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Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Ryan Thompson

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Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Ryan Thompson


This article is part of a series chronicling the individual seasons of players who appeared for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024.

Reviews for players who still have rookie eligibility for 2025 will appear in our prospect season reviews. Players are presented in the reverse order of their aWAR, an average of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs WAR.

2024 Contract status: Arbitration, $1,350,000

Ryan Thompson 2024 and career statistics

Ryan Thompson 2024 and career statistics / Alex D’Agostino | Diamondbacks On SI

When the Diamondbacks signed right-handed reliever Ryan Thompson to a minor league deal midway through the 2023 season, no one, except perhaps general manager Mike Hazen, had any idea of how impactful the move would be.

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Thompson brought consistent stability to Arizona’s bullpen, immediately stepping into a high-leverage role, with his devastating arsenal and confounding sidearm angle baffling opposing hitters and pitching to a stellar 0.69 ERA with the D-backs in the regular season.

When 2024 began, Thompson slotted back into his high-leverage role. And for the first several months, the righty was just as dominant as he had been the prior season. He allowed just three earned runs over his first 22 appearances, pitching to a 1.14 ERA through May.

He was quite effective in June as well, up until June 28, where he gave up three hits, a walk and a home run, leading to a three-run day against the Oakland A’s. He settled back in quickly enough, giving up just two runs in July, and giving up just a .143 average for the month.

Unfortunately, like many of the D-backs’ other arms, his effectiveness took a hit as the latter months began. And, as with much of Arizona’s pitching staff, once Paul Sewald began to stumble out of his closer’s role, the rest of the high-leverage arms lost their groove.

It was oddly definitive for Thompson when this began to break down, correlated directly with Sewald’s removal from the ninth inning.

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On July 31, Sewald had loaded the bases with a thin lead on the Washington Nationals. To avoid disaster, manager Torey Lovullo pulled his closer, and turned to Thompson to finish the job. It was a nail-biting finish, but the sidewinder sealed the win, and the sweep.

Two days later, Sewald was officially demoted, and Thompson’s struggles began to take hold. He allowed a run in his first three outings to begin August (including a blown save), and while the right-hander’s ERA was still an objectively excellent number at 2.30, it had more than doubled in just over a month.

He gave up just one unearned run over his next three outings, but on August 16, he suffered a blow to his confidence.

Facing the Tampa Bay Rays, in what was a sloppy series, filled with errors, the normally lockdown reliever gave up a walk and four hits. While a couple of them were cheap hits that could or should have been outs, Thompson only managed to record two outs, giving up three runs and giving up the lead.

He then delivered six more scoreless appearances, though they did look more labored. His pitch counts saw some spikes, and his command looked less sharp than it normally had been, with location mistakes on his slider and sinker frequently flying way outside the zone.

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After a two-run outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers to close down the month, Thompson’s August ERA was an unsightly 6.17. Unfortunately for both he and the D-backs, September would open with his worst outing of the season, as he gave up four runs on four hits and a walk in San Francisco.

His once-sparkling ERA ballooned to a still-respectable but closer to average 3.26 as the season closed, with September marking his second straight 6.00+ ERA month.

Now, the illustration of these late struggles aren’t to say his season should be looked at negatively. Thompson was, by all metrics, a very effective arm for the D-backs, and, in many cases, he was asked to carry a major part of the bullpen workload.

The sidewinder eclipsed his previous season-high innings by 23.2, pitching 66.1 innings over 67 appearances in 2024. His FIP was 3.30, suggesting he pitched about as well as his results showed, though, as a pitcher who thrived on weak contact, he was susceptible to plenty of cheap hits, and occasionally bitten by poor defense.

Both his slider and sinker, two of his primary soft-contact pitches, began to lose some of their movement. Fatigue appeared to be taking its toll on the righty, and some poor luck made it a bit of a difficult stretch.

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That said, the D-backs’ bullpen would certainly have been in worse shape without Thompson’s efforts. He may have struggled as the year progressed, but remains one of the most important members of Arizona’s relief corp, dating back to his contributions to 2023’s World Series run.

2025 Contract status: Arbitration, estimated $3,070,000 per Spotrac

The big right-hander is still arbitration eligible, and is estimated to earn $3,070,000 next season. There’s very little doubt he’ll return to the D-backs in 2025, and will likely retain his spot in higher-leverage situations, even if an addition is made.

Despite being 32 years old, Thompson won’t be a free agent until 2027. Barring injury or severe deterioration, Arizona will be happy to see the big sidewinder back on the mound at Chase Field next season.

With an off-season to recover, and hopefully a more permanent ninth-inning solution, it’s quite possible Thompson pitches closer to his 2023 and early-2024 self than his poorer recent months.

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Arizona

Non-partisan campaign encourages Latinos to vote in Arizona

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Non-partisan campaign encourages Latinos to vote in Arizona


PHOENIX (AZFamily)— Multiple organizations gathered Monday night in Downtown Phoenix to host a rally to encourage Arizona Latinos to vote.

It’s all part of a non-partisan campaign called Si Se Vota, Latino Loud.

“We often hear Latinos do not vote, and so we want to make sure we change that narrative,” said Alicia Nuñez, President and CEO of Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC). “We’re big on culture and we want to make sure that we create our environment and our culture to teach our children how important it is to vote.“

CPLC, The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Mi Familia Vota and UnidosUS were among the organizations that put on the rally.

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“We want everyone to vote, but we’re particularly paying attention to young Latino voters because we’re trying to change behavioral patterns of Latinos,” said Joseph Garcia, the Executive Director for Si Se Vota CPLC Action Fund.

