Diamondbacks Ups and Downs: September 22nd-28th

Well, I was going to make this one the entire season trends, but let's leave that for the long, dark winter after all baseball has been put to bed. There'll be plenty of time to reflect on the risers and fallers of this season as a whole. For now, let's just keep enjoying the ride, and plugging in these on a weekly basis, for as long as we possibly can. It was a good week for us, obviously. We clinched against the Giants at the first opportunity, completed the sweep of the defending World Series champions, and though we then dropped two of three against Los Angeles, the win was probably the most remarkable, in a series of remarkable comebacks.

Rotation	Trend	Notes
Ian Kennedy		21-4 is Kennedy's final record. While his final outing won't be regarded as his most memorable, it was good enough, given the 15 runs of support. It was, however, a quality start: that's something Ian has given Arizona 24 times in 33 appearances this year.
Daniel Hudson		Hudson lost his final three decisions of the year, but his last game was basically undone by one pitch, which potential MVP swatted onto the balcony for a three-run homer. He settled down after that, and let's hope Hudson has got that all out of his system.
Joe Saunders		Went toe-to-toe with Matt Cain, holding the Giants to one run, and keeping his team in the game, before the offense had their usual late surge. Not so hot yesterday, but a sense of deflation is certainly excusable, as game #162 meant little. Next time, it counts...
Josh Collmenter		So: should he be #3 or #4 in the rotation against Milwaukee? Seven solid innings against the Giants did nothing to hurt his cause, as Josh graced SnakePitFest 4.3 with another fine performance, nothing his 10th win in Collmenter's rookie season.
Jarrod Parker		Made his major-league debut against the Dodgers, and made the jump from AA to the majors look effortless, with 5.2 shutout innings. He only struck out one, but showed good command, and looks set to get a good few more standing ovations for Arizona.
Bullpen
J.J. Putz		Some wobbles by Putz, as he allowed four hits in three IP. But he still takes a scoreless streak of 18 appearances into October, opposing hitters with a .361 OPS over that time.
David Hernandez		Three appearances, all scoreless, two hits, no walks and six strikeouts. Ends the season at a fraction below 10 strikeouts per nine innings, and got the W in the division clincher.
Bryan Shaw		Faced two batters, retired them both.
Micah Owings		Got the least deserved W in the past 75 years, after allowing five runs in an inning, but pitched a scoreless inning last night, and ends the season without a L to his name.
Joe Paterson		Faced two batters, retired them both. Stop me if you've heard that before...
Brad Ziegler		Faced three batters, retired two of them. Yeah, relief appearances were pretty widely spread of late.
Zach Duke		At least he did appear in a game this week, working round a couple of hits to post a scoreless inning.
Wade Miley		Bumped from the rotation to make way for Parker, Miley's only action was a bit of mop-up work last night. Allowed a homer to Kemp. Daniel Hudson can sympathize.
Ryan Cook, Sam Demel, Alberto Castillo		Cook and Castillo would probably deserve their own rows this week, having thrown 2 and 2.1 innings respectively. But it's the last week, and I can't be bothered. Sorry, guys! They allowed one run (charged to Cook) between them, so give them a collective up-arrow.
Starters
Miguel Montero		Certainly got his hacks in this week - emphasis on "hacks" as he fanned five times in 16 at-bats, and only got three hits. Did at least draw a bases-loaded walk against a lefty, but he should expect to see a lot more of them come the play-offs.
Paul Goldschmidt		Is a hole in Goldschmidt's swing being exposed? A .753 OPS is okay, but that conceals seven strikeouts in 18 ABs, albeit with four walks. The league will adjust - one home-run in his last 57 plate-appearances is proof of that. Can Goldy adjust back?
Aaron Hill		Aaron continues to enjoy the desert air, leading the team with seven runs, six hits and, interestingly, six walks - the last two combined to result in a .522 OBP for the week. Also stole a couple of bases without getting caught.
Willie Bloomquist		Another ugly week for Bloomquist, who hit .214 without any walks or extra-base hits. Since September 11, he has a .475 OPS, and hasn't walked in that time either. For the love of Gibby, please let's not see him hitting at the top of the order in Milwaukee.
Ryan Roberts		Any questions?
Gerardo Parra		Slightly up on last week, but 4-for-18, even with three walks, isn't enough to avoid another down-arrow. Nice to see him avoid striking out, and Parra was pretty clutch, driving in four runs, which trailed only Roberts' seven in this category.
Chris Young		Chris Moneyball Young continues to improve his on-base percentage. Six more walks this week, led to a .474 OBP. Since August 22nd, he has been just shy of a .400 clip, to go along with a solid .258 average. Wouldn't mind seeing him on top of the line-up?
Justin Upton		Poor Justin. Battered, bruised and bewildered: when even the outfield fence at Chase has your number, you know it's not a good week. Missed a couple of games for various reason, and managed only one hit in ten at-bats. Get well soon: how does Saturday sound?
Bench
John McDonald		Going 1-for-14 didn't exactly enhance his chances of playing in the post-season, but somehow, I am happier with him at #8 than Bloomquist hitting lead-off.
Collin Cowgill		Got his share of playing time due to Upton losing his head (ha!), and did well enough, going 5-for-14 with a couple of double and three RBI.
Sean Burroughs		Four appearances off the bench, notching two hits and a walk. As noted, there's only one player in the majors with more pinch-hits this year. Who'd have thought it?
Lyle Overbay		3-for-6 with a couple of doubles and a walk. Could be a useful bat off the bench in the post-season.
Henry Blanco		Blanco hit his eighth HR in exactly 100 AB, and also got his first triple in over five years. Not sure which was more impressive.
Geoff Blum		3-for-8 with a pair of doubles, and a couple of walks. 1.125 OPS for the week, so nothing to complain about here.
Robby Hammock		Two hitless at bats, but gets an up arrow simply for getting into a couple of games,. three years from his last one.
Cole Gillespie		More of a token gesture. But if you're going to get six at-bats in a season, why not go ahead and hit a grand-slam in the last one?