each other, and 3 others that could be late spoilers. To stay alive in this particular playoff chase, the Diamondbacks need to channel whatever kept them alive late last September, and hope it works again. Honestly, they might have a better shot to make the playoffs than the Rangers, and they need to power through this month, including series' against the Phillies, Mets and Dodgers, to land on their feet.

Coming Tonight: He went from one competitor to another before the season, and now is probably wishing he was where he was last year.

Exhuming McCarthy

 

There are some non-qualifying teams that actually have a lot to be proud of this year. I've already talked about the Orioles setting themselves up for a decade of competitive rosters, and I've talked about the Royals calling up rookies that could run the team in the future. But...the Arizona Diamondbacks, even while missing the playoffs and finishing under .500, did a lot right this year, and made more steps forward than steps backwards.

For instance, in comparison to last year, I actually know what the crux of this team looks like. We now have people like Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Josh Rojas, Gerardo Perdomo and Corbin Carroll who we know will factor into this team going forward. McCarthy had some weak initial numbers last year, and now he's hitting .288 with 82 hits and 8 homers in 91 games. Corbin Caroll is hitting .270 and has 13 RBIs in his first 20 games. Even Stone Garrett, who looks to be more of a depth piece than anything, is hitting .317 with 10 RBIs and 4 homers in 21 games. Despite Carson Kelly's injury and Perdomo's lack of offensive production, you're seeing a very full and very flexible D-Backs lineup for the first time in a while.

All this as the rotation continues to be solid and tight. Merrill Kelly and Madison Bumgarner are gonna be around for a bit, and though MadBum is still disappointing compared to his Giants numbers, he still made all 30 of his starts and struck out 112. The goal should still be locking up Zac Gallen, but even if he gets dealt, which is always possible, this team has Tommy Henry doing his best, plus Ryne Nelson and Drey Jameson with shockingly low ERAs through their first few starts. And there's also another year of Zach Davies, Tyler Gilbert who's injured, and part-time starters Taylor Widener, Humberto Castellanos and Caleb Smith.

For a middling, low-market team, that is a super amount of depth, and this team should be happy about it.

Unless there's an overhaul coming, you have Ketel Marte, Daulton Varsho, Christian Walker, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly all sticking around. That's a lot of nice pieces to base a team around. And with the Giants on the downslope this year, there is a chance that the D-Backs could move up in the NL West and potentially challenge the big guns next year. It's not definite, but it could happen if enough people stick around. 

Wouldn't that be something? If 2022 had a competitive D-Backs and Orioles team? I mean, the Mariners are making the postseason this year, so stranger things have happened. 

Coming Tomorrow- Infielder for a team that I really thought was gonna do great things this year.