One study found that Arizona has the fourth-largest Latino voter bloc, at 1.3 million, making up a quarter of the state’s electorate.

However, even though Latinos register to vote, they don’t always cast their ballot.

“Latinos have not voted in the numbers and percentages that they should,” said Garcia. “They may not have seen a parent vote and may not understand the importance of voting, so if voting is not spoken in your house, you don’t pick that up.”

The campaign, which began a couple of years ago, aims to change that pattern by reaching out to eligible voters, especially younger ones.

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“We’re not telling you how to vote. The important thing is that you learn about the issues, you see how they connect with your life, in your community and you vote,” said Garcia.

Janet Murguia, the President and CEO of UnidosUS, said she’s also hoping to encourage voters to participate in all city and state elections.

“We (UnidosUS) want to create a culture of being informed voters. We think, ultimately, that’s going to be the best way to have an impact in the future policies that impact our community,” Murguia said.

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Appeals court says Arizona should release list of voters with unverified citizenship

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Appeals court says Arizona should release list of voters with unverified citizenship


PHOENIX — The Arizona Court of Appeals on Monday affirmed a decision by a lower court that required the Secretary of State’s office to release a list of tens of thousands of voters who were mistakenly classified as having access to Arizona’s full ballot because of a coding glitch.

The court rejected an appeal by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ office that sought to reverse the lower court’s order or at least suspend it. A group had sued in an effort to verify whether those on the list are in fact eligible to cast full ballots.

Arizona is unique among states in that it requires voters to prove their citizenship to participate in local and state races. Those who haven’t but have sworn to it under the penalty of law are allowed to participate only in federal elections.

The misclassification of voters from federal-only to full-ballot voters was blamed on a glitch in state databases involving drivers’ licenses and the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division.

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Several tight races in the battleground state are expected to be decided by razor-thin margins. While the batch of about 218,000 potentially affected voters won’t impact the outcome of federal contests, they could influence tight state and local races.

Fontes’ office had initially denied a public records requests for the list of voters that was filed by America First Legal, a group run by Stephen Miller, a onetime adviser to former President Donald Trump. Fontes’ office cited concerns over the accuracy of the list and the safety of the voters included.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney ruled last week that the court received no credible evidence showing the information would be misused or encourage violence or harassment against the voters whose citizenship hasn’t been verified.

Blaney set a deadline of Monday for Fontes’ office to release a list of 98,000 voters and information Fontes relied on when announcing in early October that even more voters had been impacted — for a total of 218,000.



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Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Joe Mantiply

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Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Joe Mantiply


This article is part of a series chronicling the individual seasons of players who appeared for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024.

Reviews for players who still have rookie eligibility for 2025 will appear in our prospect season reviews. Players are presented in the reverse order of their aWAR, an average of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs WAR.

2024 Contract status: Arbitration, one year, $925,000.

Joe Mantiply 2024 and career statistics

Joe Mantiply 2024 and career statistics / Alex D’Agostino | Diamondbacks On SI

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ bullpen had its moments of greatness, along with its inconsistency. But left-hander Joe Mantiply put forward one of the more consistent seasons from a D-backs reliever. He might not have put out the flashiest numbers – as he rarely does – but the former All-Star served his role admirably, and as a whole, pitched better than the box score might show.

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As relief numbers can be volatile, Mantiply’s season began on a somewhat low note, giving up three hits and two runs against the Colorado Rockies. That set his ERA at a lofty 18.00 after just one appearance.

After that, he put out five scoreless showings, allowing just two hits in that span. He allowed a run in just three of his 14 April appearances, good for a 3.09 monthly ERA.

In May, he collected his first save of the season, and also made his first start of 2024, serving as a one-inning opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers, doing so in scoreless, hitless fashion..

A poor outing against the Tigers in a blowout loss on May 18 saw his ERA spike again, when he gave up three runs without recording an out. But he allowed just three hits and one run in his other 10 May appearances.

He maintained an effective middle relief pace, tending to surrender runs in the middle of months, but pitching well for the most part. He never allowed more than five earned runs in a month’s worth of action, and finished with a 3.92 ERA.

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But that number is bolstered by a stellar 2.51 FIP and 3.24 xERA, meaning he was often the victim of poor batted ball luck, and rarely gave up the long ball, with a sparkling 0.15 home runs per nine, with just one homer allowed in 59.2 innings.

Those 59.2 innings nearly matched his 2022 total (60.0), and the former All-Star pitched nearly as well as he did in his 2022 campaign, despite being the only effective left-hander in Arizona’s bullpen for the majority of the season until A.J. Puk was added at the Trade Deadline.

Mantiply had to face some of the game’s best hitters, and wasn’t limited to just left-handed batters. Of course, he found some success against MLB’s top superstar in Shohei Ohtani, limiting the Japanese sensation to just one hit and three strikeouts in nine plate appearances.

Mantiply’s ability to deliver against some of the best of the best, while pitching to an overall excellent season despite some occasionally poor results, made him a valuable asset to the D-backs’ relief corp, maintaining a consistent stability in the heart of close games.

2025 Contract status: Arbitration 2

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Mantiply will be arbitration-eligible again in 2025. While he is 34 years old, he’s only pitched significant innings in the majors in his last four seasons. He made $925,000 in his first year of arbitration in 2024, and will be a likely return for the D-backs in 2025.

Spotrac estimates Mantiply’s second year of arbitration will land him a deal worth $1,580,000 in 2025, and he won’t be a free agent until 2027.

With the steady, consistent nature of his play, and the premium that effective left-hand relievers are considered to be, it will be a surprise if Mantiply is not pitching significant innings for Arizona again for the 2025 season, barring injury or severe underperformance.



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