|
|
In the Houston Chronicle on Sunday, Zachary Levine wrote, "If the Astros can't get their offense going against the pitching trainwreck that is/are the Arizona Diamondbacks, maybe they never will." As I mentioned last night on SBNation's baseball page, after one run in 18 innings, the score thus far appears to favor the trainwreck. There's also some other trivia there, such as the fact that only three NL teams since 1968 have scored fewer runs in their first 26 games than the 73 managed by Houston to date.
Line-ups and stuff after the jump
- Kelly Johnson 2B
- Stephen Drew SS
- Justin Upton RF
- Mark Reynolds 3B
- Adam LaRoche 1B
- Chris Young CF
- Gerardo Parra LF
- Chris Snyder C
- Rodrigo Lopez RHP
It will be the fourth time this line-up has been used this year, which makes it the most commonly-used of the year. That may not seem like much, but at the end of 2008 - the last full year of the 'Mad Scientist' - the most common line-up had been used just five times. Hinch has been a model of stability in comparison, even with the loss of two everyday players in Montero and Jackson.
Myers has faced Arizona six times before, only one of those times has come since 2005: He took the loss in May 2008, allowing six earned runs over five frames, as we beat the Phillies 8-3 at Chase, in a game that saw Brandon Webb go to 8-0 in his eighth start of the year. As former divisional rivals in Atlanta, LaRoche and Johnson have most experience against Myers, but both are hitting below .200; collectively. the current team line is .217/.275/.386, which is almost Astrosesque in its depth. Hopefully, they will do better tonight.
While you're at it, scope out the contrast between where the D-backs are in hitting and pitching. Even after allowing one run in the previous 18 innings, the team has still produced, but also allowed, more hits than any other team in the league - the same goes for most offensive and pitching categories. Anyway, Azrecap tonight, so I'm sure this game will be "interesting." Take that how you want, and as long as it ends with Arizona back at .500, I'll be happy.