Pitcher Godley a godsend for Diamondbacks’ starting rotation
The Valley defies convention. We’ve cornered the market on great athletes who wore No. 13, snubbing athletic superstition. We have sports bars notorious for not televising Arizona teams. We’ve cornered the market on impact players with rare initials.
Zane Gonzalez set an NCAA record for made field goals at Arizona State. Zack Greinke is a candidate for the Cy Young Award. And Zack Godley has become the unsung hero for the 2017 Diamondbacks, a team that refuses to fold in the face of adversity.
“I’m just throwing the baseball and trying to get guys out,” Godley said. “Whatever happens outside of that is beyond my control. I just put my faith in God and have him guide me where I need to be. But I’m glad he put me on this road. It’s been a fun ride.”
Godley has been more like a godsend for the Diamondbacks. In Wednesday’s win over the Cubs, he derailed a team that was beginning to resemble the juggernaut of 2016, muting an offense that scored 16 runs the previous night.
It was proof that momentum in baseball is only as good as your starting pitcher, and Godley’s performance may be one of those standout moments inside a 162-game marathon, changing the tone of a pivotal road trip.
Watch him pitch, and you’re seduced by the raw competitiveness. He attacks and shows no fear. He brings a football mentality to the mound, spawned from a decorated high school career at middle linebacker.
He sprints to the dugout after every completed inning.
“I reckon that’s become my thing,” Godley said.
Consider this one of Dave Stewart’s shining moments. The former general manager has become something of a punch line for his out-of-the-loop performance in Arizona, exacerbated by the stellar work of his successor, Mike Hazen. But he is not an idiot, and just like Kevin Towers, he bore too much wrath for our collective frustrations.
Stewart was also a starting pitcher who defined swagger, retiring batters with attitude and menace. As long as it’s real, that stuff can go a long way in baseball.
Godley fits that mold. He was considered nothing but a throw-in when Stewart traded away catcher Miguel Montero to the Cubs. The primary acquisition, Jeferson Mejia, was just traded for stop-gap shortstop Adam Rosales.
Godley started pitching as a junior in high school. He was a 50th round pick out of Tennessee, the 1,514th selection overall. And then he threw six scoreless innings in his major-league debut.
Godley’s steady performance isn’t a fluke or an ambush. He is a growing favorite among the deep-dive analytics crowd. His “cutter” - a fastball with late break, the pitch that made Mariano Rivera famous – ranks among the best in baseball. Same goes with his curveball. His combination of weak groundballs and strikeouts place him in rare territory. His advanced data is staggering, and he’s suddenly surfing with the best pitchers in MLB. Too good to be true? “It’s just location and consistency,” Godley said. “This whole thing has been a work in progress, starting late, learning how to throw the ball off a mound, being a reliever, being a starter again, and really getting a feel for all the quadrants of the strike zone.”
Godley doesn’t seem overwhelmed by his success. Same with the magnitude of pitching for a playoff contender. As a prep star in South Carolina, he learned how to “flip the switch,” finding the intensity to play middle linebacker in the Deep South. He’s clearly comfortable in battle.
“I was one of the smaller guys who played in high school,” Godley said. “But I loved football. It’s kind of like pitching, where I had control of the defense. And I loved hitting people.”
Every successful baseball team has its unforeseen contributors, and Godley is the guy in Arizona. He turned around an ominous series in Chicago and is becoming something much bigger than an August night at Wrigley Field. Maybe even a No. 2 starter on a championship team.