Arizona Diamondbacks’ Zack Godley Shines in Debut
By Jason Burke
Zack Godley made his Major League debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night, and turned some heads–just ask Ryan Braun, who struck out swinging three times against Godley. The 25-year-old righty lasted six innings and allowed just four hits while striking out seven on 88 pitches (66 strikes), matching a team-high in strikeouts by a pitcher making their Major League debut. The pitcher he matched was none other than Max Scherzer. Yes, he was a Diamondback at one point in time.
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Godley was acquired by the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Chicago Cubs last December along with prospect Jeferson Mejia for former All-Star catcher Miguel Montero. Montero has played in 72 games for the Cubbies, and is batting .230 with ten home runs and 32 driven in.
What is strange about this call-up is that Godley has played most of this season in High-A ball with the Visalia Rawhide, making 14 appearances (12 starts) and totaling a 2.27 ERA over 75 1/3 innings. He made his first start in Double-A on July 1, and three weeks later he made his Major League debut with Arizona. Obviously GM Dave Stewart knew what he was doing when he acquired Godley, and again when he promoted the 2013 10th round draft pick.
In three starts for the Mobile BayBears, Godley totaled 14 innings pitched, allowing 13 hits and six walks while striking out eight.
With the Arizona Diamondbacks sitting on a 44-50 record, seven games out of the second NL wild card spot, there is plenty of ground to make up before the DBacks can get a sniff of the playoffs. Yet, with San Diego likely to start unloading and already holding an 8-4 record against Colorado, the team could potentially pick up some wins along the way while the Cubs and Pirates beat up on each other. The team isn’t built to win just yet by any means, but after finishing 30 games out of first last season, their improvement should not go unnoticed.
The Diamondbacks have scored the most runs in the National League, but their starting pitching ranks 27th in baseball with a 4.62 ERA. Their bullpen has been average, ranking 14th with a 3.43 ERA, just behind San Francisco’s 3.42. If the Diamondbacks can continue to find diamonds in the rough like Godley, their future will be as bright as the Arizona sun.