Jordan Lawlar Homers in Arizona Fall League Debut
In this story:
The Salt River Rafters opened their schedule with an 11-6 loss to the Surprise Saguaros 11-6. Jordan Lawlar, Deyvison De Los Santos, and Jackson Goddard all appeared in the game. Lawlar and De Los Santos got the start at shortstop and first base respectively and Goddard had a relief appearance.
Diamondbacks in Fall League Today
Jordan Lawlar
In his first at-bat, Lawlar worked the count 2-1 before hitting a 102 MPH ground ball up the middle for a single. He stole second, despite stumbling on his first step, beating the throw with a head first slide.
Lawlar walked in his next two plate appearances. After the first walk he stole second on the next pitch, advancing to third on a throwing error by Henry Davis and scored on Jordan Walker's sacrifice fly. His next time up Lawlar fell behind 1-2 after chasing an off-speed pitch below the knees but then took the next three pitches for his second walk.
In his fourth plate appearance, Lawlar worked into a 2-0 count before turning on a 95 MPH fastball for a home run to left. The ball was hit 106 MPH and traveled 361 feet.
In his final at-bat Lawlar worked a full count before striking out on a slider down below the knees. In all five of his plate appearances, Lawlar was ahead in the count on the final pitch.
On his only fielding chance, Lawlar made a smooth pick on a ground ball hit 109 MPH. He made a clean transition and threw on the run to get the out.
Deyvison De Los Santos
De Los Santos struck out in his first two at-bats, both on sliders down and away. After taking a high fastball, De Los Santos swung at the next three pitches. The last two pitches were out of the zone. His second at-bat was a bit better, as he battled back from a 1-2 count to work it full before striking out.
In his third at-bat De Los Santos took some really big hacks against high velocity fastballs. He got a slider that strayed inside off the plate and hit a lazy fly to left field.
His defense at first base was pretty solid. He got off to a rough start when he overran a foul pop-up that got caught in the wind, blowing in from right field to left field, but made an athletic lunging catch. He also made a couple of heads up plays on the infield.
On the first one he fielded a grounder in the hole and the pitcher failed to cover first base. With a fast runner coming down the line De Los Santos sprinted towards first and dove head first to tag the base just ahead of the runner. He also made a nice throw later in the game to gun down a runner attempting to advance from second. While it wasn't a good day at the plate, he displayed his athleticism in the fied
Jackson Goddard
Goddard inherited two runners with two outs in the fourth. He struck out Samad Taylor on four pitches, including an ugly swing on a changeup away for the final strike. Goddard averaged 94 on both his 4-Seamer and Sinker.
In his second inning, Goddard issued a two out walk then gave up three consecutive extra base hits and hit a batter before getting pulled. The first was a ground rule double hit at 102 MPH to the right center gap, followed by a 102 MPH drive that hit high off the center field wall for a triple. The third was a soft liner down the right field line for a double. Two of those hits came on pitches out of the strike zone, so we'll need to see more to evaluate if he's hittable or if it was just the hitters having a good day.
Other Observations
Detroit OF Parker Meadows hit a 415 foot home run in the third inning. He is Austin Meadows' younger brother.
Blue Jays 2B Tanner Morris had a couple big errors in Surprise's three-run second inning. He made a nice diving stop on a hard-hit ground ball for the first out of the fourth.
Rockies OF Zac Veen had a hit and a stolen base. Veen has a really good feel to hit and could be a problem for the D-backs in the future.
Rangers 2B Trevor Hauver had an impressive day, which included two hits, a home run, and 4 RBI. Hauver was part of a four player return in the Joey Gallo deal in July 2021.
