The first full squad workout is today at Salt River Fields
Team news
[Arizona Sports] Tommy Henry trying to find freedom, be athletic on mound in 2025 – Like his counterpart Ryan Thompson, Henry said he is cooking up some new pitches, but unlike the side-arm reliever, specifically revealed he is working on a cutter. He prefaced the pitch is still a work in progress but the end goal is to speed up right-handed batters and make lefties think twice when he delivers. “(Spring training’s) just really getting back to strengths that I’ve had in the past, the curveball, the full mix, honing those in so I’m ready to go for games,” Henry said.
[Dbacks.com] Here’s how the D-backs’ outfield could shake out – Writing Gurriel’s name in the lineup is a comfort for Arizona manager Torey Lovullo, who acknowledged he may need to do less of that in 2025. “I need to give him some [more] days off,” Lovullo said. “I explained this to him in our [Spring Training] one-on-one. I’ve got to be mindful of that. I get monster-locked on not giving position players off because they get hot or whatever, but I’ve got to pick some good days for him to keep him strong and healthy this year.”… Don’t expect to see Carroll anywhere but in right this year, unless there are injury issues or as a possible late-inning shift if a center fielder was pulled for a pinch-hitter.
[SI] Brandon Pfaadt is a Breakout Candidate for the Diamondbacks – Location was an issue perhaps, but it wasn’t just that. Sometimes hitters seemed to be sitting on the sweeper when he was in a breaking ball count. In an effort to give hitters a different look and keep them off balance, Pfaadt is working on the curveball this spring. “We’re tinkering with the curveball a little bit, just using that more. Everything else is the same. You can never stop getting better at the things you have in your back pocket. I think the curveball is going to play pretty well with all those other pitches,” Pfaadt said. An improved curveball would definitely go a long way towards keeping hitters off the sweeper, and would play well with is sinker too.
[Last Word on Sports] Jordan Lawlar Needs to Stay Healthy for Diamondbacks – The 22-year-old played in the Dominican Winter League and looked good early on, reporting no setbacks from his earlier injuries. However, Jordan Lawlar needs to stay healthy. As he enters camp, he will be looking to restore his value. At only 22, he is certainly still regarded as a highly-rated prospect. He has good range along with gifted and promising arm strength—when healthy and playing. Still, he will need more time to develop and improve his offensive game. He needs more at-bats before he is fully ready to take on major league pitching. That means he needs to stay healthy in order to get the playing time necessary to gain experience and improve his game.
[AZ Central] Sources: Diamondbacks to reunite with Shelby Miller – The club and right-hander Shelby Miller agreed to terms on a minor league deal that includes an invite to major league camp, a source said. Another source said Miller will earn $1 million if he makes the team and has a chance to make another $750,000 in bonuses. Miller was with the Diamondbacks from 2016-2018 and struggled badly after coming over in a controversial trade with the Atlanta Braves, who received shortstop Dansby Swanson and center fielder Ender Inciarte as part of the deal… But he made a total of 28 starts with the team and posted a 6.35 ERA, missing most of the 2017 season due to Tommy John surgery.
And, elsewhere…
[StarTribune] Cory Lewis shows the Twins the most peculiar knuckleball in history – Lewis, the Twins’ ninth-round pick in 2022, threw a pitch and the radar-tracking confirmed it: 85 mph. A couple of pitches later, Lewis hit 86. And before he finished, he showed off one that the equipment said reached 87 mph… MLB’s StatCast system has never in its 17 seasons recorded a knuckleball in the majors faster than the 84.2-mph pitch that Padres righthander Matt Waldron threw last June. It becomes more difficult for pitchers to keep it from spinning as they throw it harder — but not for Lewis.
[NCAA] 17 numbers from Rhode Island and William & Mary’s wild college baseball game – Every once in a while, college baseball gives us a gift to remind us of what makes the sport so beautiful. It isn’t the home runs or the walkoffs, or even the ball park hot dogs — It’s the numbers. Here are the wildest ones from Rhode Island’s 36-22 win over William & Mary [Jim: in seven innings!]. 58 — The number of combined runs between the two teams, enough to make this game tied for the fourth-highest combined run total in DI baseball history. This is the highest-scoring game since FDU and Coppin State combined for 59 runs in 2016 in a 35-24 FDU win. The all-time record is 62 runs from a 33-29 Denver win over Air Force on May 13, 1968.
[Reddit] The Player With the Most bWAR for Each Pair of Initials – I am not trying to endorse WAR as an end-all be-all of baseball greatness. There are definitely examples of WAR not choosing the “best” player, in my opinion, perhaps the best example being 18th-century Silver King beating out Sandy Koufax for “SK”. However, I didn’t want to have to do a holistic evaluation of over 500 different lists of players to decide who the best was for each initial, and WAR is arguably the least bad option for a single number to rank players.
Damaged (2024)
Rating: C-
Dir: Terry McDonough
Star: Gianni Capaldi, Samuel L. Jackson, Vincent Cassel, Kate Dickie
This seems largely to work on the principal that, if one brooding and tortured detective with issues is good, then three must be great. We begin with Dan Lawson (Jackson), a Chicago cop who drives about the city swigging from a bottle of whiskey. He gets notified that a series of grisly unsolved murders he investigated, have started up again. Only in Scotland, rather than Illinois. He heads to Edinburgh, and teams up with equally troubled policeman, DCI Glen Boyd (Capaldi, who also co-wrote the script). He and his wife have never recovered from the loss of their child. Put him together with Lawson, and it’s like the front row at a Morrissey concert.