Diamondbacks Ups and Downs: September 1st-7th

by Jim McLennan on Sep 8, 2011 3:01 PM EDT in Diamondbacks Trends

September under way: the rosters expand, and the Diamondbacks navigated a potentially-tricky road-trip very nicely, taking the series both in San Francisco and Colorado, bringing them ever closer to the NL West title [98.8% according to coolstandings.com]. A 4-2 record is good, and we outscored the opposition 31-27: as you can tell, the offense were a little more impressive than the pitching this week. Though, as ever, there were some wide variations in the performance spectrum...

Rotation	Trend	Notes
Ian Kennedy		I'm thinking we should maybe just give Kennedy an up-arrow tattoo and be done with it. In his past 11 games, the only non-quality start was when the rain curtailed his outing in Philadelphia. He has a 2.05 ERA since the All-Star break, third-best in the Majors.
Daniel Hudson		Hudson isn't far behind, sporting a 2.64 ERA since the start of August. Both he and Kennedy allowed one run over seven innings in victories over San Francisco; Dan's was slightly better, with only three hits and one walk.
Joe Saunders		Four HR in 11.1 innings, and a wobbly K:BB ratio of 7:5. However, Coors Field didn't help, and he helped himself out with a crucial RBI there. Joe has a record of 8-5 when he walks two batters or less in a start; he's 2-7 when it's more.
Josh Collmenter		Four of his 21 career starts have been against Colorado, but a 2.81 ERA suggests they haven't solved him yet. Another 6.1 innings without a walk this time; since Curt Schilling in 2002, only Dan Haren (2009) has shown better control for Arizona.
Wade Miley		After a (largely unjustified) down-arrow last week. Miley stepped up his game, allowing two runs in seven innings against the Rockies, and getting enough help from the offense to get the W despite a horrific late bullpen meltdown.

Bullpen
J.J. Putz		This is getting silly. Has allowed one hit since August 12 - that's a .040 average against. And with a K:BB ratio of 11:1, they're not getting on any other way.
David Hernandez		When Hernandez blows up, he blows up. He has allowed 24 earned runs this year in 63.1 innings. 14 have come in 0.2 of those innings, including five on Tuesday at Coors.
Bryan Shaw		Three scoreless outings have got him to a 2.74 season ERA. And that's despite a .333 BABIP, so he has actually been somewhat unlucky.
Micah Owings		For the second week in a row, no Arizona pitcher had a worse ERA. This time, however, it was 54.00, not 3.86. Micah faced six batters, four of whom scored.
Joe Paterson		Like Owings, only retired two of the six batters he saw, allowing two hits and two walks, apparently infected by whatever ailed the bullpen.
Brad Ziegler		Faced three batters; got four outs, without a double-play. I'll leave you to ponder how that was possible.
Zach Duke		Has only been seen twice since August 20th. Another inning of mop-up work, another run allowed. Post-season roster spot seems seriously in jeopardy.
Ryan Cook, Sam Demel, Alberto Castillo		None of the three September call-ups worked more than an inning, so get a communal "Meh." Between them, they allowed two runs in their two frames, both of those being charged to Demel.

Starters
Miguel Montero		Hit .300 (6-for-20), with an .864 OPS and actually took a couple of walks, which is nice. Current 15-game hitting streak is tied for the best ever by a Diamondbacks catcher, and his 76 RBI are most in the majors from the position.
Paul Goldschmidt		Strikeouts are inching up again - eight in 23 at-bats this week. However, even his outs seem to be hard-hit, and he was likely a few inches from an average well above .217; a .768 OPS remains solid enough.
Aaron Hill		Hit more than .400 for the second week in a row, and is hitting .375 since coming to us from Toronto. As Dan pointed out, a .408 BABIP won't last, but as long as the power numbers remain decent, should prove valuable the rest of the way.
Willie Bloomquist		Split the six games evenly with McDonald, but did his bit at the plate, going 5-for-13 with a triple and a hit by pitch. Another BABIP beneficiary (.455), so I wouldn't expect it to last.
Ryan Roberts		Missed a couple of games - one after getting spiked in the foot by a Rockie - but his four hits were for a cycle on a week. And was there a bigger knock this year than his home-run to tie the game in San Francisco?
Gerardo Parra		Has appeared everywhere in the line-up bar the clean-up spot, getting his first start at lead-off since 2009. Still continues to do nothing but hit: 7-for-22 this week; since July 22nd Gerardo is hitting .328 in 135 plate-appearances.
Chris Young		Young is off the charts this week, and not in a good sense. His OPS was more than 500 points below anyone else in this section, with a line of .063/.118/.125. Clearly, he's not right, and one wonders if Cowgill would be a better regular for now.
Justin Upton		Hit 8-for-20, but add four walks and an HBP, and get an on-base percentage of .520. With half the hits being for extra bases, including two home-runs, it was an .800 slugging week for Upton as well. Already has career highs for hits, homers and total bases.

