PHOENIX -- When he watches Chris Herrmann at the plate, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo likes what he sees, minus the results.
Herrmann has struggled at the plate when looking at traditional numbers this year, particularly over the last month when he's had a .301 OPS. Overall, he came into Monday's game with a .167 batting average and a .609 OPS.
"I see him working counts, I see him getting his pitch, I see him having the type of at-bats that we want our guys to have," Lovullo said. "And despite the fact that the average is not what he wants, he's not changing or rushing to get the at-bat over with. Typically, what you see when guys are struggling offensively is they think they have to swing at the first thing that's around the zone. He's still hunting for a pitch that he wants, which has been very impressive."
Herrmann has seen an average of 4.35 pitches/plate appearance this year, most of any D-backs position player. He doesn't have enough at-bats to qualify for National League leaderboards, but if he did, he would rank tied for fifth.
Another metric that indicates Herrmann might be having better at-bats than his batting average suggests is his .176 batting average on balls in play. A mark of around .300 is what is expected on balls put in play, so if a hitter is abnormally below that it's an indication he might be hitting into bad luck.
"I have a lot of confidence in him right now," Lovullo said.
Descalso seeing time
It's been hard for the D-backs to take Daniel Descalso out of the lineup recently.
Sure, the injury to left fielder Yasmany Tomas opened up some playing time for the veteran, who was signed in the offseason to be a backup infielder and occasionally see time in the outfield, but Descalso's performance has continued to earn him opportunities.
He has started seven of the last eight games in left field, first base and second base.
"I guess kind of my job is go out there and let Torey plug me into different spots if guys need a day," Descalso said. "It's nice to be able to stay in the lineup and get those consistent at-bats. There hasn't really been any surprises this year. Torey's done a good job with those of us who don't play every day, letting us know that 'Hey, you're going to be in there, here's where you're going to play tomorrow.'"