Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 6: Vict... Oops. Never mind...
by Jim McLennan on Mar 17, 2011 9:00 PM EDT
in Diamondbacks Game Reports
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PrintWe were probably too busy wallowing in our own misery to notice, but the Dodgers have also been having a pretty crappy spring. In fact, if we'd won this afternoon's contest against Los Angeles, we'd be only half a game behind them in the Cactus League standings. And this looked possible, as after seven frames, we were clinging to a 4-2 lead. Enter Rafael Rodriguez, who had clearly been taking lessons from the J.J. Putz school of pre-season preparation. He allowed four hits, two home runs and four runs before retiring a batter, condemning the Diamondbacks to their ninth defeat in a row.
Arizona's Cactus League record is 5-18. It's almost getting amusing now, but this one might be a bit terse.
A decent start for Aaron Heilman who pitched five innings today - the first AZ started to do so - allowing six hits, but no walks. The only real damage done against him was Matt Kemp's two-run shot with no outs in the fourth. Heilman struck out three and lowered his spring ERA to 4.76. David Hernandez and Carlos Rosa followed with scoreless innings, the latter striking out two in a clean seventh inning. And then Rafael Rodriguez happened. Single, single, homer, homer. and the near ten thousand crowd at Camelbank Ranch - or at least, the fraction of them supporting the Dodgers - got to go home happy.
Our offense made it interesting in the ninth, loading the bases and putting the tying run in scoring position with only one out. However, Adam Eaton lined into a double-play, seeing that tying run, in the shape of Juan Miranda, doubled off second. Not the greatest of baserunning moments, I would imagine, on a day where Justin Upton was also caught stealing third - the fifth time he has been caught in only six attempts. I trust there will be significant improvement - like, the ratio should be the other way round - once the season starts, or first-base coach Eric Young should go out there armed with a nail-gun.
That said, he did have two of Arizona's seven hits, including a double off Jonathan Broxton. Miguel Montero and Ryan Roberts each also had a pair, with Tony Abreu getting the other. Roberts is still hitting .500 for the spring, a number which, among all major-leaguers with 30+ at-bats, trails only the Royals' Melky Cabrera, who has gone 18-for-35. I take no small pleasure in seeing how the Diamondbacks' young players have, by and large, kicked the butts of the veterans this spring. For example:
- Gerardo Parra .350/.381/525 vs. Xavier Nady .189/.211/.324
- Tony Abreu .317/.326/.439 vs. Geoff Blum .268/.321/.269
- Ryan Roberts: .500/.614/.647 vs. Willie Bloomquist: .375/.405/.450 and Melvin Mora .222/.333/.222
If there is genuine competition for those spots on the roster, then at the moment, there are some players who are skating on thin ice - not where you want to be in a Phoenix spring. Bloomquist is probably the only one who showing this spring has justified a spot come April 1st. Right now, here's how I would shape up the roster, based solely on the spring performances so far:
C. Montero
1B. Miranda
2B. Johnson
SS. Drew
3B. Roberts
LF. Allen
CF. Young
RF Upton
Bench: Blanco, Branyan, Abreu, Parra, Bloomquist
Thoughta?
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With our luck/GM acumen
Nady, Blum and Mora will get spots while the three deserving ones get sent down.
Bad doormat! No stock options!
Dunno
I think Gibson wants guys on his team who are hungry. Towers probably wants the same thing.
Of course, the fragile veterans will probably end up on the DL and force the FOs hand.
Pena doesn't look hungry.
He’s a big, big guy. :)
No Julio Franco, no peace.
by Reynolds rapper on Mar 18, 2011 2:21 AM EDT up reply actions
I was at the game today
and David Hernandez face the meat of their order(Ethier,Kemp,Loney and Uribe) and mowed them down with no problem. Especially the last batter(Uribe), with a 2-2 count threw him a slider in the dirt(suprised the Uribe didn’t offer) for a ball. Came back with another slider which was plain filthy for stride 3 looking. So now they are batting .091(2 for 22) and a ERA of 1.29. Also no walks!
by Baseballdad on Mar 17, 2011 9:57 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Also was at the game today
and Hernandez did looked real good today. That last slider just froze Uribe. I think the D’Backs gots something here.
by egboyz on Mar 17, 2011 10:43 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
hernandez gave up a hit today right?
who was it? how did it look?
i’m probably going to go back and take a look at it through MLB.tv but just wanted to hear the opinion of someone who saw it live…
by blue bulldog on Mar 17, 2011 11:42 PM EDT up reply actions
You didn't read the posts above
i myself and egboyz were both at the game today . Loney hit a line drive up the middle and Abreu almost made the catch. It went off his glove. As I said before Hernandez looked pretty impressive.
by Baseballdad on Mar 17, 2011 11:59 PM EDT up reply actions
Uhm
Where in the above posts does it say how the hit off Hernandez looked? I think BB did read the posts, hence the question.
You're right, my bad
I misunderstood!!
by Baseballdad on Mar 18, 2011 1:34 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I am happy to hear
That RyRo had a great day and that the only damage against my boy Aaron was the Matt Kemp homer.
I was over at SRF watching the White Sox beat the Rox…
"In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back." ~Charles M Schulz
'Last words are for fools who haven't said enough'. - Karl Marx
Me too
I like Roberts. I would love to see him win the 3B job and work his way onto the All Star team. It’s a stretch, but stranger things have happened.
Right on Venomfan :)
high fives
RyRo deserves his shot! Get rid of Abreu…
"In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back." ~Charles M Schulz
'Last words are for fools who haven't said enough'. - Karl Marx
by Rockkstarr12 on Mar 18, 2011 1:58 AM EDT up reply actions
I like
how Parra and Roberts have stepped it up. But it begs the question…seeing as how Mora and Blum are signed to $million plus contracts, does that guarantee them a spot on the 25 man roster? If not, what do we do with them?
And what to do with Wily Mo Pena?
It doesn’t guarantee them a spot on the 25 man roster. It does guarantee them the money. And it doesn’t guarantee, but it sure makes it seem more and more likely that the collection of signings we made in the off-season were pretty hare-brained.
"Baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic." Robert S. Wieder
bloomquist's line
is deceptively bad….
in fact it’s really scary to me
by blue bulldog on Mar 18, 2011 12:53 AM EDT up reply actions
to clarify...
bloomquist’s line is entirely driven by BA right now
and since we all know he’s not going to hit a BA of .375 during the year….
if we imagine his BA at a much more reasonable/likely .275, then his line would basically be something like .275/.315/.350
which is really ugly…..
of course, Nady should just be DFA’d. haven’t really had a chance to see Mora or Blum hit yet…but Nady has just looked horrendous in the handful of at bats i’ve seen
by blue bulldog on Mar 18, 2011 12:57 AM EDT up reply actions
Nady can't hit and Nady can't field.
and I blame BAXTER. DFA Baxter…
…then DFA Nady.
No Julio Franco, no peace.
by Reynolds rapper on Mar 18, 2011 1:40 AM EDT up reply actions
If we're basing this solely on how he's looked in ST though
A higher BA is approachable. Don’t get me wrong, he won’t keep it up, but every hit he’s had in front of me has been a rope line drive.
http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/
by Dan Strittmatter on Mar 18, 2011 4:33 AM EDT up reply actions
fine...
his highest possible BA…
300/330/375
that’s STILL terrible
by blue bulldog on Mar 18, 2011 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Granted, this is more about
Generic Hypothetical .300/.330/.375 Player X than Bloomquist, but…
Juan Pierre says hi.
http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/
by Dan Strittmatter on Mar 18, 2011 8:47 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
okay
fine, the generic 300 BA isn’t as terrible as i originally though. however, i’d like to point out that a crapload of Pierre’s value comes from base steals and defense, which Bloomquist can’t exactly emulate
moreover, Pierre strikes out around 7% of the time, and there’s pretty much no way Bloomquist is going to be able to get his strike out rate that low either, so when i say highest possible BA is 300, i’m saying he has like a 1% chance at getting there….