Bench
John McDonald		Still not quite clear whether he or Bloomquist is the 'regular' short-stop. Three hits in three games, but a couple of doubles and no strikeouts.
Collin Cowgill		Also had three hits, but none were for extra bases and only drew one walk, meaning a .606 OPS. May see more playing time if we decide to rest CY more
Sean Burroughs		Three games, no starts; a double in three at-bats.
Lyle Overbay		Hasn't appeared in a game since August 30th. Anyone possessing knowledge of his whereabouts, please get in contact with Derrick Hall.
Henry Blanco		One game: 1-for-3 with a pair of walks.
Geoff Blum		4-for-11 with a home-run and three runs driven in. Can't complain about that.
Robby Hammock		Allegedly on the roster. I have been in as many games for the team this year as Robby.

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I'm really, really OK

with not knowing what Lyle Overbay has been up to recently.

by SenSurround on Sep 8, 2011 3:44 PM EDT reply actions

Or for that matter

Robby Hammock. Don’t get me wrong, I like Hammock as much as the next guy or gal, but I like our catchers better

Reading: It's highly overrated!
I <3 Vuvuzelas!!!

by imstillhungry95 on Sep 8, 2011 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions

*our other catchers

Reading: It's highly overrated!
I <3 Vuvuzelas!!!

by imstillhungry95 on Sep 8, 2011 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions

unless the pitcher is Halladay...

Overbay will probably be the official " dugout Bubble-Yum tub filler".

by Gildo on Sep 8, 2011 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions

You'd think so.

But Xavier Nady played like 600 games this year and he’s terrible. I’m shocked Gibby’s played Goldschmidt more than 3 games in a row.

by SenSurround on Sep 8, 2011 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions

good point...

Gibbyball has been very entertaining though. Usually the days where I want to just turn the channel and not watch because he decides to sit 4 starters I end up eating my words (I guess thoughts since they weren’t spoken?) when the replacements actually contribute. Not that some of the decisions have been highly questionable. Nady actually played “fairly well” (used loosely) towards the end before his injury… but I don’t know anyone here that would rather see Nady over Goldy…

by Gildo on Sep 8, 2011 6:16 PM EDT up reply actions

I think we more or less agree on things

My main idea was that I’m taken aback that Gibby managed to go a whole week without get Overbay in the lineup. That’s just so un-Gibby-like. He keeps jerking Parra and Roberts around (in/out of the lineup, top/bottom of the order), but has been giving rookie Goldschmidt consistent starts, something he just would not do with Miranda or Allen. I’m really not complaining, I just don’t know where it’s coming from.

by SenSurround on Sep 8, 2011 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions

No I completely agree...

It is very strange. I almost wish that Allen was given the same opportunity as Goldy, because he seems to be doing quite well in Oakland. I haven’t followed him much, but the reports I have read have been somewhat positive. I think its good that he is giving Goldy as much opportunity as he is now since he is the best option at 1b that the Dbacks have, but is very inexperienced for a team posed for the playoffs. On a side note I think his defense has been rather good so I don’t really know why it is never mentioned by the “experts” that only see his slow swing speed. It would be nice if Gibby could settle on a lineup (and order) over the next few weeks to give these guys some semblance of what they can expect come playoff time, but I highly doubt that will happen. He seems to be making a “little” progress on that though…

by Gildo on Sep 8, 2011 8:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Brandon Allen

Appears to be sharply dropping back to earth. Since August 23rd, playing just about every day, he is 10-for-58 (.172) with 25 K’s and a .560 OPS

Daron "...the D. Baxter fan-club"
Mark: "A non-profit organization."

by Jim McLennan on Sep 9, 2011 2:41 AM EDT up reply actions

Does CY

find himself on the Dbacks next year? I really really hope all this is injury related, and if it is he should take a break.

by bradley281 on Sep 8, 2011 4:23 PM EDT reply actions

Yes

We wont find a better CF defensivly.

Freeze it..and make a popsicle

by Baja F1 on Sep 8, 2011 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

But we should put him in Parra’s spot, and move Parra up in the batting order

Reading: It's highly overrated!
I <3 Vuvuzelas!!!

by imstillhungry95 on Sep 8, 2011 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly

A couple of times I have gotten a little nervous watching Cowgill make plays out there. It has made me appreciate CY even more. Cowgill has made the plays, but they just don’t look as easy as when CY is there.

I hope his numbers are related to injury. And if that is true, maybe we should be resting him for a while.

by SongBird on Sep 8, 2011 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions

It's a little strange

that we’re actually hoping for him to be hurt, lol.

"If you find a man or woman who sticks around after you tell them "I may be a demented horse, but I know CPR," you marry them. No questions asked." - kishi

by CaptainCanuck on Sep 9, 2011 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions