Prior to today’s game against the Reds, the Diamondbacks placed catcher Gabriel Moreno on the 10-day injured list due to left shoulder inflammation. Catcher Jose Herrera was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.
Carson Kelly will be Arizona’s starting catcher while Moreno is sidelined, though Kelly had taken an increasingly large share of the playing time over the last several weeks due to Moreno’s lingering shoulder issue. “It’s something we’ve been trying to manage for some time,” manager Torey Lovullo told MLB.com and other media, and the club ultimately decided that an IL stint was necessary to allow Moreno time to rest up.
In his first full season in the majors and in his first season altogether with the D’Backs, Moreno has hit .270/.316/.360 with three homers over 244 plate appearances, translating to an 82 wRC+. It hasn’t been in the instant impact the D’Backs were hoping to get from the former top prospect, though it is safe to guess that this nagging shoulder problem has had some impact on Moreno’s hitting. While his bat and pitch-framing are still a work in progress, Moreno has already established himself as one of the game’s best throwing arms. Moreno has nabbed 11 of 18 runners trying to steal, for the highest caught-stealing percentage (61%) of any backstop in the league.
Due to a fractured forearm in Spring Training, Kelly has been limited t0 20 games and 63 PA, and he has hit only .183/.206/.250. Beyond Herrera, Ali Sanchez and Juan Centeno are the only other catchers in the Diamondbacks’ system with any MLB experience, so if Moreno is projected to be out for anything beyond the minimum 10 days, catching might emerge as a need for the D’Backs heading into the trade deadline.
Arizona probably wouldn’t pursue anything more than another depth catcher if Moreno will eventually be back, yet it creates another target for a D’Backs team that is already known to be looking for both starting and relief pitching. GM Mike Hazen has said his front office will “be aggressive” in looking for upgrades, and the D’Backs are in need of a spark in general after a miserable July. Arizona has lost 12 of its last 16 games, including today’s 7-3 loss to Cincinnati.
Wow. The Dbags are gonna have a hard time keeping up with the Giants. Unless the Giants keep losing
Wonderful, more Carson Kelly. Ever since he returned to the lineup they’ve been worse. Coincidence?
Hopefully they keep starting him then
suffer
I know you don’t like Carson, but do you honestly blame him for all the Dbacks’ recent performance? I don’t think that’s fair!
The players you Do like have been slumping as well. Why not blame some of the team’s slump on them as well?
I like Carroll, but other than a few HRs he has slumped. I like Gurriel, but he is majorly slumping. The team as a whole has not produced the timely hitting and stirring come-from-behind wins that thrilled all of us in the first half of the season. We got spoiled by their early accomplishments and the fact that they sustained that success so far into the season. I personally shifted gears after a month or so of success from thinking the Dbacks could compete for a Wildcard slot, to thinking they were capable of winning the NLW and going deep into the playoffs. I don’t blame any one player, coach or manager for having to down shift expectations now, I’ve always thought this team is deeply flawed, but so is every other team in the NLW.
So, instead of pointing fingers of blame, I’m excitedly waiting to see what kind of deadline moves the Dbacks do or don’t do. What they and the other NLW teams do leading up to the deadline will determine the kind of season the Dbacks end with. I’m still optimistic. But overall, I’m happy the Dbacks played the Dodgers, Giants and Padres toe to toe in the first half. And I’m excited to watch what they’ll do in the second half, which I’ll judge in October, not now.
I think one thing fans sometime miss is the correlation between good defensive catching and the team doing well.
There are a lot of factors that go into this and also weather a team wins or not but catching plays a bigger role than most tend to see. Usually good catchers (mostly in terms of them being really good defensively) need to play regularly. If you upset that with a catcher that is not good defensively but has some bat up side the “bat first” catcher tends to get more at bats. When this happens many factors start to come into play like the starters don’t go as deep, the better defenders hitting becomes worse (less at bats) and key bullpen arms aren’t as comfortable with the “bat first” catcher. All this and more can lead a team from good to just Ok.
The Blue Jays are a perfect example of this. When Kirk is behind the plate, starters go deeper and guys like Romono have much improved stats vs when Jansen is behind the plate. Sure Jansen has a sense for the spotlight moment (with his bat) but if you look deep at the Jays season it is up and down and has a direct correlation with who is behind the plate.
I am not saying catcher hitting is not important but ask Houston because they can answer it better than I can.
The D’Backs always collapse in the 2nd half. It’s what they do.
fred
Absolutes like “always” ignore the fact that the Dbacks won the World Series faster than any franchise in history, and have won several Divisional crowns, as well as finishing dead last and losing over 100 games in a season. So, in reality, the Dbacks “always” do neither.
Been a while treading water though, at some point they gotta make some trades and go for it.
Collapsing has nothing to do with record. Technically, a bad team can collapse and play even worse in the 2nd half.
I’m not a DBacks fan, but went to ASU and had my first job out there. They do seem to play worse in the 2nd half, mostly due to their cheap owner
Moreno and Kelly’s injury really make the Dbacks lack of overall depth obvious. If Hazen can buy low on Blackburn that would be a great boost for the stretch run. Otherwise, its simply not prudent to part with prospects needed to fill out the roster for a wildcard berth.
Having a young team make the playoffs and get experience in that environment is important. If the front office punts on this season because of a bad month, they truly don’t care about the long term success of the team. Even if the World Series isn’t a likely feat this year, it’s still paramount to have as much success as possible and build a winning culture.
Teams like the Astros didn’t just wake up and become postseason juggernauts overnight. They had to lose in the first round a couple times and build experience for their young core.
The 2010 Giants say hi
The question is how much that playoff berth costs in a trade. The Astros went through a lengthy tank period. Hazen was brought in with a dual mandate to cut payroll and keep the team competitive.
Right now the Dbacks need numerous upgrades, including the back of the rotation, outfield and third base. Dealing long-term pieces for a single starter will only short circuit the rebuild, even if it results in a wild card this year.
Cubs will let you have Tucker Barnhart cheap, nothing against him but Cubs are carrying 3 catchers
Acquiring a depth catcher would not prevent the Dbacks from getting some much needed pitching at the deadline. Also, its tbd if Moreno will be back in 10 days potentially making a catcher acquisition a moot point.
I like Gabriel. Doesn’t toot his own horn.
Sounds as though much of any capital spent on deadline moves will be on pitching. Any significant offensive help looks to be from current players regaining form or call ups. Any heavy lifting will have to be done this offseason. A big prospect might have to be moved. Snakes really need to make their push starting next season b/c they only have 2 more seasons of Zac Gallen before he gets his massive bag elsewhere. Competing for the wildcard with this subpar pitching staff is an achievement. This season the St. Louis Cardinals have been the cure to what ails most teams.
The D=backs could use a vet bat of the bench that does not need to play everyday (couple times a week) that can fill in somewhere in a pinch but provide some pop and veteran leadership from the bench.
They could also trade Carson Kelly, thus moving Moreno (when he gets healthy) back to the starting catcher role and then bring in a veteran catcher to help mentor him someone who is not fighting him for time.
Both situations can be fixed in one move Sal Perez from KC. Of course you would have to make that trade happen and Salvy would need to want to go there but sounds good on paper.. this would help the pitching too having that stable everyday catcher in Moreno behind the plate.
The veteran bat you describe sounds alot like Longo so I assume you’re suggesting a second veteran bat?
Are you recommending a mid-season trade of backup catchers? Would Salvy be happy in a backup role? Pitchers dont want a new catcher thrown into the mix mid-season, if possible. I think Im missing something. Also, has a team ever traded their captain?