Mantiply Records 1-2-3 ASG Inning
- Nathaniel Wiley
- Jul 20, 2022
- 5 min read
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Welcome to the All-Star Break, Dbacks fans! This week's newsletter is going to recap the best and the worst of the Dbacks' 1st half of the 2022 MLB Season.
An All-Star Dback
But first, speaking of the All-Star Break, Diamondbacks' relief pitcher Joe Mantiply, who was elected to the All-Star team one week ago. In the 2022 All-Star Game, Mantiply pitched a 1-2-3 inning on two groundouts and a strikeout. He threw nine pitches against the best of the American League and got some of the best results possible. According to Arizona Sports, Mantiply threw the second 1-2-3 inning of the game. Mantiply was in his first ever All-Star Game, being the Arizona Diamondbacks' sole representative in 2022. He represented them well.
The All-Star Game aside, the Dbacks have had many ups and downs throughout the season thus far. Coming out of the first half, the ball club has a record of 40-52 with a .435 winning percentage (according to MLB). Unlike the last Dbacks Newsletter, when the team was in 4th place, the club resides in the fifth place spot in the National League West. The Dbacks are currently nine games back of the Philidelphia Phillies for the third Wild Card spot in the NL.
Mound Visit:
So, what chance do the Dbacks have at swinging their bats through the postseason? According to Baseball Reference, the Dbacks have a 0.1% chance at the playoffs, while their division rivals, the L.A. Dodgers have an almost guaranteed shot at the postseason (99.9%), with the division-leading record of 60 wins and 30 losses. Next are the key aspects of this team that need improving for the second half of the season.
Offense - In general, offensive production has been slow for the Dbacks. According to Baseball Reference, the Dbacks have a team batting average of .223 this season, the second worst in the National League. To top that off, in 3,425 plate appearances, the Dbacks have hit 2,457 outs. They are also averaging four runs created per game, while their opponents are averaging roughly five (4.84) runs per game, which shows that the offense has not been able to come back from scored runs by the opposition.
Allowing Runs - According to Baseball Reference, the Dbacks pitchers have an ERA of .434, which is 5th worst in the National League. Their amount of hits allowed (786), and earned runs allowed (391) are all 5th worst in the league, showing how poorly these Dback pitchers have been performing this year.
Signing Players - Over the past few years, the Dbacks have made no large signings. The biggest was Mark Melancon in 2021, and Madison Bumgarner in 2019. Neither of these signings worked out the way that the fan base and front office hoped they would. Mark Melancon came to the Dbacks following a great season with the San Diego Padres, featuring a 2.23 ERA and an MLB-leading thirty-nine games saved. Since he signed with the Diamondbacks, Melancon has had a 5.12 ERA, only 13 games saved with a whopping 18 earned runs. Madison Bumgarner has been similar... after coming off of a great career with the San Fransisco Giants, Mad Bum decided to sign with the Dbacks following a year of a 3.90 ERA and a league-leading thirty-four starts. In the two and a half seasons he has been in Arizona, he has a 4.65 ERA and 147 earned runs. According to spotrac, the Dbacks have the 5th lowest team salary in the league, with the 6th worst overall team value (according to Forbes). They could at least afford to sign some good players. Especially with $87.5 million being spent on players with a total team value of $1.38 billion.
Going for the Win
There is good, however, with this Dbacks ball club. Here are the most promising and great aspects of this Dbacks' team.
Young Talent - According to Baseball Reference, if you look at just the youngest players on the Dbacks (25 and under, minimum 20 games played), in 2022, they have 264 hits in 1173 plate appearances, have walked 102 times (which shows great plate discipline) and have 128 RBIs. The young pitchers have allowed 48 runs in 90.5 innings. They have a 4-2 record with ten games started and seven games finished. These young players have shown great talent, and the future of the Dbacks is looking hopeful.
Bright All-Stars - The Dbacks have two very promising (current and former) All-Stars. According to MLB, these two players are Joe Mantiply (2022 All-Star) and Ketel Marte (2019 All-Star). According to Baseball Reference, Ketel Marte has a .291 batting average as a member of the Dback squad (over the last four years) and has 265 RBI in 587 games played. Over the past two seasons (2021-22), Joe Mantiply has a 2.83 ERA with 76 strikeouts to only 19 walks. He is such an impressive pitcher.
Draftees - The fact that an entire Dbacks Newsletter has passed and there has been no mention of the Dbacks 2022 draft picks is stunning. So, let's discuss the Diamondbacks' draft picks from the 2022 MLB Draft. One of the most interesting and fun picks of the draft is center-fielder Druw Jones, son of former Atlanta Brave Andruw Jones. Druw Jones is a very skilled prospect and was drafted out of high school in Georgia. He was the second overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. Jones recieved a record-breaking signing bonus of $8,189,400 according to MLB and Yahoo! News. Another intriguing draft pick is Demetrio Crisantes, who was selected 198th overall in this year's draft. He is interesting due to the fact that he has to make a hard choice out of Nogales High School; go and play baseball with the University of Arizona, or play with Arizona's Major League club. "Crisantes’ commitment to the UA has been pinned to the top of his Twitter feed. But the Diamondbacks have given Crisantes and his family a lot to think about. The 198th pick in the draft carries a slot value of $247,000. Crisantes tweeted Monday: 'Thank you for this opportunity ... GO DBACKS,'" says Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star. According to Tucson.com, Cristanes had a spectacular season with Nogales High School, sporting a .485 batting average.
Thank you for reading this week's Dbacks Newsletter. Click the "Sign Up" button at the top right of the screen for updates, emails, and member-exclusive content. Until next week, Diamondbacks' fans.
For more of the best sports stories online, visit NWP Sports here!
Images:
Cover Photo (of Joe Mantiply) - Bryan Green
Cover art designed by Nathaniel Wiley
Mound Visit - Al_HikesAZ
Going in for the Win - David Grooms / TigerNet.com
All images under Creative Commons Licenses CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC 2.0, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
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