The Diamondbacks worked another winning percentage this past week going 4-3 against the Giants, Marlins, and Pirates. They outscored their opponents yet again, 39-30, and were a basehit away from stealing the division lead from the Giants. Ian Kennedy and Dan Hudson picked up more wins and Justin Upton continued to mash the ball.
Come and join us after the jump for a look at this week's trends...
And here we go:
| Rotation | Trend | Notes |
| Ian Kennedy |  |
A bit of a bump for Kennedy as the Marlins tagged him for five runs, three of which were homers. It was as many home runs as Kennedy had allowed in his last seven outings combined. Ian bounced back from it to go 8 innings, however, with 9 strikeouts and only one walk. His ERA+ of 122 is arguably All-Star worthy and is good enough for 11th best in the NL. |
| Daniel Hudson |  |
Hudson threw his 10th quality start of the season against the Marlins, holding them to one run on 8 hits through 6 innings. He walked 3 and struck out 7 and recorded a season high 5 pop ups. Meanwhile, he's racked up 2.8 fWAR which places him 4th best among the NL in pitchers. The three guys ahead of him are named Halladay, Hamels, and Lee. That's not bad company. |
| Joe Saunders |  |
Saunders tried to emulate Kennedy and did so by allowing three home runs to the Marlins. His final line of 10 hits and 5 earned runs after 6 innings is just about on par with what he has done this season. Saunders, our second highest paid player on the team, is netting us a shiny 0.0 fWAR to date. His gaudy numbers - 9.6 H/9, 1.5 HR/9, and 3.6 BB/9 - are all among some of the worst in the league. |
|
Barry Enright *** |
|
Enright continues to shine in Reno. He threw 6 strong innings against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, allowing only two hits and one run. He sported a 4:1 K:BB rate and brought his Triple-A season total to 27:10. That's a huge improvement from the 19:15 that he had with the D-backs. |
| Armando Galarraga # |
 |
It wouldn't surprise me if we don't see Galarraga again this year. He went on the 7-Day DL with "shoulder stiffness." |
|
Josh Collmenter |
|
Collmenter had back-to-back outings where he couldn't get past the 5th inning. The Pirates and Giants exhausted him, fouling off pitches and working the count in nearly every at-bat. The Giants, in particular, seemed to have his number as they hammered him for 8 hits and five runs. Maybe the league is finally catching up to him? |
| Zach Duke |
|
Duke was pitching with a comfortable 9-0 lead against the Marlins when everything fell apart. The Marlins slowly chipped away at Duke and ultimately tagged him for 13 hits and 7 earned runs through 4.2 innings. Duke did manage to knock his second homer of the year, but that pitching performance was flat-out embarrassing. |
| Bullpen | ||
| J.J. Putz |
|
Putz got a couple of rare appearances this past week, blowing a save against the Pirates and netting a save in a perfect inning against the Marlins. |
| David Hernandez |
|
Hernandez bounced back from his five-run shellacking admirably. Since then, he's faced 13 batters, striking out 5, walking one, and allowing only one single. He had a 70% strike percentage in the 3.2 innings and he continues to attack batters. |
| Juan Gutierrez |
|
15-Day DL retroactive to May 25 due to right shoulder inflammation. An MRI found rotator cuff irritation but no tears. He isn’t expected back before mid-June. |
| Sam Demel |
|
15-Day DL retroactive to May 22 due to shoulder tendinitis. His simulated game was scratched and Demel was scheduled for another bullpen session June 14. |
| Aaron Heilman |
|
Heilman has seen an uptick in playing time as the rest of the bullpen was either taxed or suspended. He threw nearly five innings, allowing five hits, two walks, and one earned run. He's playing with fire by allowing so many baserunners but he's avoided major damage so far. |
| Bryan Shaw |
|
With Zach Kroenke and Kam Mickolio both back in Reno and sporting subpar numbers, I've removed both of them from the column. Shaw looks to be the fill-in reliever of choice for now, but his MLB career hasn't started very well. He has a 1:3 K:BB rate and has allowed 2 earned runs in only an inning of work. |
| Joe Paterson | |
