👋 GOOD MORNING

Happy Thursday! I hope you got all of the Justin Timberlake memes out of your system, because it’s officially May! Crazy. I hope you’re ready for a long summer of Diamondbacks baseball, and the Mercury kick off their preseason slate next week! There’s something to look forward to.

One last note: Remember, if this email was forwarded to you, you can ​sign up for the newsletter right here​, and I’ll keep you in the loop with everything going on this summer! Don’t miss a beat!

On to the show!

A Look at the D-backs After 30 Games

It’s not the 40-game measuring stick the legendary Sparky Anderson used, but it’s close.

So what should we make of the D-backs after 30 games?

In some ways, this team looks pretty darn close to the 2024 version, but there are some exceptions. Yesterday’s 4-3 win over the mighty Mets, for example, is a good sign. The Diamondbacks now have a chance to take the series in today’s rubber match, which would be a good start to this six-game road trip, especially when you consider they have just two wins in their last seven games. Their 16-14 record is also slightly ahead of last year’s pace, when the D-backs were 13-17 en route to an 89-73 finish.

And oh, so close to the playoffs.

Diamondbacks Strikingly Similar To Last Season

Through 30 games the Diamondbacks have shown they’re yet again one of the top offensive teams in baseball, though the collective .244 batting average is a slight dip from last year’s mark of .263. Even so, they’re still knocking in runs at an impressive clip, and rank fifth with 148 RBIs, behind the Dodgers (150), Red Sox (150), Yankees (167) and Cubs (178). Arizona has also belted the fifth-most home runs (40) and fourth-most doubles (59), a clear sign that the offense has not missed a beat.

• Eugenio Suárez is tied for the MLB lead with 10 home runs.
• Corbin Carroll is right behind him with nine.
• The Diamondbacks are 4.5 games behind the first-place Dodgers, and one game back in the NL Wild Card race (with 132 games to go, I know).

The pitching, however, has been an exercise in frustration, yet again. Expectations were high for the group, yet somewhat ironically it’s Brandon Pfaadt — who earned the fifth spot in the starting rotation just days before Opening Day — who leads the rotation with a 2.78 ERA. Then comes Corbin Burnes (3.58), Merrill Kelly (4.41), Zac Gallen (5.57) and Eduardo Rodriguez (6.06).

• Arizona ranks 23rd in starting pitching with a 4.45 ERA
• Diamondbacks starters rank 13th with 152 strikeouts
• Collectively the pitching staff ranks 24th with a 4.47 ERA
• The entire staff is 16th with a 1.29 WHIP, far better than its 27th ranking at the end of 2024.

My Take: Mannnnnn if this starting pitching staff can just get it together at the same time, this team can be dangerous come October. Even with a mediocre batting average the Diamondbacks are scoring runs essentially at will, so yet again the focus will shift to pitching as the long summer days start to give way to the fall. That’s when it really counts, and this team is certainly capable of a meaningful run.

Take a Deeper Dive: David looks into how pitcher ​Justin Martínez has come into his own​.

Musings From Around (and Sometimes Beyond) The Valley

New Smoke: The PHNX Mercury team broke down the​ biggest moments from Media Day​ — from Kahleah Copper talking about leading this squad, to Alyssa Thomas bringing that toughness to the desert, and Nate Tibbetts setting the tone in his second year as head coach of the Mercury.

Let’s Make a Deal: The latest PHNX Suns pod takes a look at a litany of trade possibilities, and I’ve got to say, they are intriguing to say the least. ​Giannis Antetokounmpo, anyone​?

Deal Beal?: Gerald took a look at a number of scenarios in which ​Bradley Beal could be traded​, and you should check them out. The deals he came up with are as informative as they are creative, and it’ll be interesting to see what transpires this offseason.

🧢 Tip of the Hat by Branded Bills

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