Tuesday, July 07

Welcome to the D-backs Beat newsletter! I’m Steve Gilbert and I’ve been writing about the D-backs since 1998. Let's get started …

As July gets underway, let's take a look back at the month of June and hand out the monthly awards for the Diamondbacks: 

Most Valuable Player: Ketel Marte 

Catcher Gabriel Moreno was a serious consideration for this one after slashing .308/.427/.474, an outstanding month to be sure, but in the end, it was hard to not give it to Marte. 

Marte appeared in 26 out of 27 games in the month of June and won a couple of games for the D-backs with late-inning hits, along with eight homers, including finishing up the month by homering in four straight games. 

We'll get to some of his heroics later when we talk about the best win of the month. 

Starting pitcher: Eduardo Rodriguez 

Rodriguez continues to put together an outstanding season, compiling a 2.02 ERA over the month with a 1.12 WHIP in six starts. 

Rodriguez was rewarded for his performance this past weekend when he was named to his first All-Star Game in his 11th big league season. 

"I didn't realize it was his first one, honestly," fellow starter Merrill Kelly said. "You know, he's been doing it for a while, he's obviously won a World Series. I figured in my mind, I just thought he had already gotten one, but it's pretty cool to see after how the last couple years have gone for him, for him to do what he's doing this year and then get his first All-Star nod." 

Relief pitcher: Taylor Clarke 

Clarke continues to put together an outstanding season in the bullpen after his signing this past offseason got little to no attention. 

Clarke appeared in 11 games in June with a 1.05 WHIP and a 2.92 ERA. 

Best win: June 4 vs. Dodgers 

The Diamondbacks were on the verge of losing a four-game series to the Dodgers, trailing 2-0 through seven innings. 

After tying the game in the eighth, the Diamondbacks ended it in walk-off fashion in the ninth when, with one out, Marte hit a home run off Tanner Scott. 

"Ketel Marte is an amazing baseball player, and the best players do the best things at the most critical times, and he basically stepped up there and won us a baseball game, and it was a great moment for him, a great moment for this team," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. 

I thought it was amazing that Marte had never had a walk-off homer before hitting one on May 19, and he now has two of them. 

Worst loss: June 20 vs. Twins 

The 16-8 final score of this game doesn't do justice for just how badly the Diamondbacks played. 

After winning the opening game of the series with the Twins, the Diamondbacks laid an egg in this one as the Twins jumped out to a 16-0 lead, thanks in part to a 10-run fifth inning. Yilber Díaz gave up seven runs in two-thirds of an inning and was designated for assignment after the game. 

"That was a rough day," Lovullo said after the game. "There isn't much positive to say other than we need to be better. We need to pitch better, we need to prep better, we need to coach better, I need to manage better. We just got to do it all the way around. You cannot give up 16 runs, you cannot put yourself in that position." 

After Saturday night's game with the Brewers, the Diamondbacks optioned infielder LuJames Groover to Triple-A Reno and recalled infielder/outfielder Tim Tawa from Reno. 

Tawa has been tearing it up at Reno this year, with a slash line of .320/.409/.733 in 88 plate appearances. Tawa hasn't gotten consistent playing time in his stints with the Diamondbacks so far this year, and he has struggled to find consistency at the plate as a result. 

When he was recalled, he had a .172/.270/.266 slash line, and Lovullo made it sound like he was going to try and get him more consistent playing time to see if that could get him on a roll. 

You can always count on Lovullo to use interesting phrases when explaining things, and that's just what he did when talking about how he is going to decide on playing time at some positions for the near future. 

"It's going to be 'King of the Court,'" Lovullo said. 

That refers to one-on-one basketball where if a player scores, he stays on the court and a new player tries to defend him and he doesn't come out until he misses. 

Translating that to baseball, Lovullo means that if a player gets a couple hits or plays well at a position where the team doesn't have a solid starter -- think first base, DH, left and center field -- then he'll stay out there for the next one. 

"I'm just going to go 'King of the Court,' you know?" Lovullo said Friday. "If you have a good day, you're in there the next day, and I've explained that to the group, and I've said it out loud to you guys, and it makes sense for me. We got to find people that are going to go out there and get the job done, that's what it's about." 

To subscribe to D-backs Beat, visit this page and mark "D-backs Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the D-backs or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.