Welp…..despite a spirited effort, the Rox came up just short last night with RMH in the house cheering for the Boyz in Purple.
Tonight we’ve got Tyler Anderson vs. Archie Bradley. Coming into this season, I felt like Bradley and Jon Gray were in similar places. Big talents, big arms, but only two pitches….and neither pitcher could command even the FB on a consistent basis. In other words……on the fast track to being relievers. Fast forward to near mid-season and Gray is throwing 4 pitches and showing flashes of real FB command. So he’s taken off a bit. Bradley has been a little slower to come around, but even he has been showing some glimpses of what all the hype was about when he was in HS. So this should be a good, fair matchup.
The Rox need for a starter or two to string together games where they go deep into the game so the BP gets a breather. Might as well be Anderson, right?
The DBacks are getting a great, under-the-radar season from 3Bman Jake Lamb. He’s legit.
Lots to keep an eye on as we approach the season mid-point. The Rox are continuing to get fantastic performances throughout the minor league system. Meanwhile, our old friend Cargo is heating up in concert with other contending teams incurring key OF losses or under-performances (Cleveland and Red Sox come to mind immediately). There’s been a trend in the last few years for some of the key non-waiver deadline trades to be made well in advance (as much as a month) of the actual deadline. With that in mind, we’re entering the “trade zone.”