Arizona Diamondbacks News 4/21

Diamondbacks News

Jose Fernandez, Ildemaro Vargas still getting good use out of Carlos Santana’s Gold Glove by Alex Weiner [Arizona Sports]

Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Carlos Santana was taken off the field due to an adductor strain, but his glove is still being put to good use.

That’s because versatile infielders Ildemaro Vargas and Jose Fernandez have shared the leather while splitting reps at first base in Santana’s absence, keeping the purple Rawlings with a gold patch to honor Santana’s 2024 Gold Glove win.

Manager Torey Lovullo described it as “leave the glove at first base and run in,” like kids playing on a sandlot. 3 D-backs Prospects Getting Closer to Making Big League Debut by Alex D’Agostino [SI] Arizona’s top overall prospect was hitting a mere .238/.396/.381 through his first 11 games at the Triple-A level. The walk ability and on-base percentage was still there, as it has been for the outfielder at every minor league level.

In the 10 games that have followed since then, Waldschmidt has raised his slash to an eye-popping .338/.448/.563. He’s hitting .375 and slugging .594 for the month of April thus far; that includes four doubles, two triples and two home runs. Diamondbacks’ Devotion to Chaos Continues into 2026 by Jack Sommers [SI] “We work very hard at bunting,” Lovullo said. “You can see a lot of clubs are doing it now. It’s coming back into this game. I think for a long time it was, we will accept swing and miss, let’s launch the ball into the seats, let’s create some walks and build innings.

“But over the past three or four years, I think it started somewhere in the 2023 season, we thought and figured out this part of the equation that when we can put somebody in scoring position in combination with baserunning, put the ball on the ground, it was going to create a little bit of chaos.”

Around the League

Mechanical failure forces Blue Jays to bus to Anaheim by Courtney Hollmon [MLB]

The Blue Jays’ journey from Phoenix to Anaheim on Sunday didn’t involve a chartered jet or a first-class cabin. Instead, it involved three buses, a five-hour stretch of Interstate 10, and felt a lot more like a scene from the Northwest League than the Major Leagues.

The trouble started around 4 p.m., when a mechanical failure was discovered in the plane’s joystick — the primary control for takeoffs and landings. The Blue Jays were faced with a choice: wait for a replacement aircraft to fly in from Vancouver, which wouldn’t have landed until 10 p.m., or load the 60-person traveling party onto buses for the long trek across I-10.

As often happens in sports, manager John Schneider took the decision to a team vote. The decision to bus passed by roughly 30 votes, as the majority of players preferred to get moving immediately. However, not everyone was thrilled with the outcome; Schneider joked that he was already reprimanded by veteran Max Scherzer, who issued a full-letterhead kangaroo court summons over the travel decision. Dodgers’ Edwin Diaz out till ‘second half’ for elbow surgery [ESPN] Los Angeles Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz is scheduled to undergo surgery Wednesday to remove loose bodies in his right elbow, the team announced. The expectation is that the reliever could sit out around three months, a source told ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez on Monday.

Los Angeles put Diaz, 32, on the 15-day injured list before the team’s series finale with the Colorado Rockies on Monday, adding in a statement that he’d be back “during the second half of the season.” In a corresponding move, the Dodgers recalled left-hander Jake Eder, 27, from Triple-A Oklahoma City. FanGraphs Power Rankings: April 13-19 by Jake Mailhot [FanGraphs] *{Ed. Note: The Diamondbacks are sandwiched between the Padres and Yankees at #4, but in the write up of Tier 2, they are completely ignored.}*  picked up his league-leading eighth save on Sunday, though he only struck out two, pushing his FIP up a few points to -1.11. It was a return to form for Miller after he allowed just his second hit and second walk of the season in his appearance on Saturday — there was a man in scoring position against him before he shut the door! With so much elite pitching in the league these days, the idea of a reliever winning the Cy Young is farfetched, but Miller is quickly off to  for a relief pitcher in history. His dominance is a big reason why the Padres are just a half-game behind the Dodgers in the NL West.