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Diamondbacks takeaways: Offense continues historic run, Merrill Kelly solid in return
A week ago, the Diamondbacks arrived in Cleveland for a three-game series against the Guardians, who came in with the best record in baseball.
The Diamondbacks completed a three-game sweep. Suddenly, the Guardians did not have the best record in baseball anymore. That title was passed on to the Philadelphia Phillies — and that’s precisely the team that Arizona was scheduled to play next.
After a late flight home following a doubleheader on Wednesday, the Diamondbacks looked flat in a 6-4 loss to the Phillies on Thursday night. They then won the next three games, including a pair of blowouts on Saturday and Sunday in which they outscored the Phillies, 23-6. And like the Guardians, the Phillies now no longer have the best record in baseball, either.
For as well as the Diamondbacks have played lately — they are 21-6 over their past 27 games — this past week was their finest work yet. Diamondbacks infielder Kevin Newman, who had three hits in Sunday’s game, was asked if his team made a statement.
“I guess that’s for you guys to decide,” Newman said. “For us, we show up every single day ready to compete the same way. Getting those wins kind of shows us we are who we thought we were. We can play with anybody.”
By taking three of the four games over the weekend, the Diamondbacks closed out a 4-3 season series victory over the Phillies. Coincidentally (or not?), that was precisely the outcome of last year’s NLCS.
People did not expect much of the upstart Diamondbacks then. Maybe they should now.
1. Merrill Kelly solid in return from IL
It’s been 118 days since Merrill Kelly last appeared in a game for the Diamondbacks, but you might not have known by watching him on Sunday.
Kelly’s command looked less sharp than usual, but his six-pitch mix kept Phillies hitters off balance.
“To me, it looked like vintage Merrill,” manager Torey Lovullo said.
Kelly tallied five innings on 85 pitches, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts. After missing nearly four months with a shoulder injury, he was happy to be back on a major-league mound.
“It’s way more fun than watching it from the couch,” Kelly said. “Seeing these guys doing what they’re doing right now, it’s a lot of fun to watch. I just hope I can come in and keep the momentum going.”
The Phillies scored both runs against Kelly in the first inning. After a Trea Turner grounder leaked through the infield for a single, Bryce Harper walked and Alec Bohm smacked a middle-middle fastball into the right-center field gap for an RBI double.
In retrospect, Kelly felt that he rushed himself early in the game, a likely product of the adrenaline that came with his long-awaited return to the majors. By the third inning, he was able to slow things down.
After Bohm’s double in the first, Kelly retired 14 of the final 16 batters he faced.
“I try to treat each inning as a completely new animal, new experience,” Kelly said. “I know they got two in the first but, after that, if you start giving that any type of credit, especially that early and being my first game back, I’m putting myself behind the eight ball. So, just try to forget about that too, and then focus on just keeping them where they were.”
With Kelly back in the fold and Zac Gallen expected to make his next start after leaving Sunday’s start early with cramping, the starting rotation that the Diamondbacks envisioned months ago is fully healthy for the first time all year: Gallen, Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery.
Given that Montgomery is listed as Wednesday’s starter and Lovullo said Friday that he did not plan on using a six-man rotation upon Kelly’s return, it appears that Ryne Nelson — who was stellar on Friday and has been excellent lately — will move to the bullpen.
2. Diamondbacks’ league-leading offense rolls on
After scoring 23 runs in lopsided wins on Saturday and Sunday, the Diamondbacks have scored a major-league-best 624 runs this season. The New York Yankees are the next closest team at 614.
In 35 games since July 1, the Diamondbacks have a team OPS of .879. That’s the highest team OPS over any 35-game span in franchise history, overtaking the previous record of .874 from May 3 to June 11 of 1999.
Of course, offense across the league has dropped considerably over the past 25 years. In 1999, the league average OPS was .778. In 2024, it’s .713. An .879 OPS in 2024 is significantly more impressive than an .874 OPS in 1999.
This year, only 14 qualified hitters in all of baseball have an OPS higher than .879. In essence, the Diamondbacks’ offense since July 1 has been roughly equivalent to having nine copies of Guardians superstar Jose Ramirez in the lineup every day.
Much like Ramirez, the Diamondbacks have also hit plenty of homers in recent weeks. They have 66 over their past 35 games; that’s also the highest mark in franchise history over any 35-game span.
While many individual D-backs hitters have stepped up, we’ll highlight two here: Jake McCarthy and Corbin Carroll.
McCarthy went 8-for-18 against the Phillies over the weekend with three homers, one triple and 11 RBI. Those three homers represent half of his total for the season.
When asked about the sudden power surge after Saturday’s game, McCarthy did not have much of an explanation.
