Joe Mantiply: A “Workhorse” Lefty for the Diamondbacks
There is an old saying that goes, “You can’t have too much left-handed pitching.” This is especially true in relief, where lefty stoppers are at a premium. The Arizona Diamondbacks have two on their Opening Day roster. Only one is a returnee from 2021: Joe Mantiply. Mantiply, the 6’4”/219 lb. 31-year-old Virginian, is coming off his best season in 2021. For the first time in his career, he appeared in more than five games and pitched more than three innings. On the season, he pitched 39 2/3 innings across a team-high 57 appearances. In those, he had a 3.40 ERA, 82 ERA–, a 21.5% K rate, a 9.6% walk rate, seven shutdowns, and a 71.9% Scoreless Outing Percentage (ScOtg%). He also, however, had a 1.563 WHIP, a team-high 11 meltdowns, and a straight one-to-one Goose Egg-Broken Egg ratio (average is 3-to-1).
Consistency
Joe Mantiply certainly had his moments. Shutdowns keep track of how many times a reliever’s appearance increases his team’s Win Probability by 0.060 — 6% — or more. Mantiply had seven of those. Of the returnees, he was second to Noe Ramirez, who had 12. Meltdowns are the negative counterpart of shutdowns. They keep track of how many times a reliever’s appearance decreases his team’s Win Probability by 0.060 or more. Mantiply had a team-high 11 of those in 2021.
Mantiply said that the pitching coaches have worked with him on a few things to make his outings more consistent. “There are some things I could do with the placement of my fastball. We think that, up and in, I could probably utilize the glove side of the plate more to get a few more swings and misses at the top of the zone. So that’s been the main focus.”
The other aspect of getting more consistent outings is execution of his pitches. He said that his bad outings came down to “my misses being in spots where I can get hurt.” So the main goal in avoiding that is executing better and “missing barrels.”
Another part of becoming more consistent is mindset and a positive focus. “I liked the times I had success,” he said. “(I’m trying) to build on that and trying to do that more.” His instructions to himself are “try to hit on those outings and try not to get too up or too down with good ones or bad ones. Just move on to the next pitch and try to execute.”
Working with Brent Strom and with the Veterans
Joe Mantiply said that working with pitching coach Brent Strom “has been good. (Strom) definitely has a good mix of the Old School and the analytics, the new kind of stuff. He tries to really tailor it to what you do and not try to make you somebody you’re not. (His goal is to) take what the analytics say and try to help you improve on what you already do.”
Something the Diamondbacks lacked in 2021 was veterans who were consistently effective. In the offseason, they signed 2021 NL Saves leader Mark Melancon as well as setup man Ian Kennedy. Mantiply loves having veterans around. Something he especially likes is “being able to bounce things off of guys. Mark and Ian have ‘been there, done that.’ Whenever you have a question about what they’re thinking in certain situations, they’re definitely willing to give you their expertise. They seem like they’re gonna be really good additions.”
Respect for Joe Mantiply
Joe Mantiply has his teammates’ respect. For example, Luke Weaver said of him, “Big Old Joe, the slinging left-hander, has some juice in that arm. (He has a) nasty slider and heavy sink.” Weaver added, “He’s a workhorse. I feel like last year he was pitching almost every single day. And he’s not one to complain. He just wants the ball.”
Ramirez added, “He’s a great friend and a great teammate. But we saw last year how effective he can be. Nasty. He can pound the zone and goes after hitters. If he’s gonna get beat, it’s gonna be with his best stuff. He’s never tiptoeing around the strike zone; he’s always going right after hitters. I think that’s why he’s had success. He competes, throws strikes — he’s pretty much gonna let them hit it. It’s pretty cool to watch.”
Ramirez, like Weaver, noted Mantiply’s durability. “It seems like it throws almost every single day. I thought I threw a bunch last year. But you look at his appearances, he’s a workhorse. It’s always good to have that guy.”
Weaver summed Mantiply up as someone who can get a killer instinct when necessary. “When you get out there and watch him feed off some of his edge…. He’s a chill guy, but he’s one of those guys who, when he gets out there, an animal can come out a little bit. We love that. Because you need that in the big, big situations. He got some huge outs for us last year.”
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Players/coaches mentioned:
Joe Mantiply, Noe Ramirez, Brent Strom, Mark Melancon, Ian Kennedy, Luke Weaver
