SnakePit Round Table: Snakes alive (but only just!)

On a scale of 1-10, how concerned are you about Corbin Carroll?

Justin: 7. Just because I’m being a smartass and that is his jersey number. (for a real answer, probably 5. I think he’ll figure it out)

Sam: 4. Concerned in the short term — since games in April count just as much as those in September — but confident he will figure it out in the long term. I do really want him moved down in the order until he can, though.

Spencer: A legit 7. I think he’s scared to swing the way he knows for fear he’ll hurt himself again. I think the team is encouraging him to learn a new swing. Unfortunately, that kind of thing usually happens in A-ball, maybe AA, not MLB. AAA and MLB are for tweaking your approach, not completely revamping it. Do I trust Carroll’s talent to figure it out? Yes. Do I also think 2024 might be really rough while it happens? Yes.

Makakilo: 4. He will make adjustments to return to his All-Star path. My thoughts are in this article, scheduled to be posted Tuesday. Saturday’s game confirmed that he had not yet made effective adjustments to hit inside pitches, although he struck out on a clearly inside ball that was mistakenly called a strike.

1AZfan1: 1. I might be trying to manifest things, but I feel like he’s so close. On Friday night, he had his hardest hit ball of the year on a pull-side line drive that was, unfortunately, right at the second baseman.

James: Somewhere around a 4 or 5. Mostly, I think he’s just going through a sophomore slump. It happens to a great many players. We have seen what sort of talent he has though. That level of skill and talent will not stay cold forever. I do agree with others that he seems to not be comfortable swinging away at the plate. That is something that is going to need to be addressed before he can return to form.

ISH95: 6-7. I agree with Spencer that they are trying to have him revamp his swing on the fly, and Michael has even pointed out one instance where his stance was drastically different one day from the day before. I’m confident he’ll figure it out, but I don’t know when, and I don’t know how much of 2024 will be behind us when he does.

Wesley: I’m going to go with a five. There’s over 80% of the season left to play, and he did have a bad slump last season. I do worry that this will drag on for too much of the season, but long term I’m not worried about it.

A ton of Diamondbacks pitchers have gone on the IL recently, which obviously isn’t great, but let’s focus on the positive: Which pitcher taking their place (so not including Jordan Montgomery) are you excited to see get an opportunity as a result? Which might be able to stick around?

Sam: Justin Martinez’s velocity is something we always point to in terms of his promise (“closer of the future!”), and he probably can just take Frias’s spot in the bullpen for a long time, but I’m most excited for Slade Cecconi. It kind of feels like he has always been behind the Ryne Nelson and Tommy Henry front line, but while they’ve gotten extended starts to figure things out, he just gets spot starts here and there. Plus, he has a great name and the best first career strikeout last year…

Justin: Yeah, I’ll second Slade.

Spencer: I was disappointed Slade didn’t really get a fair shot this Spring, so he’s my choice as well. Like the rest of our young arms, he has some reliever risk, but he definitely has the stuff to start. I would also like to shoutout Tommy Henry who has “stopper” stuff. He’s not flashy, nor is he going to be anyone’s favorite arm, but he has quite the ability to show up when the team needs him (just unfortunately seems to slip back after). As for the bullpen… Good lord give me Sewald and hope he somehow teaches everyone else what pitching is.

Makakilo: Except for one game (6 ER in one inning when he pitched 3.1 innings total), Slade Cecconi pitched very well last season. I’m excited to see him pitch. Because of his good results in 7 of his 8 games in the Majors, he could earn a position. In Saturday’s start, his 7 strikeouts in his first four scoreless innings was awesome! And, he pitched 6 complete innings with only 1 run allowed.

1AZfan1: In the spirit of being contrarian, I’m excited for Cristian Mena. Yes, Slade and probably Walston should be ahead of him in the injury fill-in pecking order, but anytime a 21 year-old is in the conversation for making his MLB debut, that’s a really good thing. His K% is a little down (still 9 K/9 though) and his BB% is a little up from last year, but he’s limiting damage with a sub-4 ERA in Reno, better than Slade and Walston.

