Dominic Fletcher plays the hero again in Diamondbacks' win over Giants
Dominic Fletcher stood on third base, pulled his arms together and flexed, staring towards his teammates celebrating in the dugout as he did so. With an extra-base hit, Fletcher had just blown a game open, giving the Diamondbacks a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
No, this was not a replay.
“It was Dom’s night,” Manager Torey Lovullo said, offering up a postgame decree that could have doubled as analysis from 24 hours earlier. On Friday, Fletcher had the best game of his burgeoning major league career, going 3 for 4 with a double, a homer and four RBI. So all he did Saturday was top it, tripling, homering and driving in five runs as the Diamondbacks beat the Giants, 7-2.
“He's in a great spot,” Lovullo said. “What else can you say? He carried us today.”
Saturday was one of the Diamondbacks’ most complete games of the year, featuring not just 7 2/3 strong innings from Zac Gallen, but also a slew of highlight reel defensive plays. Fletcher stood at the center of it all. In addition to his offensive contributions, he kept a perilous first inning in check, making a sprinting catch on the warning track.
MLB’s initial data pegged the play at a 40% catch probability. Knowing Fletcher was in right, centerfielder Alek Thomas was more confident. “I think for other people that's a tough play,” Thomas said. “That's him, he does that all the time.”
At the plate, meanwhile, Fletcher is now 8 for 12 with four extra base hits and 11 RBI to start this weekend’s four-game set. His slash line through 12 major league games: .462/.488/.744.
All of it has changed the calculus surrounding Fletcher. When he was called up, it seemed to be a temporary measure, providing the Diamondbacks with an outfield fill-in while Corbin Carroll nursed a short-term knee injury. Even temporary moves, though, provide an opening.
“I don't think anything is ever really temporary,” Lovullo said. “You come up here and you do your job to the level he's doing at, you've got an opportunity to open some eyes.”
Early on — before this torrid series boosted his start from impressive to inconceivable — Fletcher’s plate discipline stood out to Lovullo.
“Just his baseball IQ,” Lovullo said. “His ability to control the zone, understand how he's getting pitched. And he's not missing the pitch that he's looking for.”
Over the two weeks since Fletcher was promoted, that has proven critical.
During last weekend’s series against the Nationals, the Diamondbacks altered Thomas’ role. From now on, he will primarily start against right-handers and be out of the lineup against lefties. Typically, that would not provide an opportunity for a left-handed batter like Fletcher, but the Diamondbacks’ roster construction necessitates otherwise. Beyond Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and the sidelined (and defensively limited) Kyle Lewis, they don’t have any right-handed hitting outfielders to call on.
Enter Fletcher. Despite his handedness, Lovullo sees Fletcher as the type of player who can deal with left-handed pitching better than most.
“It's limited movements, limited upper body movements,” Lovullo said of Fletcher’s swing. “Head on the ball, eyes on the ball, hands in a good position to fire. And he can determine balls or strikes. For me, that's the art of hitting.”
In contrast, Thomas has spoken to a difficulty identifying pitches from lefties over the outer part of the plate, enabling them to pepper him with balls in that location.
For now, the Diamondbacks are riding the wave with Fletcher, starting him nearly every night. When he does eventually cool off, his versatility could help him maintain at-bats even as Gurriel, Thomas and Carroll figure to be the most common starting outfield against righties.
On Saturday, Fletcher’s gamebreaking triple showcased not just his ability to hit lefties, but also an aggressive approach that has paid off thus far. The hit came on a first-pitch sinker over the middle of the plate.
“I feel like that's just the kind of hitter I am,” Fletcher said. “I'm gonna be aggressive early on pitches in the zone and try to do damage.”
So far, that’s worked to his advantage. Entering Saturday, pitchers had attacked him over the heart of the plate on 33.1% of pitches, a 98th percentile rate.
But there’s been another key to Fletcher’s success: His work on pitches that miss the heart of the plate. While he’s hitting .350 on center-cut offerings, he’s a remarkable 10 for 17 (.588) on plate appearances that end on pitches either on the edge of the plate or off it entirely.
Fletcher’s second extra-base hit Saturday was an example of the latter. With a 1-2 count, the Giants’ Tristan Beck went with a slider down and in on Fletcher, trying to get a swing and miss. Fletcher admitted that he was anticipating a fastball but it didn’t matter. He kept his barrel on the pitch, smacking it out to right field.
“Just go out there and try to win every day,” Fletcher said. “If I can do something to help my team win, I'm happy.”
These days, he’s giving himself plenty to be happy about.
Diamondbacks’ Christian Walker baffled by Friday night ejection
Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker was against the dugout railing in the bottom of the sixth on Friday night when he loudly — and perhaps sarcastically — applauded for a check-swing call went in favor of the Diamondbacks.
Moments later, he was ejected by home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez.
An inning earlier, Walker was demonstrative when he got rung up for Strike 3 on a check swing of his own.
“I mean, I’m assuming my body language from the half-inning before had their attention on me,” Walker said. “I don’t know. They felt some kind of way about my actions. But there was no words said. I probably could have avoided it, but I also feel like I’ve got to stand up for myself.”
So he was thrown out merely for clapping?
“Yeah,” he said. “It was a clap at a no-swing check swing. Let’s be honest about it: It was an intentful clap, but I didn’t say anything. So I thought that was my way of not getting tossed. Yeah. I’m kind of speechless to be honest.”
Nick Piecoro contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dominic Fletcher plays the hero again in Diamondbacks' win over Giants
