Diamondbacks Ups and Downs: August 19th-25th

Truly a week of two halves. We got swept by the Braves, and lost the first game in Washington, before coming back to take the last three against the Nationals. That left our record at 3-4, and we were outscored 18-20. However, the offense got back on track, scoring two, four and eight since Tuesday - so I am confidently predicting that we'll score 16 tonight against the San Diego Padres. We should be unstoppable thereafter. Breaking it down to an individual level, how did the Diamondbacks do over the past seven days?

Rotation	Trend	Notes
Ian Kennedy		Kennedy was a key factor in getting the losing monkey off our back, with seven shutout innings against the Nationals on Tuesday. He scattered six hits and two walks with eight strikeouts, and fully deserved both the win and the resulting up-arrow.
Daniel Hudson		It's a shame he didn't face his namesake Tim in Atlanta, simply because I'd like to have seen: "W: Hudson. L: Hudson" in the box-score. Dan did get the loss against the Braves, but bounced back to come within one out of a complete-game shutout vs. Washington.
Joe Saunders		Saunders keeps walking more batters than he strikes out, and that's helping his FIP (4.77) remain significantly higher than his ERA (3.98). His xFIP is in the middle at 4.39, so if he would like to stop posting the 7.00 ERA he has in his past three starts, that'd be nice.
Josh Collmenter		An unlucky loser against the Braves, holding them to one run over seven innings, and being tagged with the L, simply because the D-backs were shut-out. A wobbly K:BB ratio (4:3), but allowed only four hits in Atlanta, counteracting the wildness nicely.
Wade Miley		Went on to "Reno watch" after his first start, where he lasted only four innings, giving up seven hits and five runs. However, after dodging base-runners early, his next outing had a lot better results: six shutout innings. Fewer walks will be key to his future success.
Bullpen
J.J. Putz		Faced four batters, retired them all, including a two-pitch vulture save after Hudson fell just short of the finish. Has a 1.64 ERA and is 11/11 in saves after coming back from the DL.
David Hernandez		On pace to become the first D-backs pitcher since Chad Qualls in 2008, and sixth overall, to appear in 75 games. Since the start of July, has allowed two runs in 20.1 innings.
Bryan Shaw		Faced five batters, Shaw retired just one, another out being recorded at home-plate. While his August ERA of 3.88 is fine, he has been hit at a .344 pace, with a 1.625 WHIP.
Micah Owings		Okay, who had Micah as "best ERA on the club"? That's what he has right now. A couple of appearances, each for one inning. Two zeroes, with one hit, no walks and two strikeouts.
Joe Paterson		One game played, and got his scoreless streak up to 14 games, but it wasn't pretty, loading the bases with a hit and two walks, before getting the third out.
Brad Ziegler		Still not fully confident in him, but this was better. He was the most-used arm of the week, appearing in four games: 4.1 IP, allowing one run on three hits and a walk, with four K's.
Zach Duke		Two frames of mop-up work in the blowout against the Braves, but not the cleanest of mops. The three hits given up included a pair of homers, and his ERA is back above five.
Starters
Miguel Montero		A solid week, going 7-for-20 with three doubles and a K:BB ratio of 3:3. Also deserves credit for his improving arm - Miggy has the best caught-stealing % in the NL.
Paul Goldschmidt		Yesterday's three-hit game isn't enough to get the meter pointing up, since he was 0-for-14 before that. However, hopefully that, and coming back to AZ, will raise the Goldy standard.
Kelly Johnson		Last year, the D-backs became the first team ever to have four players with more than 145 K's. J-Up is now the only one left in Arizona. So long, and thanks for all the K's...
Aaron Hill		Too early to say for sure, but 1-for-8 doesn't seem like much improvement over KJ. Has perhaps shown better defense that we might have expected.
John McDonald		As with Hill, a couple of games isn't enough to say much. Has certainly flashed the leather, and his arrival has also got Bloomquist out of the lead-off spot, so thanks for that.
Ryan Roberts		5-for-22 with a pair of walks: slightly better than last week, but what moves him from down to flat was a series of web gems that made him our human highlight reel for the week.
Gerardo Parra		"It would be good for him to step up... He's got all the ability to do what the team needs and he's capable of being a positive contributor in many ways and I'd like to see that happen." Kirk Gibson. .577 OPS
Chris Young		CY this week had one of the odder slash lines you'll see: .118/.360/.353. That would be due to him having only two hits, but seven walks; only Miggy (3) had more than two for us.
Justin Upton		5-for-21 with a couple of walks, but a double was his only extra-base hit. Curiously, all three members of our outfield had an OBP higher than their SLG this week.
Bench
Willie Bloomquist		2-for-15 with no extra-base hits, and going forward, likely to see his playing time severely curtailed by the arrival of McDonald
Collin Cowgill		1-for-14, and only one hit since August 8th, in 23 at-bats.
Cody Ransom		Hitless in five at-bats, and designated for assignment.
Sean Burroughs		Only Parra and Montero had more hits than Burroughs last week, and he got his first home-run in five years. I'm genuinely happy for the guy.
Lyle Overbay		A single hit in 12 at-bats. Juan Miranda could have done that.
Henry Blanco		Four at-bats, but two hits and a home-run. More HR in 83 at-bats, than Stephen Drew in 321.