Good morning, everyone! 'Tis my pleasure to welcome you to a new daily feature (more of a featurette if you will) - the Daily News Dump. I know many of us habitually read the news each morning in a variety of places. This is a place to post links to those news articles and to share your thoughts on them. Because really, how many of our coworkers or family have the time or inclination to hear our ramblings? ;) That's what this community is for! And I figure it would also help visitors who don't necessarily have the chance to see all the news, read it all in one place.
Let's start with the recaps of yesterday's game...
AP recap Nothing much interesting, except at the very bottom: Padres All-Star RHP Chris Young was encouraged after throwing a bullpen session and is cautiously optimistic he can start Thursday or Friday. This news can also be found in this article about his side session. Oh boy. On the one hand, coming back from a minor injury after a week and a half off, he could very easily implode. On the other hand...do we really want to risk it? I have a feeling they're more likely to throw him against us (and Doug Davis) on Thursday than L.A. (and David Wells) on Friday, but here's hoping they opt for pitting him against the men in blue. As Young says, "They're both games we need to win, so I don't think it matters which day."
Arizona Republic recap Not much new here, except an exposition on the Blum homer. Jeers go to the Diamondbacks, who were 0 for 5 with RISP. A comment on how yes, the strike zone may have been generous, but Byrnes thought it was thus for both pitchers, and there's not much to complain about as long as there's consistency.
East Valley Tribune recap (which seems to have accumulated more obtrusive ads lately) Hernandez said he really didn't want to walk Blum, he tried to get him out with those breaking balls, but Geoff didn't bite. Livan made one mistake - much like Peavy did - but unfortunately his was more costly.
Previews of today's game...
Preview from Yahoo MLB Webb vs Germano. Webb's scoreless inning streak may be over, for which he says he is a bit relieved, but he is running a 5-game winning streak up there. Germano has faced us three times before, and is 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA in two starts and one relief appearance. But his second start was rockier than his first: the Republic points out that the loss came on July 31, when Arizona scored four runs in five innings. Stephen Drew and Solo-Home Run King Chris Young have both homered off Germano this season, let's hope they can put some extra power into their bats to get it out at Petco.
Notes and such..
In the Republic's daily notes from Piecoro, Nick notes that a change in the Number 5 starter could be forthcoming. That position has an 11.95 ERA in the past 6 starts and only 20 1/3 innings! Options for Sunday (which is after the rosters expand) include Petit, EdGon and AAA starter Dana Eveland. While Eveland's numbers (1 ER in his past 16 innings) look promising, Nick points out that we may not need a number 5 starter much the rest of the season, and I think that would lead to EdGon getting the nod rather than bringing up a AAA pitcher. Then again, BoMel might want to give those guys the extra day off and maybe facing a new guy will keep the other teams on their toes more than the standard fare. We'll see...
A few interesting articles lately on the youthfulness of the Diamondbacks, and one is Jeff Passan's column. O'Dawg says he's the old man (which we knew!), not the grandpa but the uncle, and O adds, "It's fun to watch us," Hudson said. "These kids are going to be damn good." Passan points out that we've had our share of problems this season, and yet we're in first.
Even Upton, baseball's top prospect, has struggled. Since Aug. 8, he is hitting .170 with a .505 on-base-plus-slugging and 18 strikeouts in 53 at-bats. And though Young's power and speed numbers sparkle, his .314 on-base percentage as leadoff hitter is fourth-worst among the 25 hitters with as many plate appearances.
A feature in the San Jose Mercury News discusses how young all the NL West teams are or are getting, or not, as the case may be. Arizona's players are ready for the big leagues when they come, and we have the most under 25. Interestingly, San Diego has none, and no prospects made BA's Top 100. That can't fare well the next few seasons.
Alright, that's all I've got for today. Sorry for the tardiness (and lengthiness) in posting! I'll work on writing faster and probably less in the story and save some of my comments for, well, the comments section.
Have at it, everyone! What news have you found today? Thoughts on the above articles?
(Oh and I'm totally open to suggestions for the title of the feature. I stole it from the Daily Link Dumps over at Athletics Nation and would love to be more creative, except I'm not.)