12 Things You Might Not Know About Dback All-Star Joe Mantiply

So, the Arizona Diamondbacks have 1 All-Star representative, and his name is Joe Mantiply. He has had a unique baseball journey to get to be called an All-Star, and although different and trying, I am sure he would not change a thing as long at the end he is called an All-Star. What trials and tribulations has Joe had to endure to get to this point? Here are 12 highs and lows you may not know, about the All-Star Diamondback.

1) Over his past 34 outings he has not issued a walk (that string was broken Monday night). That is now the number to beat for a lefty pitcher eclipsing the previous record of 30 outings held by Sean Doolittle.

2) He has had a total of 35 outings this season, he has been unscored upon in 32 of those 35 outings.

3) The first person that Mantiply told he was an All-Star was his wife, Ella. "It was awesome," Mantiply said. "She teared up a little bit. She's been there every step of the way, every step through my pro career. She has been right by my side pushing me, so this means as much to her as it does to me."

4) In this day and age of velocity and spin rate, Mantiply's average velocity is 90.5 MPH which is in the lower 40's when compared to other current relievers, and his spin rate is only 2072 RPM which is also low, it ranks in the low 20's. Yet the average exit velocity from a Mantiply pitch is only 80MPH.

5) So far in the 2022 season according to rotowire.com Joe will mostly either strike out opposing hitters (25.8%) or get them to ground out (56.5%).

6) If Joe Mantiply comes into the game with inherited runners on base, he leaves them there because his LOB% (left on base) is 86.1%.

7) Like seemingly a lot of pitchers today Joe Mantiply had Tommy John Surgery on March 9th, 2018 and missed the entire 2018 season.

8)  Joe has been a part of 4 different teams; Yankees (twice), Tigers, Reds, and Diamondbacks.

9) Mantiply has been released, DFA'd, placed on waivers, traded, and signed 5 different minor league contracts in his 6-year career. 

10) As a unique bonus, all be it a small sample size, Mantiply keeps base runners honest. The average pitcher has a league caught stealing percentage of 26%, yet Joe has a lgCS% of 63%.

11) Mantiply was actually drafted three different times by three different clubs. The Mets drafted him in the 48th round of the 2009 draft, he did not sign with the Mets. Then, in 2012 he was picked by the Phillies in the 28th round but did not sign with them either.

12) He finally did sign with a Major league club in the Tigers with their pick of him in the 27th round of the 2013 MLB draft, a round that doesn’t exist anymore. He’s the fourth — and possibly final — player ever signed out of the 27th round to make an All-Star team, joining fellow bullpen stalwarts Buzz Capra, Brendan Donnelly, and Ryan Cook.