Bloomquist is really only going to give you a BA of 275
anyway i’m just trying to show people here one of my huge pet peeves, that OBP and SLG both already take into account BA and so it’s like double-counting a stat…..and really that when you look at impressive players, you should just look at the non-BA components of OBP and SLG
by blue bulldog on Mar 19, 2011 3:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Exactly
Generic Hypothetical .300/.330/.375 guy needs some additional sweeteners.
I’m just being literal.
Were the team not already filled with guys capable of playing numerous positions, that would technically have some value, but we’ve already got a roster of utility infielders and Gerardo Parra.
::le sigh::
http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/
by Dan Strittmatter on Mar 19, 2011 4:42 AM EDT up reply actions
If he hit .300
I think his OBP would be .350 or so, given his career OBP is 52 points above his BA. Even if the SLG sticks at .375, an OPS of .725 is above NL average for a middle-infielder.
But discarding all that, the .705 OPS you mention certainly seems far from “terrible”, considering the league-average SS was at .713. Given this, even allowing for park factors, I’d settle for a 700 OPS from a bench middle-infield utility guy, Really, if that’s the worst problem a team has….
"While Mrs. SnakePit watched one of the most highly acclaimed films of the year, I sat through a badly made schlock fest with absolutely no redeeming value. And it was awesome."
by Jim McLennan on Mar 19, 2011 12:14 AM EDT up reply actions
actually, we are probably both off...
i miscalculated the OBP earlier, but walk rates have decreasing marginal effect on your OBP when your BA is higher
basically what that means is that if your OBP is 52 points above your BA when you bat 275, then it will probably be only 40 points above your BA when you bat 300 (given the same walk rate)
the same though can be said, from regressing his BA from 375 to 300…i should have increased the OBP effect some
as for settling for 700 OPS from a bench guy, i guess i’d settle for that as well. i shouldn’t have said that the lines i’m predicting are really THAT terrible. i just wanted to show that his stat line from spring training is really really deceptive. as opposed to Ryan Roberts’s stat line, which actually gives a lot of hope that he will be a pretty decent player this year.
by blue bulldog on Mar 19, 2011 3:54 AM EDT up reply actions
Perhaps it was an insurance policy
Realistically, are you going to find a good free agent for less than 5 mil/year? By signing the veterans, it guarantees a certain (mediocre) level of production at a position, barring injury. It also provides motivation for our whippersnappers – they came into ST thinking they didn’t have a job.
After reflecting on that last sentence while refilling my Guinness, I would be OK with eating some of the veteran contracts – it would mean our whippersnappers are performing better than the production of a 2 mil free agent. I would take that all freakin’ day.
I agree
I think Parra should be the LFielder and Roberts @ 3B, but money will win out unfortunately. As Pena, I think its a tossup be him and Branyan.
by Baseballdad on Mar 18, 2011 1:38 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Mora's is only a one year deal.
So they could eat it if they wanted to. They are still on the “veteran presence” bandwagon though.
No Julio Franco, no peace.
by Reynolds rapper on Mar 18, 2011 2:20 AM EDT up reply actions
I agree a lot
I would keep Mora and Roberts some how because who knows if Roberts can keep it going, but I would certainly love to see Roberts play more. Allen would be sweet in LF with Miranda at 1B, i mean what else do we have to lose.
P.S Enright is still The Man lol
D-Rock
Abreu is enough Roberts insurance.
The question is whether we can pick up a 3B at the end of spring when there is massive turnover to all MLB rosters.
No Julio Franco, no peace.
by Reynolds rapper on Mar 18, 2011 1:38 AM EDT up reply actions
Screw Abreu!
KEEP RYRO!!!
"In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back." ~Charles M Schulz
'Last words are for fools who haven't said enough'. - Karl Marx
by Rockkstarr12 on Mar 18, 2011 1:59 AM EDT up reply actions
Hey I said "Keep them both".
No Julio Franco, no peace.
by Reynolds rapper on Mar 18, 2011 2:06 AM EDT up reply actions
It's Mora I want to DFA.
