2023 Diamondbacks: The duds of spring training

Ah yes, spring training is winding down, and the regular season is quickly approaching.  Anybody else having a hard time waiting for opening day against Kershaw and the Dodgers?  Before we get to the regular season, however, the Diamondbacks have 6 more days of ST.  Here are the players who are hoping that their bad baseball slumps are happening now before the games actually count…

RF Jake McCarthy

I think everyone has high hopes for Jake’s 2023 season, Jake included.  But spring training has brought out the worst in McCarthy this year.  In 29 at-bats, Jake is slashing .172/.294/.172 for a whopping OPS of .466.  He has also struck out 4 times in 10 games.  Hopefully, all his jitters in the box get out before March 30th, because if Jake continues to struggle, Kyle Lewis might be earning some more playing time…

SP Zac Gallen

This one is a little surprising.  Pitchers that dominate in the regular season tend to really dominate in spring training.  But we could look at this from another perspective.  Maybe Gallen is working on some things; seeing what pitches work where and what pitches don’t work at all.  We will go with that to make ourselves feel better; we don’t need our star ace going cold on us.  This spring, Gallen has pitched 10.2 innings and he has given up 14 hits, 10 earned runs (8.44 ERA), and 9 walks.

C Jose Herrera

Unless the D-backs sign a free agent like slugger Gary Sanchez or call someone up from the minors like Dominic Miroglio, they are stuck with Jose Herrera as their backup catcher because of Carson Kelly’s injury.  I usually try to be nice to every player, but Jose Herrera is really bad at hitting big-league pitching.  Last regular season he recorded an OPS of .457 in 111 at-bats and in 26 at-bats this spring, he has recorded an OPS of .145.  He does an okay job behind the plate, but I feel like he is not ready to be an MLB catcher yet.  Jose, if you are reading this, I hope you make me look stupid for writing this…