Zac Gallen Throws a "No-Hitter." Stock Up, Stock Down Rotation

what are we discussing on today's locked on dimeback podcast Zack Allen throws a no hitter against a San Francisco Giants wink wink and how close is the dback star kettel Marte to returning to the [Music] team you are a locked on Diamondbacks your daily Arizona Diamondbacks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every [Music] day welcome into the locked on Dbacks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day you're listening to who the always charismatic host of this podcast Miller Thomas a multimedia journalist and a graphic designer so please go check out my website Miller Thomas 24. portfolio.com on there you can see all my latest work from my packages to my articles to my photos and my graphic design today's episode is brought to you by prize piics the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fancy Sports go to prize pick / lockon and use code all overc case locked on MLB to win $50 instantly when you play $5 you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus prize picks run your game on today's locked on Dbacks podcast we'll be talking about Zack gallon start against the San Francisco Giants we'll discuss keto Marte and how close he is to returning to the team and then a little stock up stock down for the Dbacks rotation as we get closer to the postseason thank you for making lock down dimeback your first listen every day I would not be able to do this podcast without you my loyal listeners sharing subscribing reviewing doing all that so I could do this podcast for you thank you it's free it's available on all platforms so please continue to tell your friends and one of those platforms is YouTube please hit subscribe to locked on Diamondbacks on YouTube all right let's get into the lock on D back's podcast we actually got some breaking news on this podcast as we're recording this pod the Giants actually just made a move the team that the Dbacks defeated tonight to win another series they just resigned their third baseman Matt Chapman to a massive deal Jeff passon just literally delivered the bomb as I hit record on this podcast six years 151 for Matt Chatman 25 million a year for 31-year-old uh third baseman uh interesting stuff by the Giants there I like Matt Chapman still a great defensive third baseman got some pop in his Bat but 25 a year for the next six years for Matt Chapman uh feels a little bit too expensive I don't mind that number maybe at a two-year price tag but we felt like Matt Chapman has been in the decline like the last two or three years and now we're going to reup him for 25 year for the next six years okay Giants uh you can go ahead and do that I I I'm happy happy looking elsewhere on the third base Market more like looking at the Yano Suarez Market which we'll talk about on this podcast in a little bit because he had himself a night but when talking about game two Dbacks vers Giants as they win six to four you have to start by talking about Zack G Zack gallon because he had his best start in a while we know Zack Allen has been struggling big time in the second half of the season season really since the second half of last year like it has not really looked like the same Zach Gallen and he's dealt with injuries this year like there's been so many different reasons and factors as to why he has struggled at different points this year the month of August 494 erra month of July 5.0 era so backto back bad month for Zack Allen but so far starting off the month of September strong against the Giants because he throws a fake no hitter six Innings no hits for Zack Allen eight strikeouts and this is the best start there we've seen from him in a while and there were still times where he looked shaky and not confident but we're now starting to see Zack Allen build a little momentum because against the Boston Red Sox which was his second to last start on August 24th six Innings two hits no earn runs nine strikeouts a very similar to what we saw today now his most recent start before today gave up five earned runs so in two of his last three starts he's given up two hits or less and no earned runs so he has been good more recently he's been better but there still hasn't been the overall level of consistency yet from Zack Allen but two of his last three starts have been really dominant the thing that isn't dominant though when you look at the two box scores four walks of p uh four walks a piece in each game and in today's game it really was that second inning for Zack Gallen where saw him struggling saw him struggling with that command that fast ball he couldn't find it he had two outs he he got two quick outs and then all of a sudden every bad who came up to the plate he ran it Up full count on them with the two outs on the board and then walked two guys I think at one point walk three straight guys and he was just struggling at that point to just find what pitch worked he was very relling on the curveball that situation but once he worked through those Troubles of the second inning ended that inning with a strikeout Zack was dominant after that because he cruised his way the rest of this game after the second inning one 1233d with a strikeout one two three fourth with three strikeouts the fifth one two3 as well with a strikeout and then the sixth started off with a very long bat to Mike strumsky 12 pitches walks then gets the one pitch double play right after that strikes out conforto to end the six and gallon has himself a fantastic start after looking like it might be a little bit of a struggle in that second inning with the command was this going to be another start that gets away from Zach Allen he bounces back in a big way figures it out and ends up having a dominant performance and maybe he figures something else he maybe figure something out from the start going forward because uh we need him to start building momentum need him to start getting better I'm hoping this could be the first sign of him starting to build that momentum aano Suarez he just continues to be insane since what July or whatever date we always talk about I I think it's July doing all these podcasts I'd be forgetting sometimes but a Yano just continues the hot streak he's been on the last couple months I mean think about where a Yano was not that long ago when he