Though not officially announced until this morning, Keegan might have spotted the first inkling that something was up, last night.
It’s a bit of a surprise, though Mike Butcher has long been a designated scapegoat for Arizona fans. The 2016 season, his first as the D-backs’ pitching coach, was particularly harsh, as the team’s ERA increased by more than a run from the previous year, highlighted by the failure of Shelby Miller. While there were mitigating factors, his survival under new GM Mike Hazen came as something of a shock. There was a strong rebound by the pitching staff in 2017, their fWAR more than doubling from 10.