Three pleasant (and unpleasant) April surprises for the Diamondbacks
April started out as a rough month for the Diamondbacks. And then it looked like a pretty solid month after they swept the Giants. It ended up being a so-so month, as the Diamondbacks finished 12-14.
There were a lot of surprises individually that took place this month. This wasn’t the “Evolution” many Diamondbacks fans had in mind when the season began. There were a lot of rad– and bad– surprises. So here are the three pleasant, and unpleasant, surprises of the month.
You want the bad news first, right? Okay, let’s go with the three most unpleasant surprises of April:
3. Greinke’s inconsistency: $206.5 million is a lot of money any way you cut it. And the Diamondbacks haven’t gotten enough to justify spending that much on Zack Greinke yet. He’s already had two starts where he allowed seven or more runs this season– he didn’t have any such starts last year. He has had a couple of very nice starts, though.
2. Shelby’s struggles: The Diamondbacks traded a lot to get Shelby Miller. He has an 8.69 ERA one month into the year. This is going to have to change– like, now– if the Diamondbacks want to recoup what they have lost in the trade.
- A. J. Pollock’s injury: This one was the biggest blow the Diamondbacks could have possibly gotten. Just days before the season, no less. The team still has the sixth-best offense in the NL without him, but they’ve definitely missed his glove in center. Imagine how many more runs they would have scored with Pollock?
Okay, now for the good news.
3. Welington Castillo emerging as an All-Star caliber player: Castillo has hit at a torrid pace this year, batting .286/.341/.558 with six homers and 12 RBI.
2. Jean Segura having an OBP over .300: Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a low bar for a pleasant surprise. But based on the way he’s played in the two season’s prior, Segura’s performance has been nothing short of encouraging. He’s batting .333/.362/.523 with four homers, 15 RBI and four steals in 25 games.
- Yasmany Tomas actually living up to his contract: Tomas had a rough rookie season, and a spring training injury didn’t do much to help his expectations going into this year. But he’s been nothing short of fantastic in the outfield, batting .276/.333/.529 with five homers and 12 RBI.
I figured I’d send you off on a positive note. Bad news first, always. Good luck in May.