was we talked about it on the podcast yesterday when we were looking at Corbin Carroll's numbers those first 87 games at the same point when Carol was struggling those first 87 games and had that 72 WRC plus yo SZ had a 73 WRC plus and like a 203 average the first 87 games now you look at his average up to 243 after being on a tear the last couple months slug up to 456 OBP up to 313 and as we talked about yo Suarez is gonna end up with a statline that's like one of his best in the last few seasons like his Ops this year might be his second highest OPS since 2020 if you're counting a full season like his second highest OPS since 2019 which sounds crazy his home runs I mean he could get up to potentially 30 if he is anywhere near this rate for the rest of the season maybe the highest batting average currently the highest batting average since 2019 as well the strikeout rate I mean at this rate it might be like his lowest strikeout total since like 2018 maybe his second lowest strikeout total since 2018 at the very least like we're looking at like a top two three Yano Suarez season in like the last six or seven years like as bad as it start off their first 87 he's been so hot the last 50 that he's actually ending up he's actually going to end up having one of his best seasons of the last few years which is crazy to say out loud when you think about where he started love to see the speed and the chaos of the bases Corbin Carroll two bags I was so disappointed in the Dbacks when I kept seeing Shi Otani just take off whenever he wanted against the Dbacks I feel like we don't send courton Carrol enough I feel like by the end of this month he might have 40 St in bases because I think the Dbacks are going to get super aggressive on the base paths with him saw jig McCarthy get a steal and we saw the first steal of the season for paven Smith which brings me to my other point I I'll slow down on paven Smith um slander I guess is the word maybe to say I feel like all my slander to bav Smith is Justified but he continues to play well big monster home run today almost ripped another one down the line that was snagged he's been swinging the bat well this season season he's been fine it hasn't been an elite year but a 458 slugging from paven Smith you'll definitely take that no doubt about it uh so he's been fine and I'll slow down my slander on him Dbacks did squander a lot of opportunities tonight offensively three for 16 with runers a scoring position this should have been like a nine4 ball game again it's one of those ball games that make me say imagine if aano was batting cleanup and not batting seventh in the lineup please move him above Josh Bell in the lineup and then Justin Martinez back-to-back outings where he looks a little shaky gives up a couple earned runs ER now up to 243 for Justin Martinez and I know some people are calling for AJ Puck to be the closer I still feel like Martinez with his stuff is still the best option there but another bad outing or two and we can relitigate the conversation Dbacks one more game in this series against the Giants Merill Kelly on the mount tomorrow against Blake Snell that should be a good one regardless Dbacks have already won the series but it would feel really good after losing three out of four against the Dodgers to face another California team and get a big sweep before we face the Houston Astros this weekend now I want to talk about Ketel Marte and him potentially returning before this before the end of the road trip in segment number two but hey if you want to play daily fantasy sports then I suggest using prize picks because it is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over 5 million active members it is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fancy Sports unlike other apps on prize picks it's just you against the numbers all you do is pick more or less on two to six player stats projections and watch to the winnings roll in prize picks invented the flex play which means you can still cash out if your lineup isn't perfect you can double your money even if one of your picks doesn't hit isn't that fantastic download the prize picks app today use code lock on MLB and get $50 instantly when you play $5 that's code locked on MLB on prize picks to get $50 instantly when you play $5 you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus it's guaranteed prize picks run your game all right all right all right let's get back to the lock down Dbacks podcast let's talk about the potential return of Kel Marte because it sounds like he will be returning before the end of the road trip not too sure if that means by the end of San Fran which means one more game which I don't think will be possible that's not what that's not what the tea leaves and the bread Crums are saying it sounds more likely that he will be joining the Dbacks this upcoming trip against the Houston Astros a team that the Dbacks don't get to face too often so could be a nice opportunity for Kel morte to go against some pitchers that he doesn't see too often and maybe that's actually good for him challenge him a little bit his first games back going against guys he's not familiar with some people would say i' would rather him going against you know this San Francisco Giants team right with pictures that he's seen with a ball club that he's familiar with but as we've said with you know like Merill Kelly coming back off the injur list against to Phillies and looking great right away I think sometimes with these guys who are hyper competitive who's got that dog in him like the Kelly like the Kels I think it's actually better to put them in tougher situations more acrimonious situations because I think those guys really step up when the pressure is the greatest we saw Maro Kelly off the injured list immediately look good against the Phillies ketto Marte if he's fully healthy i' would rather him go against the Houston Astros a team that he does not face a lot give him a little bit tougher challenge so when he does go against those familiar teams like the Dodgers in October they can't fool him at all but when it comes to ketto Marte and his return the most important thing is make sure he's 100% healthy we don't need a repeat of just what happened with Ketel Marte when you said he was hurt but you're like you know what he's only hurt enough