This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert’s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
The Diamondbacks are 20 games into their season, so I thought it would be a good time to catch up with GM Mike Hazen:
Q: How do you evaluate how these first 20 games have gone?
Hazen: I think we're playing good baseball. We're obviously forcing guys into positions I probably wouldn't have drawn up to force them into. But they've done a really good job of executing in the moments that we've needed them to. I think we've played pretty well defensively. I think the starting pitching has been really good. I think the bullpen's been solid. I think we've had a couple of blow-up innings that make the bullpen's aggregate numbers look worse than what has actually transpired. We need to continue to push getting on base at a much higher clip. I think our walk percentage is very low. I don't think [success is] sustainable if we don't improve that. I know it's a focus. It's a daily focus and conversation, and these guys have some control over that.
[We're] not asking to get more hits, not asking them to hit home runs, just doing a better job of dominating the strike zone. I think that's sort of my general assessment: Very proud of how they've played, and the record that we're sitting at right now, especially coming off of the three-game sweep to start the season. Having won every series since then is something to be proud of, but we need to continue to improve to keep this sustainable.
Q: Why do you think the chase rate is so high?
Hazen: I don't know. I think we have a lot of young players forced into [playing time]. Jose Fernandez is hitting fourth. We didn't have Jose Fernandez playing on the team [out of Spring Training]. We certainly didn't have Jose Fernandez hitting cleanup. That's going to lead to higher chase. I think Jordan Lawlar's development is very telling and the path of how you get to a certain place. If you took Jordan's first 50 at-bats in the big leagues and the chase and the strikeouts, and then in time with experience and with reps, he clearly cleaned a lot of that up just through experience and comfort and settling into his role.
Q: Geraldo Perdomo is off to a slow start at the plate [.194/.307/.274 entering Friday]. Why do you think that is? It looks like he still has a good approach at the plate.
Hazen: He's having a great approach. It seems like he's gone through hitting the ball on the ground a lot to popping the ball up a little bit. I'm sure he's working through some mechanical stuff. Look, I think it was unreasonable for him to just pick up where he left off last year. He was on a hot streak for four months and played out of his mind and was one of the best players in the game. And you know, now he's got to get started back up again. So, is he pressing? You'd have to ask him. I don't know. He never seems like he is. He's always the same person every day I see him, always ultra-energetic and confident so I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
Q: Seems like Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will be back soon, which is way ahead of the schedule it seemed he would be on when he first got injured. How did he do that?
Hazen: I don't know. I know he was very motivated. I know he went to Miami and worked out with his rehab guy there, and every time I checked in during the offseason, they were like, 'He's doing great. He's reporting that he's way ahead of schedule, that he feels great.' And that was consistent from start to finish. So he pushed it hard, and he says he feels great. And he's pushed. He's wanted to push. I'm sure if we left it up to him, he would have been on the Opening Day roster.