The Pforty-Pfive million dollar man takes the mound!
The last two games have been quite the contrast, in terms of the final result. Though it does seem that the MLB-leading offense enjoyed by the D-backs has carried forward into 2025, the team scoring 14 runs through their first two two games. The pitching last night was vastly improved over what we saw in the opening contest, especially after Merrill Kelly settled down and escaped a very shaky top of the second inning, with just the one run allowed. I’d still like to see a starter complete six innings, something neither Kelly nor Zac Gallen managed to do. Even with an eighth arm in the bullpen, it’s going to be tough to expect them to cover four frames a night with any degree of confidence.
Still, can’t complain with an offense which had a .958 OPS to date, the best in the majors by thirty points. Well, going into play today, anyway: I imagine the Yankees putting up 20 runs on the Orioles, including NINE home-runs, has probably put them ahead of us… for now! But this is the time of year where small sample-sizes are a delight to anyone with a taste for numbers. I tend to suspect Eugenio Suarez probably will not sustain an OPS of 2.214. Jake McCarthy will reach base eventually (though will he out-produce Alek Thomas, who had quite the game yesterday…). And Pavin Smith seems unlikely to hit .600 for the rest of the campaign. I’ll settle for half that, to be honest.
Tonight though, all eyes will be on Brandon Pfaadt, having joined Geraldo Perdomo in the Extension Club, with the surprising news just before Opening Day. Hopefully he’ll do a better job of handling the demands and expectations than Perdomo – though if you had Gerardo as the first Diamondback to steal a base in 2025, give yourself two points! On the other hand, the team has already made four errors, not what you’d expect considering the team made an MLB least 62 all last year. In 2024, they didn’t make their fourth error until their seventh game, so room for improvement. Still, a win tonight would guarantee at least a split, and Pfaadt can then go home and sleep easy on his bed of hundred-dollar bills!