No, the OTHER one… 🙂
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Arizona Diamondbacks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
While the D-backs have started the season well, with one of the best records in the National League, not every player has started equally. Earlier in the week, we presented a range of options, selected from among those who has got out of the gates slowly, and we asked you which of them was the most worrying. There was no clear UNanswer, with each of the five candidates netting in double-digits. But the team’s big-ticket off season acquisition, Corbin Burnes, did end up coming out on top, albeit falling short of an overall majority. Here are the full results:
I wonder if the results would be different now? Since the poll was carried out, we’ve seen Burnes have his best start as a Diamondback, but Zac Gallen allowed six runs this afternoon in Chicago. As I mentioned in the GDT, Gallen really hasn’t been “right” since coming back from a hamstring injury last June. He tossed six scoreless innings – albeit, against the Oakland Athletics – in his first game back. But over Gallen’s 21 starts since then, so getting into a credible sample size, he now has an ERA of 4.59. However, there isn’t the same long-term commitment to Zac which the team has to Corbin. If Gallen flops, it’ll burn his free-agent chances. A Burnes failure would hamper the team for years to come.
With hindsight, I could perhaps have swapped out Eduardo Rodriguez for Eugenio Suarez. E-Rod has now got his ERA+ back to exactly 100. But Suarez feels like he flicked the switch to “OFF” on April Fool’s Day. Since hitting his sixth home-run on April 1st. Eugenio is batting barely a buck – 6-for-58, .103, and with 25 strikeouts. Admittedly, it could be worse: at time of writing, Joc Pederson has an OPS of .221 in. Not SLG, OBP or BA: OPS. Or there’s Christian Walker is hitting .159 with one home-run in nineteen games. It feels like there are always going to be players who are struggling, on ever team. It’s just that your ones merit a lot closer scrutiny, than on the other side of the fence!