Diamondbacks Ups and Downs: August 26th-31st

by Jim McLennan on Sep 1, 2011 1:14 PM EDT in Diamondbacks Trends

"I'll tell you this: if they hit J-Up again, someone's going to pay..."

Moving this back to Thursdays the rest of the season - there seemed to be less going on, SnakePit-wise than on Friday, and with today being an off-day, it doesn't actually make any difference to this week's stats, so seemed an ideal opportunity. Obviously, a pretty good week for Arizona: we swept the home-stand, enjoying our best run in more than eight years, and outscored the opposition 32-9. Fortunately, a rush shipment of green arrows arrived at SnakePit Towers yesterday, so we're well stocked for this week's report. Though with a team ERA of 1.33, the standards among pitchers might be a little tough this week...

Rotation	Trend	Notes
Ian Kennedy		Kennedy has now won nine of his last ten games with a 2.35 ERA in that time - the tenth was the rain-shortened outing in Philadelphia. Seven innings, one run this week - and Kennedy also walked none, for the first time since April 25.
Daniel Hudson		Seven shutout innings from Hudson, blanking the Rockies on three hits and three walks, while striking out eight - he settled down nicely after a slightly shaky early spell, and retired the last eleven batters faced.
Joe Saunders		Good to see Saunders get his first win of August, holding San Diego to an unearned run over seven frames, on four hits and a walk. By Game Score, this was his best outing since June. Tomorrow's game against SF might be his most important since the 2009 playoffs.
Josh Collmenter		Two starts, two wins, a 1.59 ERA and no walks in 11.1 innings. Only one pitcher in the NL with more than 70 IP has a better walk-rate than Collmenter's 1.66 per nine - a guy called "Ray Holiday" or something. Think he plays in the East. Vaguely heard that, anyway.
Wade Miley		Sorry, Wade. You had the worst ERA of any of our starters this week, by more than 1.40 runs. I'm afraid 3.00 just isn't going to cut it. Scattered nine hits, but held the Rockies to two tallies over six frames. One walk. All told, Arizona's K:BB ratio this week was 40:7 in 54 IP.

Bullpen
J.J. Putz		Three save opportunities, three saves, one hit, no walks and four strikeouts in 2.2 innings. One hit allowed since August 12, over six innings - that's an opponent's BA of .056.
David Hernandez		Allowed a run. This is entirely unacceptable. I was assured he was never going to do that, for the rest of his career. And to Dexter Fowler too. Hang your head in shame, David.
Bryan Shaw		The 23-year old has got his ERA down to three, allowing one run in four appearances this week. The resulting ERA+ of 134 is 11th in the majors for pitchers his age (min 20 IP).
Micah Owings		The closest to a genuine down-arrow, allowing five hits in 2.1 innings, but in any other week would likely have got a flat-line. This week, his 3.86 ERA was tied for the club worst.
Joe Paterson		Has appeared in 55 games without getting a W - only the Cubs' Justin Berg (60) and Cesar Ramos (68) of the Padres/Rays have more among players in the majors this season.
Brad Ziegler		Warming. Brad has retired the last ten batters he has faced, throwing two perfect innings over his three appearances this week.
Zach Duke		Finished off Sunday's 6-1 victory over the Padres, with a clean ninth, but that was his only action in the past week.

Starters
Miguel Montero		Founder member of the Justin Upton Protection Society - in back-to-back games against Colorado, followed a plunking of J-Up by hitting a three-run homer. Hit .333 with seven RBI overall, though hasn't walked since August 21.
Paul Goldschmidt		While Goldy batted .235 for the week, he had some really hard-hit outs, and has cut back on the K's with only two strikeouts in his last 25 PAs, alongside three walks. Still a work in progress, but the key word there is "progress".
Aaron Hill		Lead the team in hits last week, with ten, giving him a line of .435/.480/.739, which is certainly acceptable, and has also showed solid defense. We have an $8m option for next season; if this performance keeps up, we might want to look into that.
Willie Bloomquist		Regained his spot in the line-up from McDonald, and the break seems to have helped, as Willie went 6-for-15. Still not convinced he should be batting lead-off, and a SB ratio of 15:9 remains more problematic than helpful.
Ryan Roberts		Went 4-for-16, but had more walks (6) than K's (3) or hits, raising his OBP to a crazy-good .455 for the week. Lob in a lead-off home-run, and his OPS ended up at .955, which is more than acceptable.
Gerardo Parra		Gold Glove Parra? Certainly deserves consideration: 10 assists trails only CarGo among NL outfielders, and he also made some highlight reel catches. Oh, yeah: he also went 7-for-18 with four extra-base hits.
Chris Young		Hitting 4-for-17 and a home-run, gave CY a .728 OPS for this period, which is about what you'd expect. Only a couple of walks, but he still leads the team there this season, with 63. Roberts (60) is the only other Diamondbacks to have passed 50 thus far.
Justin Upton		Only four hits for J-Up, but with four walks and a couple of painful free passes, his OBP still reached .400, and the OPS sat at .832. His defense was the usual mix of the spectacular and the wince-inducing.

