Snakepit Roundtable: An anemic week

One bright spot has been the overall good reception to Lovullo’s closed door meeting with the starting pitchers. Have you seen anything in the recent run of good/decent pitching that suggests its sustainable?

**Spencer**: I was blacked out of most games this last week. So I have not seen much of anything recently. I certainly hope it’s sustainable. But man I don’t know. Sustainable and pitching aren’t words I think of together with Arizona. **James Atwood**: Nothing specific one way or the other. The rotation has responded nicely, though Gallen still is giving up hard contact. If the defense continues to make some sparkling plays, then the odd hard contact can be survived. If the pitch sequencing continues to improve, then the likes of Ryne Nelson should do better as well. But the rotation has got to start trusting the defense more and throw more strikes. I’m not sure that the arms have enough swing and miss in them for them to get aggressive enough in the strike zone to clean up the problem of too many free passes. **Makakilo**: In May, the Diamondbacks are on a path for 50% quality starts (sustaining 50% would have a positive impact). In the preseason, I wrote that despite the possibility that the rotation will be average, if they could reach 50% quality starts, the Diamondbacks offense could drive the team to a wild card berth. **Dano\_In\_Tucson**: I remain deeply skeptical of Soroka, though he had a good outing against Skenes. But ERod bounced back, which suggests to me that maybe the ERod we saw in the WBC may actually be the pitcher he can be consistently, rather than the aberration I was starting to think it was. And Kelly tonight (I”m writing this after posting my Saturday recap) looked a whole lot more like his legit self than he’s seemed all season. So yeah, I think those two might actually be sustainable. Also, Ryne Nelson might be coming back around as well. We shall see. **C. Wesley Baier**: The starting pitching has looked so much better, as far as that goes, it worked.

At the time of writing, the Diamondbacks are three games below .500. Are Hazen and Lovullo on the hot seat yet? If not, what will be the tipping point?

**Spencer**: Yes they are. I expect both are gone by the next Opening Day. And I think that’s fair. But it’s also true that Hazen/Lovullo are the best GM and Manager this franchise has had so far. They’ve spent half their tenure (and more) getting zero monetary support from ownership yet putting generally average or better product on the field (with some very large and notable below average ones). This franchise finally uses analytics thanks to Hazen. Their drafting has been far more sustainable than previous options as a result of this. But they need to crack the pitching development question. I still believe Hazen and Lovullo will win a World Series together as the head pieces. I no longer believe it will be in Arizona. If nothing else, the Hazen/Lovullo Era will be known as the point where MLB stopped looking at Arizona as another Rockies franchise and being the geniuses who nabbed and finished developing Ketel Marte who may end up holding quite a few franchise records. Seems like a good but disappointing legacy to me. **James Attwood**: They are not yet on my hot seat, though I understand those that want them there. Frankly, as long as they continue to play right around .500 ball while weathering the slew of injuries they started the season with, I’m content to let them continue to develop their project. If they fall entirely out of contention, then it is time to start talking about changes. I am far more interested in seeing how the team performs in August and September, than how they are performing with Puk, Martinez, Burns, and Lawlar all on the 60-day IL. **Justin27**: I think so. I have a heard time believing their replacement would do much better. Sometimes mid season managerial changes work, sometimes they are rearranging chairs on the Titanic **Makakilo**: No and none. Hazen and Lovullo have above-average years of experience, and they are well above-average in making an impact on the field. It is unlikely that the Diamondbacks could hire better replacements. **Dano\_In\_Tucson**: Hazen, maybe, at least in my mind, because of his persistent failure/refusal to spend any money to try to build a respectable bullpen. That said, he somehow actually has a reasonably respectable bullpen right now, so I dunno. Go figure. As for Torey, I don’t think so. As has been noted, all he can do is arrange on the daily chessboard the pieces he has available to him, and frankly, given what he’s had to work with coming into this season with the deeply questionable rotation and the deeply strange lack of outfielders, I think he’s doing pretty well. I know a lot of people got very excited when we were however many games over .500 for a brief span of time there, and I was too, but I don’t think there’s any way that anyone with any sense could believe that we would still be on the rise like that but for poor lineup or game management decisions on his part. This roster, as it is currently comprised, is what it is. And in a lot of respects, it ain’t great. I feel like it’s a credit to our manager that we’re still as close to Mount .500 as we are. **C. Wesley Baier**: Hazen and Lovullo aren’t on the hot seat unless this team goes on a serious losing streak.

