A bit of a changing of the guard this season for Arizona

"No Paul Goldschmidt. No A.J. Pollock. No Patrick Corbin. No Chris Owings. This winter has seen the departure of the four longest-tenured members of Arizona’s major-league roster. Goldschmidt played his first game for the Diamondbacks in 2011 http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-hand-jersey , with Pollock and Corbin both following suit one season later, and CO in 2013. With them gone, I thought it might be fun to look at the players still around, and see who has been on the major-league roster for longest - and also, who has been part of the organization for the greatest time overall. So, I took the current 40-man roster, together with a couple of non-roster invitees who have history in Arizona, and charted their time here. Turns out, the new “veteran” in terms of time on the D-backs roster is David Peralta. He’s one of four current players who made their debut in 2014, with the Freight Train first leaving the station on June 1 that year. Later that month, on the 29th, he was joined by Nick Ahmed. Jake Lamb showed up for the first time on August 7th, and Andrew Chafin got a cup of coffee when the rosters expanded, taking the mound on September 17th. Though among those four, Chafin had been with the organization for longest Wil Myers Jersey , having been drafted in June 2011. At that point, for example, Peralta was still trying to re-invent himself as an outfielder back at home in Venezuela!That same draft as Chafin also brought the team Archie Bradley. Both were first-round picks, but Archie went higher (#7 vs. #43), so I guess that gives him bragging rights over Andrew, by a couple of hours! However, there’s one man who has been with the team still longer than either, and is about to start his tenth season in the Diamondbacks organization. You might be surprised to learn that it’s Socrates Brito. He was signed as an amateur free-agent by Arizona on April 28, 2010, more than a year before Chafin or Bradley came on board. Brito played his first game for us, in the Dominican Summer League on July 30, coming in as a replacement DH in the fifth inning. The chart below shows the info for everyone. Boxes in yellow are seasons where they were entirely in the minors; in Sedona red means they appeared in the majors (not necessarily for the entire season). There’s one white box, representing Rubby De La Rosa’s recovery from Tommy John Surgery. For 2019, I’ve taken my “best guess” as to where the player concerned will be: red and yellow mean the same, but there’s also grey Rickey Henderson Jersey , indicating uncertainty. The first box for a player also shows how they came to the D-backs. Those abbreviations should largely be self-explanatory, except for IFA, which is short for “International Free Agent.” Have fun!Link to full version of chartDisclaimer. There’s probably an error in there somewhere. I just caught one before going to press, realizing Joey Krehbiel had NOT been with the team since 2011. Bonus points will be awarded to anyone who spots any others! ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay reached its high-water mark of 2018 by just putting the ball in play.A throwing error on Kevin Kiermaier’s bases-loaded grounder in the bottom of the ninth inning helped the Rays complete their first season sweep of an American League opponent with a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.“A win is a win,” Kiermaier said. “We’ll take it any way possible.”Tampa Bay swept the four-game series and finished 7-0 against the lowly Royals this year. The only other season sweep in team history that included multiple series was a four-game wipeout of the Marlins in 2013.Jake Bauers drew a leadoff walk from Brian Flynn (4-4) in the ninth and went to third on C.J. Cron’s single.After Joey Wendle grounded out and Willy Adames was intentionally walked to load the bases, Kiermaier grounded a 3-2 pitch to first baseman Ryan O’Hearn, who made a wild toss to the plate.“We always say, ‘Put the pressure on the defense,'” Kiermaier explained. “Anytime you put the ball in play, you at least give yourself a chance.”Sergio Romo (3-3) worked a perfect ninth and the Rays improved to a season-high six games over .500 (67-61) with their fifth consecutive victory. It is Tampa Bay’s sixth winning streak of at least five games this year.Kansas City, which has lost five in a row and 17 of 21, fell a franchise-record 52 games under .500 at 38-90 and was eliminated from the playoff race.“We wanted to salvage one at the end of the series,” Flynn said. “You don’t want to be the guy that comes in here and gives that one up.”The Rays tied it at 3 when Matt Duffy scored from second on bad throw to first by second baseman Whit Merrifield on a potential double-play grounder hit by Cron.Tampa Bay appeared to go up 4-3 later in the seventh on Kiermaier’s grounder, but the run was taken away after a replay review determined Adames made an illegal slide at second base. The call was changed to an inning-ending double play.“There were a lot of odd things that took place in that game http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-hand-jersey ,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.Alex Gordon had an RBI single in a two-run fifth against Tampa Bay starter Tyler Glasnow that put the Royals ahead 3-2.Adames hit a run-scoring infield single against Danny Duffy during a two-run third.Duffy, making his first start in 12 days due to a left shoulder injury, allowed two runs and six hits over five innings.“The last start I felt really bad,” Duffy said. “This start I felt really good.”Lucas Duda drove in a run with a first-inning single and had a potential two-run extra-base hit taken away with two outs in the third on a leaping catch by Rays right fielder Carlos Gomez.Glasnow allowed three runs, five hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out eight.TRAINER’S ROOMRoyals: INF Adalberto Mondesi (hamstring) was out of the lineup. … RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique) will throw a simulated game Friday. … OF Jorge Bonifacio (lower back stiffness) missed his third straight game.Rays: OF Tommy Pham (dislocated right ring finger) felt soreness hitting off a tee but could play this weekend.ROAD TRIPFormer Royals George Brett, Mike Sweeney, Bret Saberhagan and Reggie Sanders will visit U.S. troops at four locations in the Middle East next month as part of a USO trip. The group will watch a Sept. 11 telecast with members of the Missouri National Guard’s 35th Combat Aviation Brigade.NUMBERS GAMEMerrifield had three hits, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. … Rays LF Mallex Smith went 3 for 5 and has multiple hits in seven of his last eight games. … The Royals have been swept 15 times this season. . Tampa Bay has played 52 one-run games, most in the majors. The Rays are 24-28 in those games.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Brad Keller (6-5) will face Cleveland RHP Mike Clevinger (9-7) on Friday night.Rays: Will go with a bullpen day, including LHP Jalen Beeks (2-1), against Boston RHP Hector Velazquez (7-1) on Friday night.