Makakilo: I’m excited about Cristian Mena, too. This season in AAA, he reminds me of Cecconi because he had one poor game (6 ERs in 4 IP), and his other 4 games were great (total of 4 ERs in 20 IP).

James: With Lin joining the ranks of Arizona’s walking wounded, I’ll go with Slade Cecconi. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed there was no way for him to make the opening day roster. With injuries to Gallen, Kelly, and Rodriguez, this is an opportunity for Cecconi to show he belongs. Honorable mention goes out to Mena. I’m still not entirely convinced Cecconi or Mena sticks in the rotation in the long-term, but both are currently making strong cases for further consideration.

ISH95: I’ve been wanting to see what Justin Martinez velocity can do at the big league level since Spring Training ‘23, so I’m hopeful that this is the time we really get that.

Wesley: There isn’t a name that has yet to be mentioned that I am not excited for. Cecconi, Mena, and Martinez are all exciting young pitchers who haven’t really had a path to the Majors until now.

Until Paul Sewald returns, who would you pick as closer?

[Update, Saturday MLBTR, “as MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert relayed that (according to GM Mike Hazen) the right-hander’s rehab process is going to be “slowed” after Sewald experienced some soreness in the aftermath of his most recent rehab appearance.”]

1AZfan1: It seems like Sewald is close, so I see no reason to take Ginkel out of the closer role now. If he was going to be out another month, I could see it being worth swapping Thompson and Ginkel.

Spencer: Carson Kelly? Sorry. Josh Rojas.

James: I would revert to closer by committee, using the best combination of talent and freshness available. While I am not opposed to Ginkel in the role in the short-term, I would rather see him take hold of the role and make it his own if the team is going to be needing a closer for an extended period of time (as it is beginning to sounds like may be the case).

Justin: I’m with AZfan on this.

ISH95: I don’t personally think the team currently has a good option. I don’t think I’ve hid my opinion on most of the bullpen very well so far this year, so closer by committee is probably our best bet, followed by continuing to turn to Ginkle.

Wesley: I’m going to have to agree with James on this one. Closer by committee might just be the best option.

Makakilo: In Sunday’s game:

In the eighth inning with a 1-run lead, Thompson earned a hold with a 1-2-3 inning! In the ninth inning with a 1-run lead, Ginkel earned a save with a 1-2-3 inning!

Sam: Agreed on sticking with Ginkel for the 9th and Thompson in the 8th – they earned those positions for now by being lights-out in the playoffs. Closer by committee didn’t work at all in the first part of last year – it was more like blown save by committee. Having definite roles, even if they aren’t entirely ideal, really seems to help bullpen guys prepare mentally. The harder part is figuring out who pitches the 7th inning – it seems like Torey was trying out Jarvis for that position when he gave up the 2-run homer on Saturday.

We’re one month into the season. Which Diamondback has been the biggest surprise (good or bad) to you thus far?

1AZfan1: The extent of Corbin’s sophomore slump has surprised me, but I’ve been most surprised by Blaze Alexander. His bat has played much better than I would have expected, and conversely, his glove is much worse than I would’ve expected. Between him and Joc, this is the first season I’ve ever been thankful for the universal DH. That’s a surprise in itself.

Makakilo: Eugenio Suarez. I (perhaps optimistically) expected him to hit 4 to 5 home runs every month and instead he hit 2 his first month. In the preseason, ZiPS had projected him to hit an average of 3.7 home runs per month. Why isn’t he hitting more home runs? Nevertheless, I’m satisfied with his 17 RBIs, and I’m satisfied with his defense (0 DRS, -1 OAA).

Spencer: Marte as a good one. I expected some regression and he’s been absolutely phenomenal! Negative… um. I’ll just say The Bullpen.

James: While I am indeed a bit surprised at just how big Carroll’s sophomore slump has been, I think it is magnified by the struggles found elsewhere on the team. I expected a slump. I’m not sure I appreciated how much it would impact the entire club. I think the biggest surprise for me has been Blaze Alexander’s ability to continue hitting MLB pitching. I’ve been trying to warn about his glove for more than a year now, so that part hasn’t been much of a surprise for me. But his bat, I had been pegging Alexander as being fortunate if he could maintain a league average bat. I figured if he could really adjust, he might reach a 110 wRC+ while playing a modest third base. So far, he’s crushing MLB pitching to the tune of a 162 wRC+. Once the team can slide him to third or make him the DH, his value should increase.