where you have to sit him down for a couple days he's not that hurt where he has to go on the injured list well you did that you played him after two days of rest and then he immediately got hurt again and now he's on the inur list and so let's not play around with Kel marte's Health he is the best Diamondback player he was having arguably the second best season prior to getting hurt it felt like ketto Marte was coming maybe for the MVP at least closing the Gap with SH Otani like the the tear he was on right before getting hurt he was insane post All-Star break second half of the Season you look at the numbers from Marte 325 average 1173 Ops in 24 games in the second half of the season 11 home runs like he was doing it all for the Dbacks and it felt like he was coming potentially for that MVP award but now he goes to the injured list he misses some time and guys like Francisco Lindor are passing MVP in the fan do odds I think that's crazy but for the Dbacks if they want to see the full MVP KET Marte he needs to be fully healthy you cannot mess with the health of Marte if the Dbacks are serious about the postseason the World Series you need your squad fully healthy need everyone clicking on all cylinders and you can't have a compromised Marte out there you can't have him 80% at the plate 80% in the field because that's going to compromise him and right now the Dbacks have the dudes to hold it down with Marte out because that's what they've demonstrated Marte is important Marte is an MVP candid but the Dbacks can at least hold it down offensively with him out and that's why they need to wait to make sure he's 100% healthy before bringing him back number one in run scored with Marte out Marte got hurt on August 10th you look at the dback stats since then they're still number one in the National League and run scored not a problem third in walk percentage third lowest strikeout percentage WRC plus number one home runs fifth like they don't even need to be top five in home or they don't even need to be number one in home runs but being top five is still good enough this dback team does it all with Marte out offensively they're just fine you look at the lineup you know who has the best WRC plus since Marte has got hurt Randall gritch he has been playing really good baseball recently Corbin Carroll 732 slugging since Marte got injured Randle gritch by the way 72 two slugging since marte's gone injured llo gel 166 WRC plus 550 slugging since marte's gone down jock Peterson his numbers actually aren't even that strong with Marte out but his OBP is actually 443 he's just been an on base monster with Marte out and you go up and down they have 10 guys with over a WRC plus of 100 since marte's been out and Josh Bell's right below that at 99 so the Dbacks have the dudes have the dep to hold it down with Marte out you look at Kevin Newman we talk about how he's been fine all year what he's particularly been good with Marte out entering today's game 372 average 400 OBP 419 slugging with Marte on their injured list since August 10th 131 WRC plus during that time the Dbacks have the organizational depth they've been able to do it at every position Walker goes down you trade for a Josh Bell even a guy like pav Smith this season hasn't swing the bat fine Gabriel Moreno you lose him for multiple weeks Adrien del Castillo defensively not the same but offensively has been able to step in and provide some instant offense for this Dbacks team K Marte so important to what Arizona wants to do now that you see guys like Corbin Carroll clicking right Jake McCarthy has really gone going over the second half of the Season yanel Suarez has gone going over the second half season you just got Walker back so gel's hopefully come back too with Moreno but then you add Marte in and you have all these ingredients of guys who are cooking this recipe is made for a World Series I believe in this offense the pitching is another question mark But the offense I definitely think is good enough to win the World Series but is the rotation good enough are the Dbacks pitchers good enough well we'll do a little game of stock up stock down on the Dbacks playoff rotation in segment number number three but hey if you like to go shopping but like to get money back on 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MLB that's iBot T iBot TTA in the Google Play or Apple App Store use code locked on MLB all right all right all right let's get back to the lock down Dbacks podcast and I want to play a little game that I might I'm going to try and remember to do this game every week but I want to do it basically after every turn through the rotation after every Ryan Nelson starts I want to do a little game of stock up stock down this way we can kind of see who's tracking as we get closer to the postseason and then you can also have a little bit of a confidence meting also have a little bit of a confidence meter for each pitcher as we enter the postseason you can figure out how you would want to build your playoff rotation and who should be on the outside looking in of course we got Five Guys of the mix because Monty's in the bullpen and we're not counting him and we're actually going to start with uh Ryan Nelson because he is now the backs number one starter his stock is up Ryan Nelson still probably has the toughest path to cracking the playoff rotation unless the Dbacks use them in the early rounds but once you get to like the championship series and the World Series where you use four guys in your rotation Ryan Nelson has been pitching like the best Dbacks pitcher but you just look at the investment the Dbacks having the other guys Zack Gallen is Zack Gallen Merill Kelly is Merill Kelly e is on the biggest contract and Brandon fought is one of the most tantalizing young pitchers in baseball who already proved himself on the postseason stage last year so Ryan Nelson has to just continue doing what he's doing because he's been fantastic since July there's nothing from in terms of how he's performing there's really nothing else he could do from a performance standpoint because he's done it all he's kicked out Jordan Montgomery from the rotation all Ryan Nelson could do now just continue to pitch well for the rest of the season and hope he gets rewarded with a rotation spot at the very least he's on the postseason