Paterson appeared in six of the seven games and did exactly what was expected of him. When all was said and done he had thrown two innings, allowing only one hit and one walk with three punch outs. Additionally, he stranded all five runners that he inherited. |
|
Esmerling Vasquez |
|
Vasquez appeared in four games and was suspended for two. He got roughed up in Florida, allowing 3 runs in only 1.2 innings. He still managed to record a hold in one of those contests, but it wasn't pretty. He pitched in two other games against Pittsburgh and San Francisco, allowing two hits, a walk, and zero strikeouts. Much like Heilman, Vasquez is allowing too many baserunners, as he allowed seven in just 3.2 innings this past week. |
| Micah Owings |
|
The Good: Owings stranded all three runners he inherited, pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, and had 6 strikeouts. The Bad: Owings allowed four walks in just 5.1 innings and was hard pressed to find an easy inning, throwing no less than 16 pitches in one inning. |
| Starters |
||
| Miguel Montero |
|
Miggy still shows flashes of terribleness when it comes to fielding - as seen in last night's game against San Francisco - but his offense is so awesome that we can easily forget all about it. In five games, Miggy had a slash line of .409/.409/.909/ for a 1.318 OPS, compliments of two home runs and five doubles. Additionally, in 22 at-bats he only had two strike outs. With that performance, Montero vaulted up the leaderboard to become the sole leader among the league in WAR for catchers. Currently, he sits at 2.3 fWAR. |
| Juan Miranda |
|
Miranda cooled off once again, batting a measly 1-11 in his last four games. It's more interesting to note that he only started three games. |
| Kelly Johnson |
|
Johnson was beginning to show us the power that he had displayed in 2010 but the drop in walk-rate and the rise in K% has lead to him being just an average hitter. That being said, Johnson had a pretty lousy week, going 2-23 with one double and a 4:10 BB:K rate. |
| Stephen Drew |
|
Drew continues to put up "April-esque" numbers here in June, posting a .345/.387/.552 slash line for a .939 OPS. He remains fifth in the All-Star balloting, somehow behind Alex freakin' Gonzalez. |
| Ryan Roberts |
|
The decline of Ryan Roberts continues as his OPS nearly dipped below .800 for the first time since April 4. He nailed a couple of home runs and got his first triple of the year but he only batted 5-26. Additionally, his discipline at the plate is also declining as his 3:8 BB:K rate suggests. |
| Gerardo Parra |
|
Fun fact of the day: Gerardo Parra leads the team with 9 intentional walks. The next closest batter is Miguel Montero with 4. Parra's bat was alive this past week as he hit 8-20 with a double and a triple. He was also 2-0 on stolen base attempts to bring his season total to 6-0, a career high. |
| Chris Young | |
Young notched his 19th double of the season and is slowly raising all of his stats. His batting average is above .250 for the first time since April 20 and his OBP is above .310 for the first time since April 13. Not only that, but Young stole two bases and had a positive walk rate of 5:3. Oh, and he also hit his 12th home run of the year and raised his OPS+ to 111, three points higher than his All-Star campaign last year. |
| Justin Upton |
|
Upton was LIGHTS OUT going 10-28 with four doubles, a triple, and a stolen base. He posted a slash line of .357/.471/.571 for a 1.042 OPS. His slugging percentage is back up to .500 and his OPS+ is up to 135. |
| Bench |
||
| Willie Bloomquist |
|
0-8 with a GDP, but more importantly was uninjured in what was called a "serious traffic accident." |
| Melvin Mora |
|
1-12 in 5 games (3 games started). 0-2 in PH attempts. |
| Sean Burroughs |
|
1-2 with a leadoff double that would eventually turn into his first run scored as a Diamondback. It was his first extra base hit in more than five years. |
| Xavier Nady |
|
Still being a "serviceable" backup to Miranda. Nady played in 6 games and started five, going 5-21 with a .737 OPS. |
| Geoff Blum |
|
Hurt: 15-Day DL stint retroactive to March 22 due to right knee surgery. No timetable for a return yet. |
| Henry Blanco |
|
1-8 in two starts. Nothing to see here. |
***Optioned to Triple-A
# Designated for Assignment and subsequently outrighted to Triple-A