Who’s hot and who’s not?
Monday night saw another win for the good guys as Arizona defeated the Miami Marlins 5-2. Zac Gallen pitched 7 masterful innings, Christian Walker flexed his red-hot bat, and Gabriel Moreno did a little bit of everything.
The Diamondbacks are right back at it tonight as rookie Brandon Pfaadt will make his second career start. There are high hopes for this kid, as many believe he and Gallen could be a scary 1-2 punch in the rotation for years to come.
Arizona has been playing some impressive baseball as of late (to say the least). They are 7-3 in their last 10 games, and over the past 15 days, their offense is first in the league in OPS, and 5th in HRs.
Here is who has been hot for the red-hot Diamondbacks and who has failed to catch the contagious fire…
Diamondbacks players that are hot 🔥
You remember when Christian Walker got off to a slow start in the first couple of weeks of the season and everyone started panicking? I think Walker took that personally.
Over his last 11 games, Walker has racked up 18 hits, 6 home runs, and 14 RBIs. Over this span, he got on base almost 40% of the time and he had an OPS of 1.188.
Arizona has only played 6 games in May, and Walker has already hit 5 home runs. This man is cooking.
No walks, only nukes.
— MLB (@MLB) May 9, 2023
Christian Walker blasts this one 459 ft. 😤 pic.twitter.com/rSMFMSjsK0
Maybe it is too early to say this, but I think the Diamondbacks won the Varsho trade. Both Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. have been crucial for the success of this Arizona ball club. Gurriel Jr. is especially on a heater right now.
Over his last 10 games, Lourdes is 14-31 (.452) with 4 HRs and 8 RBIs. In that span, he got on base 55% of the time. That is absolutely unreal.
If the combo of Walker and “Pinapower” can continue this success, this Arizona offense will be top 5 in runs before you can say, Jack Robinson.
Diamondbacks players that are not hot 🥶
It has been a rough year for Ryne Nelson. After an impressive 2022 stint, Nelson has struggled to find his footing as a reliable starter in the rotation.
In his last 3 starts, Nelson is 0-2 giving up 27 hits, and 12 earned runs in 14 innings pitched. For Nelson, it is his 4-seam fastball that is truly hurting him. The opposition is batting .388 against his heater.
Due to the lack of movement, hitters are seeing Nelson’s fastball well and since it is not overpowering (averages 94.2 MPH), they are smacking it all over the ballpark.
Another Diamondback that is going through some dark days is veteran SS Nick Ahmed. In Ahmed’s last 7 games, he is 1-19 (.053) with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts.
Overall on the season, Ahmed is only getting on base 24% of the time and he has only walked 1 time in 67 plate appearances. Sometimes it is ideal to be aggressive as a hitter, but for Ahmed, a more patient approach might be his answer to rediscovering success at the plate.