Jordan Lawlar, Deyvison De Los Santos Get First Taste of Chase
In the third game of a triple-header at Chase Field for the Arizona Fall League, Jordan Lawlar and Deyvison De Los Santos got their first opportunity to play in their future home ballpark. Lawlar got the start at shortstop, batting second, and De Los Santos at third base, batting seventh. Neither player got any real opportunities on defense.
Facing Quinn Priester for most of their at-bats, Lawlar went 1-3 with a double and a walk and De Los Santos went 0-3 with two strikeouts. That comes as no surprise, as Priester is the No. 47 overall prospect and third in the Pirates system according to MLB Pipeline.
Lawlar got carved up in his first at-bat with a bevy of sliders. After taking a called strike on the first pitch, he struck out chasing two sliders out of the zone. He was able to make the adjustment his second time up, laying off the slider down and away before getting one in the zone to hit. Lawlar hit a line drive into the left field corner for a two-run double to put Salt River up 4-0. Third time up, Lawlar got pushed off the plate with fastballs before whiffing on a slider that broke just below the zone. In his final trip to the plate, he drew a five-pitch walk.
De Los Santos had a rough night at the plate. With two runners on, he struck out on three pitches as he got frozen on a 96 MPH fastball on the inside black. Second time up he rolled over a slider and grounded out to shortstop. In his third at-bat he struck on three pitches once again.
Justin Martinez entered the game for Salt River in the sixth inning. After retiring the first batter, John Rave turned around a 98 MPH fastball for a home run in the pool area. Martinez came back to strike out the next hitter on four pitches, blowing a 99 MPH heater by Carlos De La Cruz. That's something worth noting, because that's what the organization is looking for when they go through Amarillo and Reno. After a two-out single by Will Wagner, Martinez dialed up his second strikeout of the inning by spotting a 100 MPH fastball at the top of the strike zone.
Martinez threw fastballs on 12 of 20 pitches and got six swings-and-misses in the inning. The pitch sat 98-100 MPH with an average spin rate of 2478 revolutions per minute. The combination of high velocity and spin rate on his fastballs contributed to four of his six whiffs, with the other two were from his slider that was 82-86. With the combination of stuff, the need to add swing-and-miss guys in the bullpen, and Martinez being eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this off-season, he may be a candidate to log a significant number of innings in the Diamonbacks bullpen next season.
Lefty Kyle Backhus came in for the save attempt in the 7th. After walking Jhailyn Ortiz to lead off the inning, he got two strikeouts and a foul fly ball to right field to close out the game. He threw 16 sinkers and three sliders, with the sinker about 87-92 and the slider 75-76 MPH. The hitters had a difficult time picking up his pitches, thanks to his low arm slot. Like Martinez, Backhus could be in competition for a bullpen spot next spring.