Bench
John McDonald		Only started two of the week's six games, losing playing time back to Bloomquist. McDonald went 1-for-8, which won't get him more starts.
Collin Cowgill		A lovely four-hit game, and 6-for-11 overall. Cowgill raised his batting average 80 points from where it was on Saturday night.
Sean Burroughs		3-for-7, and nice to see him with a key hit last night against Colorado, driving in a very welcome insurance run. Season average is now .271, so no longer a problem.
Lyle Overbay		Still struggling, now has one hit in more than two weeks, over 16 at-bats. How is Juan Miranda doing in Reno? Hitting .238? Dammit.
Henry Blanco		A typical Blanco week: one game, four at-bats.

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Comments

Great write up, Jim

Loved this on Hernandez:

Allowed a run. This is entirely unacceptable. I was assured he was never going to do that, for the rest of his career. And to Dexter Fowler too. Hang your head in shame, David.

"Baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic." Robert S. Wieder

by njjohn on Sep 1, 2011 1:38 PM EDT reply actions

I got a chuckle

out of that one too

One of these days, Upton is going to pay a visit to the mound... And it ain't going to be pretty

by imstillhungry95 on Sep 1, 2011 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions

I hope the casual readers and fans

don’t miss the sarcasm

by Scottyyy on Sep 1, 2011 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions

We have casual fans here?

I got nothin'.

by Bcawz on Sep 1, 2011 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Hill

If Aaron Hill can get anywhere close to his 2009 production, that $8 million option would obviously be a bargain. We don’t know if he’s going to bring much more to the table than Johnson did the past two years, but surely the talent is still there, right?

I’m not going to go out on a limb and call picking up Hill’s option a no brainer, but its certainly worth the risk.

The bird is struggling out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born, must first destroy a world.

by Stupendous Man on Sep 1, 2011 1:45 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

too much risk in my opinion

even terrible players have a good month every now and then….and Hill has had a terrible two years

if we’re going to spend $8 million on Hill, wouldn’t you rather just go out and spend $20 million on Jose Reyes?

by blue bulldog on Sep 1, 2011 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions

so you want reyes at 3rd

drew at ss, roberts at 2nd?

by rfffr on Sep 1, 2011 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I would assume

Reyes at SS, Drew at 2B, Roberts at 3B in that scenario…

by SenSurround on Sep 1, 2011 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

"Baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic." Robert S. Wieder

by njjohn on Sep 1, 2011 5:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Hill and Reyes are kind of an apples to oranges scenario, but there’s a huge difference between $8 million and $20 million. The team may or may not have room in the budget for Reyes, but why sign a him just for the sake of signing him? Too much of an injury risk lately.

There’s a risk that Hill could continue to suck next season, but its only an $8 million dollar risk. With Reyes, its a risk that his hamstrings keep acting up, but that’s a $20 million per year risk (for 6 or 7 years).

The bird is struggling out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born, must first destroy a world.

by Stupendous Man on Sep 1, 2011 4:28 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I agree

That they’re apples and oranges. Especially since the Reyes contract would be for 5+ years… but no matter what Hill does these last few weeks they don’t erase how AWFUL he’s been in the past two seasons. You can’t sign a player with that production to an $8M/1yr deal.

"Baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic." Robert S. Wieder

by njjohn on Sep 1, 2011 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions

It feels good

To see Burroughs contributing positively. Can’t help but to be really happy for him.

Wear your own fur.

by Marc Fournier on Sep 1, 2011 2:59 PM EDT reply actions

Sean

Picked a good time to elevate his game

"The wise writer, I think, writes for the youth of his own generation, the critic of the next and the schoolmasters of ever afterward." F. Scott Fitzgerald.

by NASCARbernet on Sep 1, 2011 3:12 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Mos Def.

He has a .856 OPS and a slash line of .350/.381/.475/ in 40 at-bats through August. He’s also been fairly decent when pinch-hitting, going 5-14 with an RBI.

Wear your own fur.

by Marc Fournier on Sep 1, 2011 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions

but....but....

now who do we make fun of?

by blue bulldog on Sep 1, 2011 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Zach Duke?

Wear your own fur.

by Marc Fournier on Sep 1, 2011 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions

It's never too late

To pile on Melvin Mora.

Even though he no longer here, the words of the snakepit still cut like a knife to his heart.

by SenSurround on Sep 1, 2011 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Is anyone else tired of how much Arizona Sports 620

is making of Upton getting hit? Matt Williams said Justin laughs it off. When question if he was stiff, J-UP replies, “You cant hurt steel”. Gonzo and Gibson have said that Upton is smarter than charging the mound.

I love listening to sports talk radio because it makes staring at computer for 8+ hours a day easier. But I’m now at the point where I leave it off until I know Jeff Munn is doing the pre-game show.

My imagination is greater than your nay-say.

by Jargamus Prime on Sep 1, 2011 4:13 PM EDT reply actions

I feel sorry

For you Valley residents. There’s a lot of bad sports talk radio in this nation, but the Valley is really bad.

"Baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic." Robert S. Wieder

by njjohn on Sep 1, 2011 5:09 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree 620 sports ktar,sux !! nothing there!

porty99

by porty99 on Sep 1, 2011 5:54 PM EDT reply actions

Johnny Mac

His value is in his defense, don’t worry about going 1 for 8. He probably saves a run per game with the glove. Definitely worth starting 3-4 games a week.

by t_jays_fan on Sep 1, 2011 9:01 PM EDT reply actions