D-backs OF Peter O’Brien does what he does best, smacks 3-run homer
Jun 12, 2016, 2:18 PM | Updated: 4:43 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks' Peter O'Brien (14) watches the flight of his three-run home run as Miami Marlins' J.T. Realmuto, left, looks on during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Diamondbacks skipper Chip Hale suggested Peter O’Brien’s struggles at the plate in his first start with the MLB club this year was a result of pressing. The Miami Gardens, Fla., native went 0-of-4 on Friday against his hometown Marlins.
Two days later, there were no indication O’Brien was trying to do too much. He was just doing it.
The D-backs held O’Brien out Saturday against Marlins ace Jose Fernandez but returned him to the fifth slot in the lineup Sunday, and it took just one at-bat for the prospect to make his signature mark.
O’Brien walloped a 92-mph fastball by left-hander Adam Conley just inside the left field foul pole for a three-run homer.
Peter O'Brien is a strong man. 💪https://t.co/jSgrLbqgsO
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 12, 2016
“It was nice to get the first one out of the way,” O’Brien told FOX Sports Arizona after the game.
The dinger came off the bat at 108 mph and traveled 424 feet, according to StatCast.
After O’Brien’s bomb, Arizona had put its first four-run first inning together since a Sept. 11, 2015, game against the Los Angeles Dodgers — O’Brien coincidentally made his major-league debut later in that game.
The hit was exactly what the doctor ordered for the D-backs after their shocking 5-3 victory against Fernandez a day prior and precisely what they were hoping to get out of O’Brien, the 25-year-old slugger who was acquired in Arizona’s trade that sent Martin Prado to the New York Yankees in 2014.
“You watch him, stand around BP, close your eyes, you know it’s him,” Hale said.
And it came following a disappointing 2016 debut Friday.
Twice against the Marlins, the power-hitting outfielder — who was turned to this week as Arizona searches for a pop in the middle of the lineup — left two men on base and struck out three times.
“Just probably trying to do a little too much,” Hale said Friday night. “They pitched him carefully. The breaking ball was one they used a lot. He’ll have to adjust to it.”
Looks like he did.
O’Brien’s home run was his second in the majors. In 2015, he went 4-of-10 with a home run, a double, three RBI and five strikeouts in eight games with the Diamondbacks.
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