Team to pick spots for LeMahieu shift
Manager Torey Lovullo said the Diamondbacks won’t be employing the same extreme shift against the Rockies’ D.J. LeMahieu on Saturday night, at least not with lefty Patrick Corbin on the mound.
“Against left-handed pitching, the habits and trends aren’t showing the same things they were last night,” Lovullo said. “It’ll be a case-by-case situation.”
On Friday night, the Diamondbacks had left field entirely empty against LeMahieu, an extreme opposite-field hitter against right-handed pitching. Lovullo said it was possible the club goes back to that kind of alignment on Sunday afternoon with right-hander Zack Godley on the mound.
If they do, one thing will change: Instead of having left fielder David Peralta and center fielder A.J. Pollock each shift toward right field, Pollock will likely remain where he is and Peralta will move to right center with right fielder J.D. Martinez scooting toward the line.
“(We’ll have) two natural right fielders and (in center) your best fielder by speed and range is going to cover the most ground,” Lovullo said. “We think about it as much we can, and we probably didn’t think about it probably as thoroughly as we (did) after the game last night.”
Butcher wants Chafin to get aggressive
Andrew Chafin is one of a handful of Diamondbacks relievers whose results haven’t been good in recent weeks, but pitching coach Mike Butcher thinks it’s less about fatigue than it is approach with the left-hander.
“It’s just getting back to the zone with quality pitches instead of trying to be so fine,” Butcher said. “It really comes down to working ahead more often and controlling counts more often.”
To that end, Butcher thought Chafin’s outing on Friday night was a step in the right direction. Though Chafin allowed a pair of hits and let all three inherited runners to score, Butcher thought Chafin was more aggressive in going after hitters.
“That’s the way he needs to attack,” Butcher said. “And he needs to do that when it’s nobody on instead of creating a mess walking guys. If you’re going to create a mess make them put the ball in play.”
Chafin allowed seven runs in eight innings in August, and opponents are hitting .343 with a 1.003 OPS (on-baseplus slugging) against since the middle of July.
Chafin has a history of wearing down during seasons, though it’s possible that could be explained by the way he was used. Butcher, though, doesn’t think that’s an issue this season. He pointed to the fact that Chafin has been throwing fewer warm-up tosses in the bullpen before entering the game and noted that all of the clubs relievers cut back on their throwing last month.
“You’re getting loose and preparing yourself the same way, but as far as the effort they’re putting into their throwing programs, we’ve backed off the effort and the amount of throwing,” Butcher said. “It’s saving a little bit to get through August and hopefully rebounding through September.”