Three Takeaways From Diamondbacks' Series Win vs Yankees

The Arizona Diamondbacks are fresh off a successful three-game set in the Bronx, taking down the New York Yankees twice in three opportunities, and winning their first regular-season series at Yankee Stadium in franchise history.

Though the series ended on a down note, falling just short of yet another thrilling comeback, the D-backs offered a glance at their offensive potential — and some of the plus pitching they hope to get out of their starters and bullpen.

Here are three takeaways from a series win over the defending AL Champions:

1: Never Count The Diamondbacks Out

It's commonly known that the Diamondbacks will often answer back, even to some of the more insurmountable-looking deficits. Facing a tough club in the Yankees, they showed that offensive prowess and clutch hitting once more.

In game one, a 4-2 deficit was erased by a big eighth inning, highlighted by Eugenio Suárez's fifth homer of the season — a grand slam to put Arizona on top 7-4.

Then, staring down a brutal 9-3 deficit, the D-backs put together another big inning, loading the bases with no outs in the seventh inning, Geraldo Perdomo launched a grand slam to right field to bring Arizona within two.

It ultimately wasn't to complete the comeback, but if not for a pair of poorly-played fly balls in the first inning, the score might have been tied.

But not to get too caught up in hypotheticals, the D-backs' offense looks to be just as potent, just as clutch and just as tough an out in the later innings as fans would have hoped — especially against one of MLB's elite clubs.

2: Closer Concerns

The Diamondbacks' bullpen has yet to surrender a blown hold or blown save — for the time being. Of course, to a certain extent, anything can happen in baseball, and coughing up those late leads isn't always necessarily a sign of a deficient bullpen.

But the D-backs had some trouble in both ninth-inning situations they were afforded. In game one, A.J. Puk surrendered a solo home run in a save situation. In game two, Ryan Thompson gave up back-to-back baserunners to open the inning, and Puk was forced to enter in a save situation.

Puk then gave up a three-run homer to right field, allowing the Yankees to pull within one. Granted, it was a Yankee Stadium homer, going over the right-field short porch, but Arizona's ninth innings have been anything but clean.

A defined closer could go a long way to ease the stress of save situations.

1: Zac is Back

Right-hander Zac Gallen has been under plenty of scrutiny in recent starts, and understandably so. His fastball command has suffered, and his overall results haven't looked as dominant as he's been known to deliver.

But on Wednesday, Gallen looked much like his elite 2022 self—perhaps even more so than that. He delivered 6.2 innings of shutout baseball, showcasing exceptional command and movement, and punching out 13 batters, including three of reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge.

His patented knuckle-curve looked sharp, both diving below the zone and dropping into the heart of the zone to steal strikes when commanded to. The pitch was good for 13 whiffs on 18 swings — that's a 72% whiff rate.

But it wasn't just the curve. Gallen's four-seam fastball crept close to 95 MPH at times and looked to be going where the righty wanted, for the most part. He threw 55% of his fastballs in the zone, with a much-improved +20 Induced Vertical Break.

On the whole, it was a career day. Gallen's 24 total whiffs were a career-high by four. His 13 strikeouts were the most by any D-backs pitcher facing New York, and the most by any pitcher at Yankee Stadium without allowing a single run.

If this is a sign of what's to come, Arizona and its fans will have a serious weapon alongside Corbin Burnes at the top of the rotation.

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