Joc Pederson praises Diamondbacks’ grit After comeback win

In a postgame interview on the Diamondbacks TV broadcast, Pederson spoke about the team’s perseverance: “Yeah, it just shows what we have as a group, you know, just never give up and always scrapping, clawing our way to get runners on, to scoring runs, and it’s fun to be a part of.”

Pederson also discussed the Diamondbacks’ approach against rookie sensation Paul Skenes. The D-backs managed to force Skenes out of the game after just five innings, his shortest start since June 5th. Joc explained, “He’s a really good pitcher, power stuff, he was spotting up really well. But we made it work, took some strikes to balls and got into counts, and like you said, we didn’t hit him, but we got some runners on to get his pitch count up, and we were able to capitalize by getting into their bullpen.”

The Diamondbacks trailed 4-2 when Skenes exited and scored four runs off Pittsburgh’s bullpen in the final three innings.

Todd Walsh concluded the interview by asking Pederson if he could have imagined the Diamondbacks’ current success at the beginning of the season: “They were in the World Series last year, dealt with a lot of injuries, but the perseverance, the fight, shows how they got to where they were last year. We are looking to get some starting pitching back soon, and like I said, just getting that momentum going into the next series.”

On the topic of starting pitching, Eduardo Rodriguez, who has been out all year with a lat strain, is expected to start for the Diamondbacks during their series against Cleveland. Merrill Kelly, who has been out since mid-April, is expected to return around mid-August.

The Diamondbacks will continue their road trip against the best team in baseball, the Cleveland Guardians, starting on Monday at 3:40 PM. With the Braves losing on Sunday, the D-backs are just 0.5 games back from the top Wild Card spot in the National League.