The Ryan Waldschmidt Era has begun. What are your expectations for early results?

**Spencer**: I have no expectations. I would’ve called upon Kristian Robinson first. He’s less pivotal to the future and seems more prepared for big league pitching. Plus Lawlar returns in 4-6 weeks if reporting is to be believed. But Robinson doesn’t put butts in seats. So Waldy it is. I wish the kid nothing but luck. Part of me can’t shake the feeling we may be showcasing Waldy for a big July trade…not sure how I’d feel about that honestly. **James Attwood**: That he will get mis-used, like so many others. I would have likely brought up Kristian Robinson first, as the team still needs to get a good idea of what he brings as a 4th outfielder. I also am not convinced that Waldschmidt will get the necessary everyday at-bats right now. We shall see. **Justin27**: I am happy for him. Maybe the DFA of AT and the call up of Waldschmidt lights a fired underneath the team. I am excited to see what he can do **Makakilo**: His batting has a high ceiling (both homers and OPS). In February, I wrote (see AZ Snake Pit article Which Outfielder Will Most Exceed Expectations?) that if his defense in center field is at least average (and he continues to hit well), he will exceed expectations. Also, I wrote that I would be thrilled if he was promoted this season. I am. **Dano\_In\_Tucson**: Expectations? None, really. Hopes? That he’ll suck less at the plate than Alek Thomas, and that fewer of his ABs will end by rolling over to second, often to start a double play. And small sample size, but he hasn’t done that yet. To be fair, he struck out three times tonight, twice looking, but there were no GIDPs, at least. Also, he looked smooth and supremely competent on the seven fly balls he had to contend with on Saturday….he chased them all down for outs, and he made them look easy, even though some of them certainly weren’t. **C. Wesley Baier**: He’s probably going to be frustratingly passive at times, but I think he’ll be an improvement over Thomas.

On the flip side, the Alek Thomas Era has (probably) ended. What went wrong?

**Spencer**: Wrong? Not much. He never learned to hit good MLB pitching. Yet he was good enough to make and stick in the majors for a good while. He’s a reminder that there’s often a floor for “Top Prospects” but they aren’t sure things. For every Corbin Carroll there’s an unknown litany of Alek Thomases. **James Attwood**: The expectations were sky-high. He has loads of talent, but is a prime example of how hitting the small round ball with a round bat is the hardest skill in sports. This is not the end of his MLB career, but it is almost certainly the end of his time as an Arizona Diamondback. **Justin27**: He just couldn’t get it together offensively. A team with a better offense will scoop him up. Too bad he couldn’t hit .250 or something coupled with SF12 defense **Makakilo**: Alek Thomas had injuries that slowed his development (hamstring and oblique injuries in 2024, and sore knee in July of 2025). This season his batting went downhill (OPS .578 in April, OPS .422 in May). This season, Alek Thomas had an OPS+ of 56 (impressively bad but better than Tim Tawa). That makes what Jim McLennan wrote in January prophetic. “If Alek Thomas doesn’t improve on his career 76 OPS+, and if Waldschmidt’s bat represents a clear upturn, then the team could decide to use Ryan in center. That would depend on his defense there being serviceable, and not outweighing the offensive positives.” — Jim McLennan **Dano\_In\_Tucson**: Obviously, the failure of his bat to ever arrive and stick around consistently. Beyond that, he rarely looked consistently competent to me in center field (all those web gems aside), and for a guy with his speed, he never seemed to be able to learn to work competently on the basepaths. He should have been stealing bases at a level comparable to Perdomo at least, if not Carroll. I kinda felt, by the end, like it was a work ethic issue, though I have nothing but gut feeling to back that up. In any event, I still think he can be a good ballplayer for someone, and I’m convinced that wasn’t going to happen for him in Arizona anymore, so I hope he goes someplace where he can succeed. The need for a change of scenery is a very real thing for some players, and I hope I gets it and I wish him well wherever he winds up. I never hated the guy, and I wanted to like him….it just got really old watching him continue to suck. **C. Wesley Baier**: I have no idea. Maybe he just needs a change of scenery?