“I’m not really going up there trying to hit homers,” he said. “I’m just trying to swing at the right pitches and put a good swing on them.”
Carroll has begun to look more like himself after a brutal first half. With homers on Saturday and Sunday, he now has nine dingers over his past 28 games. He hit just two in his first 87 games.
Carroll’s homer on Sunday was particularly impressive. He drove a 99 mph fastball from Phillies left-hander Jose Alvarado to the opposite field.
Said Lovullo: “The way he stayed behind the ball and squared it up and hit it the other way tells me a really good story about everything’s in the right place.
“You don’t hit a ball like that by accident. That’s not a miss-hit ball. He stayed on it. And you talk about keeping your head down and driving it, that was a perfect example of it.”
3. Josh Bell, Adrian Del Castillo stepping up as injury subs
When the Diamondbacks lost both first baseman Christian Walker (oblique strain) and catcher Gabriel Moreno (groin strain) in the span of a week, it felt like yet another significant blow in a season that has already been marred by injuries. In reality, the Diamondbacks have not missed a beat without Walker and Moreno. That’s because of two players who have stepped up to help replace them: first baseman Josh Bell and catcher Adrian Del Castillo.
The Diamondbacks acquired Bell in a trade with the Miami Marlins on July 30 after Walker went down the night prior. In 10 games with the Diamondbacks, Bell has slashed .286/.348/.643 with four homers, one double, one triple and seven RBI.
“The morning of the trade deadline, [general manager] Mike [Hazen] called me up and asked me what I thought about getting somebody like Josh Bell in place of Walker while he was down,” Lovullo said. “I thought he’s just a quality at-bat.”
So far, he has been that and more for the Diamondbacks.
As for Del Castillo, he had a stellar 1.011 OPS in 100 games in Triple-A when Moreno’s injury happened. He has only played three major-league games so far, but he sure has made his presence known.
In those three games, Del Castillo is 7-for-12 with a homer, two doubles, a walk and five RBI. He is the first player in Diamondbacks history to notch seven hits in the first three games of his career. That homer was a first-pitch, walk-off shot on Friday against Phillies All-Star right-hander Jeff Hoffman. It led to a 3-2 win.
“That’s a great player development story,” Lovullo said of Del Castillo. “Everybody shared and is sharing in his success. I know the boys down in Triple-A are watching and proud of what he’s doing up here … We knew what he was capable of doing.”
“I said to both [Bell and Del Castillo] when I saw them for the first time, ‘I don’t need you to be any anything other than who you are and what you do every single day is already noted. Just be yourself. That’s really, really important to me.’
“Both guys have come in and done a great job for us.”
4. Good injury news for a change
In the final two games of the Phillies series, the Diamondbacks had three players leave early due to injury.
On Saturday, All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte was removed after getting tangled up with Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs on an aggressive head-first slide at second base. Also on Saturday, ace Zac Gallen walked off with a trainer with one out in the fifth after twisting awkwardly on a ground ball back up the middle. On Sunday, outfield Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was replaced on defense at the start of the fourth inning.
Given the volume of injuries that the Diamondbacks have suffered this year, it would have felt like par for the course had one or more of that trio wound up missing meaningful time. In reality, not a single one of them even had any kind of imaging, and all are expected to avoids IL stints.
Marte was diagnosed with a left ankle contusion and could play on Monday. Gallen had general body cramps and expects to make his next start. Gurriel is day-to-day with left hamstring tightness.
Losing any member of that trio — particularly Marte, who has been the team’s most valuable player this year — would have been a tough blow. For the moment, it looks like the Diamondbacks have dodged a bullet on all fronts.
5. Diamondbacks in mix in all corners of NL playoff picture
With the Diamondbacks’ win on Sunday, they are tied with the San Diego Padres for the top wild card spot in the National League and just 3 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
While winning the division would be an accomplishment in and of itself — the Diamondbacks have not done it since 2011 — it also can have significant playoff implications. The top two division winners in each league get a first-round bye. Given that the Dodgers and Phillies share the best record in the NL at 69-49, the Diamondbacks are within striking distance.
Of course, nabbing one of those byes still looks like an uphill battle. The Dodgers are soon expected to get star outfielder Mookie Betts back from injury, among others. According to Fangraphs, the Diamondbacks have a 9.4 percent chance of clinching a bye. On June 29, that chance was estimated to be 0.4 percent.
With seven weeks remaining in the season, Newman was asked Sunday if the team is beginning to hone in on the standings.
“We’re getting to that point where it matters,” Newman said. “We check them out. We see them. We kind of know where we’re at, the opponents and other teams, too.
“We’re definitely aware of it, but more importantly, we only try to control what we can control in here. And that’s play well and keep things rolling.”
Top photo: Rick Scuteri/USA TODAY Sports
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