One day after watching fellow rookie Christian Koss celebrate the accomplishment of a lifetime, Arizona youngster Jordan Lawlar would love to follow suit when the Diamondbacks conclude a three-game road series against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday afternoon.
It took 23 games but Koss smacked his first major league home run Tuesday night, a grand slam that gave the Giants the lead for good in a 10-6 victory.
The 27-year-old had just 11 hits to show for his first 55 big-league plate appearances and the Giants had fallen into an early 3-0 hole following four consecutive losses before Koss breathed some life back into San Francisco’s home park.
“Obviously the grand slam by Koss was a big lift for us,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, who later watched Willy Adames and Jung Hoo Lee belt round-trippers.
The result was more runs in one night (10) than the Giants managed during the four-game losing streak (nine) that they snapped on Tuesday.
“We got some home runs to make ourselves feel better about ourselves,” Melvin said.
The Diamondbacks countered with a pair of homers and six runs, but Lawlar wasn’t a part of any of it. The 22-year-old infielder grounded out, flied out, struck out and walked in his 2025 major league debut.
Lawlar remained one of the franchise’s top prospects despite posting a .129 average in 14 games in his first big-league experience in 2023. He didn’t play in the majors last year and was limited to 23 games in the minors due to injuries. This season, he hit .336 with six homers, 31 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 37 games for Triple-A Reno.
Big things are expected from the 2021 first-round pick despite his 4-for-31 initial impression in 2023 that didn’t include any extra-base hits.
“He’s a special, once-in-every-five-years type of player,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said of the Texan’s ceiling. “That’s what he potentially can do.”
Lawlar started the Tuesday game at shortstop and committed a throwing error on the second grounder hit his way. It didn’t cost Arizona any runs.
Lovullo said he expects Lawlar to move seamlessly between second base, shortstop and third base, playing three or four times a week.
If he gets into the Wednesday game, he will have an opportunity to impact a duel between two starting pitchers who have gone a combined 11 straight starts without a win.
Seeking a series win, the Diamondbacks will give the ball to Eduardo Rodriguez (1-3, 6.86 ERA). The left-hander has split his two career decisions against the Giants while compiling a 5.06 ERA.
The 32-year-old veteran is winless in his past four outings, going 0-1 with a 10.13 ERA.
Giants right-hander Jordan Hicks (1-4, 5.82 ERA) is in an even deeper rut, having gone winless in his past seven starts. Since winning his season debut, the 28-year-old is 0-4 with a 6.75 ERA.
Hicks has faced the Diamondbacks 11 times in his career, including three starts, without getting a decision while amassing a 3.60 ERA.
Arizona’s Corbin Carroll and Josh Naylor joined San Francisco’s Koss, Adames and Lee as home run hitters on Tuesday. Carroll has gone deep three times in the series.
Hicks has pitched carefully to the Diamondbacks’ star outfielder in the past, walking him on three of their seven career head-to-heads. Carroll has gone 1-for-4 in the other plate appearances.
Rodriguez has never faced Koss nor Lee, but he has dominated Adames to the tune of 0-for-10 with four strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
