Batter's Box Interactive Magazine: Toronto at Arizona, July 12-14

A gardener told me some plants move
But I could not believe it
Til me and Hannah Hunt saw
Crawling vines and weeping willows
As we made our way from Providence to Phoenix

The Blue Jays pay a call on the defending National League champs, and catch up with a few old friends as we head into the All-Star Break.

The 2023 D'Backs staggered and stumbled their way into the post-season. On the 1st of July they were sitting pretty as you please, with a 50-34 record and a 3 game lead on the rest of the NL West. It was mostly downhill from there - they went 34-44 the rest of the way and very nearly coughed up the final NL playoff berth to the Cubs. But once in, they got hot, dispatching a pair of first place teams (the Brewers and the Dodgers) without a defeat and then rallying from a 3 games to 2 deficit to prevail over the Phillies. This landed them in the World Series for the first time since their memorable clash with the Yankees back in 2001.

This season they've been neither as good as they looked in the first half of 2023, nor as bad as they looked in the second half. Corbin Carroll, last year's Rookie of the Year, has spent the 2024 season demonstrating that the Sophomore Jinx may actually exist - Carroll batted .285 and slugged .506 a year ago; this season those figures are .209 and .317. Fortunately for the Snakes, Joc Pederson, the Wandering Slugger (on his fourth team in four years) has picked up much of the slack, and our old chum Randal Grichuk has chipped in while being used almost exclusively against LH pitching. The offense is still being carried for the most part by the right side of the infield, first baseman Christian Walker and All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte.

Jordan Montgomery didn't sign until the end of March, and he didn't make an appearance until three weeks into the season. He's had several gruesome starts, which have much to do with the unsightly 6.44 ERA, but he's generally been just fine - the team is 8-5 when he takes the mound. He's out with a knee injury at the moment, but is throwing off the mound and should be back for the second half. Zac Gallen is the ace, and he's having another fine season.

The Jays swept a three game set with the D'Backs at the Dome, coming out of last year's All-Star Break. This will be their first visit to Chase Field since July 2016. The Jays won both games on that occasion, and have gone 7-4 all time in the desert.

Toronto at Arizona, July 12-14

Friday, July 12 2024 @ 04:45 PM EDT