No Julio Franco, no peace.
by Reynolds rapper on Mar 18, 2011 2:06 AM EDT up reply actions
I'd rather have Mora than Abreu
"In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back." ~Charles M Schulz
'Last words are for fools who haven't said enough'. - Karl Marx
by Rockkstarr12 on Mar 19, 2011 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Probably can't
Abreu is out of options. Can’t send him to the minors, and it doesn’t look like he’ll make the big-league club.
http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/
by Dan Strittmatter on Mar 18, 2011 4:34 AM EDT up reply actions
Santini
Does no one else know? They are out of options with Roberts, too!! He will be playing MLB with some club. Guaranteed!!
Hasn't been as much of a hot topic
And I always assumed he wasn’t a 40-man player before his AZ days… that makes things interesting.
http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/
by Dan Strittmatter on Mar 18, 2011 8:50 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Abreu is not Roberts' only problem
Abreu is a long shot to make the team too. Roberts’ problem is that Mora, Blum, and Bloomquist are nearly locks to make the roster, according to Steve Gilbert’s column today.
Right
Could get ugly before it gets beautiful…
"In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back." ~Charles M Schulz
'Last words are for fools who haven't said enough'. - Karl Marx
by Rockkstarr12 on Mar 18, 2011 2:54 AM EDT up reply actions
Ugh
I just read that. Gibson saying “there might be some deserving people who aren’t on the team” is a sign of things to come.
\
it really bugs me when people say that
because it can only mean one of two things:
1) the people who actually make it are more deserving (which i don’t think Gibson believes); or
2) he’s just being hypocritical (unless he’s not the decision maker, in which case i will just be really bugged by the decisionmaker)
by blue bulldog on Mar 18, 2011 3:49 AM EDT up reply actions
well shouldn't the team be open to
actually awarding roster spots to those players that have earned, especially so for position players…. based on the numbers and the comments….
RyRo – earned it
Branyan – earned it
Miranda – earned it
guys who haven’t based on their numbers
Blum
Mora
granted we’re talking about small sample size, but cripes, when does actual production mean more and have more value than potential or perceived production?
I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused....
it's not that simple
no one cares about production in spring training. we only care about production in the majors, and thus, only care about production in spring training to the extent that it predicts production in the majors
by blue bulldog on Mar 18, 2011 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Roberts
Has 100% earned a spot. More so over Abreyu, Nady, Blum, and Bloomquist.
If he doesnt make it, it makes me sad to think about how the roster is chosen. If Towers wants to put a winning team out, dont you want the best produsing players. it just wont make any sense.
Nady has sucked so far. No bat, No Arm, and when i saw him vs. the Angles, he D in LF was horrible. I understand not diving (even though Vernon Wells did) but a nice sprint and he could have saved a doube, instead he plays it off the wall, and rubber arm hits the cut off.
Im not saying give Roberts the Starting Lf or 3B, put maybe platoon him at LF/3B.
He is also just as utility as Abreyu, Bloomquist, and Blum.
The thing i liked in a RyRo interview was he said last yr that he took his spot for granted, and wound up in AAA. This yr he was taking nothing for granted and coming prepared every day. Isnt that what Gibby is all about, Personally that’s what i feel every MLB player should do. I believe that’s what happened to CY 2 yrs ago.
Anyone going to the game tomorrow? Lets get a Ryro section going! Ha Ha
Freeze it..and make a popsicle
by Baja F1 on Mar 18, 2011 12:20 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I am ALL for that, Baja!
"In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back." ~Charles M Schulz
'Last words are for fools who haven't said enough'. - Karl Marx
I'd go with the kids
But not because of their spring performances, but because it’s time to see if they can play. Who cares if Nady, Bloomquist, or Mora have good years? They will be in their 40s by the time the D-Backs are worth a darn. I would put Miranda on 1B and Allen in LF. Not so sure about Parra – he’s had his big league shot and didn’t do much with it.
Parra's shot
Was in the earliest part of his 20’s. Give it a little time.
http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/
by Dan Strittmatter on Mar 18, 2011 8:53 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
'Deed
He’s 3 months older than Upton, as I recall.
"While Mrs. SnakePit watched one of the most highly acclaimed films of the year, I sat through a badly made schlock fest with absolutely no redeeming value. And it was awesome."
by Jim McLennan on Mar 19, 2011 12:24 AM EDT up reply actions
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