roster he's going in the pen like Ryan Nelson has to be there uh for the Dbacks but will he be there just a reliever or will he be there as a starter because right now if you're asking me what I would do it sounds crazy but right now I have more faith in Ryan Nelson than any other dback starter he would be my number one starter in the postseason and if we're like in the championship series like I'm starting him game one and I'm making sure I could get two starts out of Ryan Nelson in the playoff format which sounds crazy but right now right now that's how I feel because Ryan Nelson has been way better than anyone else and I'm like U maybe Ryan Nelson should get two starts in a playoff setting Zack Allen after today's start his stock is definitely up like I said two of his last three starts no earn runs two hits or less including the no hitter tonight wink wink Zack Allen starting to look a little bit better his vo has been good this season that's been fine it's really been that command of the fastball you look at the numbers opposing hitters are destroying gallon fastball this season but it looks like that curveball is really his go-to weapon right now that's been nasty so as long as he could find some success with that fast ball rely on the curveball I'm praying Zack Allen could be fine by the time we get to the postseason Marl Kelly he he just doesn't have it right now he looks like he's still working back armed strength I mean the vo right now just not all the way there with his pitches and he seems to just really be laboring when he's out there that cutter which has been a pretty effective pitch for him in the past just really getting taken advantage of right now by posing hitters the slider two not his most effective pitch either Merill Kelly's a guy who I I think I has the biggest coonis of any guy in this Dbacks rotation like in a high pressurized playoff moment I feel like Merl Kelly is the guy I trust the most but right now you could make the argument that he looks the worst of any dback starter he just really laboring through these starts and part of the reason is he hasn't really pitched a ton this season right he's still coming back off the injured list after missing many months of baseball and so maybe the the arm strength is not fully there for Maro Kelly right now and that's okay we still got a few more weeks before the postseason starts but we need to see him start getting it together see him start building and stringing together positive starts because right now for Kelly the confidence as a fan is not there in him again prior to the season I would have secretly told you Kelly's the guy I trust the most out of this rotation in a big playoff moment but right now he he might be looking like the worst dback starter arguably in the rotation as of today but I still love Merl Kelly and I'm praying he can turn it around Brandon fought his stock is going sideways right now I won't say it's up or down I'll say it's sideways because you look at his numbers he's coming off a really bad August and like his most recent start is like the perfect kind of sideways start 5.2 Innings pitch so he pitched decently deep into the game gave up eight hits you don't like to see that a ton of contact three earn runs like that's fine that's all right not Elite but not bad but then 10 strikeouts like that's Elite so it's like a couple numbers look really good a couple the numbers like and then it's like oh that's not that's not don't want to see eight hits allowed so for Brandon fought that's I'm like stock is eh right now for him uh he has the opportunity to build off what he did and hopefully get better because it looks like he's hitting a little bit of a wall right now as we enter the late stage of the of the season because if you remember earlier Brandon fought was like Mr pitch deep into ball games like everything Brandon fought was doing six seven Innings every single start and now you look at his last few starts you'll be lucky if he finishes six Innings might be hitting a little bit of a wall right now so he's another guy I I don't feel as bad as Brandon f as I do with a Merl Kelly or you know even a Jordan Montgomery but the numbers tell you f you know just had an awful August but I I don't see him in the same light as I view the other guys he's been healthy all year for him it's more of a like the other guys need to build up arm strength for him it's more of arm fatigue and maybe he needs to build up an arm strength in a different way if he's dealing with arm fatigue but I don't feel like his stock is down and right now fought I probably feel like second or third best uh second or third best in terms of my confidence level in him for a postseason spot then how about Eduardo Rodriguez the last guy I want to talk about another guy who struggled in the month of August and has just been laboring through these starts recently he's a guy who just doesn't seem like he pitches deep enough into ball games he never really has a blowup start never has like the Jordan Montgomery give up six seven earned runs but he will have the three and two3 and give up three or four earn runs and throw 90 pitches with like 45 strikes or like throw 90 pitches with like 45 strikes right that is the rrod motto that was really disgusting what I just said there I just slurred my words altoe but rrod there are times where he just doesn't pitch deep into the ball game he's not given up a ton of earn runs but just a lot of pitches and not not a lot of strikes and he is another guy like all these dback starters needs to start building the momentum and needs to start string together positive starts because right now when I look at this playoff rotation in terms of the confidence I have in each guy Ryan Nelson's number one I'll put again between Zack G Brandon F I'll say it's a tossup Kelly I would actually have at number five with Rod at number four right now for the Dbacks rotation stock up stock down all these guys need to look better outside of Ryan Nelson we still got some time before the postseason but it it is not looking pretty for these dback starters thankfully there's still about three weeks left until the playoffs now that's it for this edition of the lockdown Dbacks podcast come back tomorrow for more Dbacks news coverage and insight and as always stay safe stay healthy doses