Thoughts on the NL West Thrashing
by dstorm on Apr 28, 2008 5:14 PM EDT
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PrintThere is really no other way to put it.... what an unbelievable run to start the season. Here are a few thoughts on the surprises and areas of concern.
Pleasant Surprises:
1) Run differential - Legitimate concern coming into the season. Bats needed to come alive. And they have so far, with different players picking us up each night.
2) Justin Upton - Fantastic start to the season - showing maturity at the plate well beyond his years.
3) Micah Owings - Has stepped up so far this year as a solid #3. Yea, it's early, but after watching him during spring training....
4) Brandon Lyon - After a shaky start, I've been pleasantly surprised to see him settle down over the last few weeks. Pitching with much more confidence and getting some big saves.
Areas of Concern:
1) Chris Young - Leadoff hitting - More of a developing concern.... I'm very happy with strides he has made with walks compared to last year, but seems last few weeks he is slipping back into old habits. I would like our lead-off hitter to at least have one of the top 3 OBP's on the team.
2) Overall agreesiveness on basepath - Granted, this hasn't been as necessary due to run differential, but would like to see a few more stolen bases from some of our top runners.
3) The Chad Tracy Dilemna - Will be healthy soon, needs to have his left-handed bat re-introduced to the line-up. Can you do this without upsetting team chemistry or cooling off CoJack at first or IronMan at 3rd?
4) The Eric Byrnes Show - I haven't been comforted by the recent news on Byrnsie's hamstrings. I noticed something a miss when he was chasing down a ball in the corner the other night before he came out.... but I'm more worried by his attitude towards it - Yes, he wants to play every day, I admire that. But I'd rather have Eric take a week or more off, let the hammies heal, than trying to play through it where it could potentially cost us in the outfield.
So there you have it -- Any comments, or other surprises / concerns I'd be interested in hearing.
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I would classify
area of concern number two as pleasant surprise number five.
Even if Byrnes were healthy, I wouldn’t want to see him stealing with any regularity unless he was down in the sixth or seventh spot in the lineup. And just because they haven’t been stealing, doesn’t mean they haven’t been putting their speed to use stretching out doubles and taking the extra base.
I don’t know that I’d consider it a pleasant surprise, but I’m not too concerned over a lack of aggressiveness on the bases, either. Since they are getting hits and runs, I don’t feel too concerned that they’re not grabbing an extra base every time it’s available.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."
Yep
Like yesterday for example, Byrnes was HPB and didn’t try to steal and risk getting himself thrown out in front of Hudson, Jackson and Reynolds.
That's
a very good point.
"Juan Cruz has Freddy Krueger stuff. Welcome to Elm Street." -- Mark Grace
by DbacksSkins on Apr 29, 2008 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions
It seemed as if the D-backs
were a bit more aggressive on the bases in game 1 vs Houston—and it payed off – My whole issue with base-running is in certain situations, when a pitcher is hot, you need to take advantage of every base-runner you get.
Nice to see more aggression (hit and run) yesterday
Yeah
That’s why I was surprised we didn’t try and run more against Peavy.
Well, turns out it wasn’t necessary :)
Base-stealing aggressiveness is really a situational thing – you have to balance the benefit of gaining extra bases with the risk of losing runners. Sometimes the balance favours aggression (ie, playing against Maddux), and sometimes it doesn’t. On the whole – given the way the offence has been going so far – I think dialling down the aggression has been the prudent choice.
CYoung in the leadoff spot
I don’t want to move too fast but he just isn’t a leadoff hitter. I would rather see Byrnes or Drew hit leadoff with Young hitting around the 3-6 spot. He just doesn’t get on base enough and strikes out too much.
by DiamondbacksWIn on Apr 29, 2008 5:25 PM EDT reply actions
my ideal lineup
1. Stephen Drew
2. Justin Upton
3. Eric Byrnes
4. Conor Jackson
5. Chris Young
6. Mark Reynolds
7. Orlando Hudson
8. Chris Snyder
9. Babe Ruth I mean the Pitcher
Baseball season, when everything becomes right in the world.
by seton hall snake pit on Apr 29, 2008 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions
I like this lineup
simply because it’s got Babe Ruth
Max Scherzer is all out of bubblegum.
by DbacksSkins on May 1, 2008 1:45 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
How about O-Dawg at leadoff?
I never see him mentioned. Is his OBP bad? It has to be better than CYs.
by Craig from Az on May 1, 2008 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions
I think Byrnes should leadoff.
2. Hudson
3. Young
4. Jackson
5. Reynolds
6. Upton
7. Drew
8. Catcher
If Drew ever hits like he did in his rookie year, I would switch him and Hudson.
Brandon Webb, do I need to say more?
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