Justin: Positive: Marte. Negative: Am I allowed to say Carroll? ….or ERod for that matter lol

ISH95: I’m with Justin on E-Rod. Don’t think any of us saw him being out until… whenever.

Wesley: Blaze’s bat being legit and not a PCL induced mirage has been a very pleasant surprise.

Sam: Carroll is the super obvious choice on either side. He was in the preseason MVP discussion, and it felt like he had earned it. Early on in the season, pitchers were still pitching him carefully and so he was still earning value with his walks and steals. But now that they’ve smelled weakness and just decided to go after him, he’s plummeting even faster, down to a .196 BA now. He’s not the only MVP candidate doing poorly so far (Aaron Judge is hitting .190), but it’s surprising nonetheless.

Marte is also the clear answer on the positive side. He’s been worth 2.0 bWAR already, about double Christian Walker in second place on the team. That mark is currently third in MLB behind Mookie Betts and Ranger Suarez. We knew he was good, but to be this good is something special.

What is your favorite non baseball team and/or sport?

Justin: I think no one would be surprised that my answer to that would be hockey. My first professional sports game was a Hartford Whalers game in the early 90’s. I was too young to actually have any memories of it, but I’ve been told I was more interested in the zamboni between periods lol I think it was against the Tampa Bay Lightning, if so then it was either their expansion season or second season given the time frame of when my mom moved us to AZ.

My favorite team in the playoffs currently is the Dallas Stars, but they are a second team to a certain other franchise. I have gone to a couple of Tucson Roadrunners games and have gone to several UA Icecats/Wildcats games.

Makakilo: Pickleball is my favorite non-baseball sport. On 4 June, I will get tips from Steve Cole during a 3-hour pickleball clinic (it will be on Oahu). He won the Men’s Doubles (5.0 level, age group 60-64 yrs) in April’s US Open! He has won 8 Gold Medals at US Opens, 7 at National Championships, and 13 World Titles.

1AZfan1: Unfortunately, I’m a Suns fan second. I don’t wanna talk about it.

Spencer: Columbus Crew (MLS). They get overshadowed by THE Ohio State Buckeyes, but the following for them in CBus is awesome and their stadium is awesome! But the Professional Volleyball League began in Columbus this year and it’s quickly pushing its way into my top live sport experiences. Small shoutout to the Olympics (preferably the Winter).

James: As pretty much anyone who has been around this place for a while is no doubt already aware, I am a very big Manchester United fan. Had I been raised in an era where viewing soccer was something I could do on the telly more than once or twice a month (if I was lucky), I probably would never have become the fan of baseball I am. Before soccer became more accessible here in the States, I would have to say that the Phoenix Suns were my #2 professional sports team. Now I spend my time rooting for the Diamondbacks and then enjoying footy as much as possible. I rarely miss a Man United or Phoenix Rising game.

ISH95: I am an admitted and proud bandwagon fan of the three two other teams, and despite the Suns managing to make the playoffs against all odds, they never really got me back on the bandwagon, so right now, I can’t really say that I have one. I do make fun of the suns a lot in Twitter though.

Wesley: I don’t really watch other sports all that much. I enjoy E-sports I guess?

Sam: Ultimate frisbee for sure! It’s my sport of choice to play, and while the production value of broadcasts is not yet at the level of the more major sports, I still watch highlights and sometimes complete matches. I don’t follow any particular team, though – it’s more as a fan of the game overall.

Jim: I don’t particularly follow other sports. Of course, football was big growing up for me, but time-zone differences and streaming issues make it harder to follow here. Growing up, I was a Wrexham fan, so that kinda got resurrected with the Welcome to Wrexham show, and it’s been great to see their renaissance. I like weird sports. Jai-alai. Darts (the last non-baseball pro sports event we attended was the US Masters in Vegas - quite the party!). Roller derby. If ESPN ever started up the Ocho for real, we’d be subscribers.