Diamondbacks Ups and Downs: June 1-June 7 Edition

The Diamondbacks went an even 3-3 to start the month of June, scoring 22 runs and allowing 28. They sprinkled in a couple of shutouts in between consecutive games of allowing 5 runs or more. Despite the regression in the bullpen, there's still a lot of good things to take note of; follow the jump to learn all about it...

And here we go:

Rotation	Trend	Notes
Ian Kennedy		Ian returned to form after an unflattering outing the week before. He pitched 7 innings against the Nationals, allowing only one run off of five hits. He struggled with the strike zone some, ending the night with a 3:3 K:BB rate and only a 63% strike% (still above league average but lower than his season average). Kennedy also plunked two more batters to bring his season total to 7. With the season not even half way complete, it is a bit odd that's he's only three shy of his HBP total from last year.
Daniel Hudson		Hudson had another great game, going 7 innings against the Pirates while allowing only three hits and three runs, only one of which was earned. He struck out 7 and walked only one to bring his season total to 74:20 K:BB. Meanwhile, with that start he has now pitched more innings than he did last year for the Diamondbacks. To compare, this year he has raised his GB% three points to 40.9%, lowered his HR/FB% three points to 3.9%, and sustained an impressive 7.8 K/9. As soon as his .325 BABIP starts to regress, his ERA  should start to resemble his 2.62 FIP and 3.37 xFIP.
Joe Saunders		Saunders figured out how to pitch good again, going 7 innings easily (only 93 pitches) against the Nationals. He allowed only two hits, two walks, one hit batter, with five strike outs. How did he do it? Well, Saunders tallied a 14:4 GB/FB rate that night. That's almost Brandon Webb worthy. Although his peripherals still looks kind of sloppy - his strike%, BB/9, and HR/FB% are all disappointing - he's starting to piece together his starts one by one.
Barry Enright ***		Good news and bad news on the Enright front. Barry had a 6 inning shutout to start the month, allowing only three hits and a 4:4 K:BB rate. He followed that up by going only five innings against the Salt Lake Bees, giving up 7 hits and three runs. He walked two and struck out six in the contest and has now gone back-to-back games without allowing a home run. His ERA sits at 3.60, which is well accepted in the PCL.
Armando Galarraga #		Welcome to the PCL, Armando. After two starts: 11.00 ERA /9 IP /16 H / 11 ER /9 BB/ 3 HR /2.78 WHIP.
Josh Collmenter		Collmenter keeps doing his thing, recording a 22.8% IFFB% according to Fangraphs. That is insane. Nearly a quarter of the batters he faces popout to the infield. He had arguably one his best games against Washington, going 7 innings for the first time in his career, allowing only three hits and no runs while walking one and striking out five. He had a 5:14 GB:FB rate with 5 of the 14 flyballs being popups. The outing dropped his ERA to 1.25.
Micah Owings		We've only seen Micah once in June and that came in a two-inning relief effort against the Nationals. All he did was allow only one hit while striking out three...
Zach Duke		Duke didn't have nearly the amazing start the he did in his season debut. He allowed ten hits and four runs with no walks and six strikeouts. Plenty of positives to take from the outing though, including a 65% strike%, a 10:9 GB rate, and zero walks.
Bullpen
J.J. Putz		After sixteen consecutive saves Putz blew his first save of the season, allowing a game tying home run to John Buck of the Marlins. He buckled down after that to retire the next three batters, however, and his offense picked him up in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. Since then, Putz recorded recorded his 17th save rather easily against the Nationals and he struck out the side in his next appearance the day after. He has 25 strike outs in 26 innings and his ERA now sits at 1.73. It's hard to imagine him not in the All-Star game at this point.
David Hernandez		Ouch, ouch, ouch. After three solid relief outings to start the month, Hernandez was pummeled by the Pirates in his most recent appearance. He faced six batters and all six reached base - 4 hits (3 doubles), a walk, and a fielder's choice. Five runs scored as the D-backs 5-3 lead turned into a 8-5 deficit. Regression finally hit Hernandez and it hit him hard.
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. He threw a bullpen session June 3 and reports are that he'll pitch in a simulated game June 10.
Aaron Heilman		More problems for Heilman as he allowed 6 more runs to cross the plate in only 2.2 innings. His ERA has bounced back up to 8.84 and he's given up six home runs on the year now. Additionally, he's failed to prevent any of his five inherited runners from scoring this season.
Kameron Mickolio ++		Mickolio has tossed three scoreless innings in June so far. It's not much to talk about, but five strike outs, one walk, and only two hits is definitely encouraging.
Joe Paterson		Like Hernandez, Paterson was slapped in the face by regression this past week. After a hitless ninth inning appearance earlier in the week, Paterson came back two days later in a tie game in the 11th inning and was manhandled by the Nationals. Granted, some of the umpiring was questionable in the inning, Paterson ultimately allowed five runs off of three hits and two walks. Hopefully giving up a grand slam didn't damage his confidence.
Esmerling Vasquez		Vasquez is in the middle of appealing a three-game suspension for hitting Danny Espinosa in the June 5th beanfest against Washington. Aside from that, he pitched decently going two innings with a strike out and zero walks. He stranded the one inherited runner he had, getting three consecutive outs with Lyle Overbay at second base for the Pirates. Vasquez was charged with two earned runs in the beanfest game, but those came at the hands of Aaron Heilman.
Zach Kroenke		Had a clean ninth inning outing in the "beanfest" game against Washington. Nothing else to report on, though.
Starters
Miguel Montero		Only two hits in 21 at-bats for Miggy in June. His OBP still sits at a comfortable .357 but his OPS dropped below .800 again.
Juan Miranda		After being hitless in his first three games, Miranda busted out with a 4-4 performance in Pittsburgh. With that, he went 4-12 with a home run, a sacrifice, and a 1:2 BB:K rate. Not bad at all.
Kelly Johnson		Ladies and gentlemen, Kelly Johnson's OBP is above .300 for the first time since April 2. Johnson continues his resurgence, posting a 1.094 OPS in 20 at-bats. He tabbed a healthy 7:8 BB:K rate while nailing his 11th and 12th home runs of the season along with his second triple. Another interesting stat... he's yet to ground into a double play this season.
Stephen Drew		Drew posted a healthy slash line of .304/.360/.478/.838 in 23 at-bats. The "triple enthusiast" added two more to his season total, bringing him up to four on the year.
Ryan Roberts		Roberts has been a steady and reliable mainstay this season but most importantly he's been there to prevent Melvin Mora from playing everyday. He's struggled so far in June, however, posting a .652 OPS in 23 at-bats.
Gerardo Parra		Parra's bat continues to be a weak spot in the lineup. He could only manage a .588 OPS to start the month, going 4-17. However, he's something special to watch in left field.
Chris Young		Young is tied for 4th among the league with 18 doubles, but his OBP is still destructively low at .296. He's trying to fix this though, putting up a .333 OBP and a .986 OPS in his last 23 at-bats.
Justin Upton		Upton went 7-21 with a 2:3 BB:K rate along with going 1/2 on stolen base attempts. However, all of the attention is focused on the four hit by pitches he received in the Washington series, raising him up the leader board to place him in third in the major leagues with 8 HBP. Washington beaned Mark Reynolds in the head last year and now they're drilling Justin Upton - not a good way to make friends.
Bench
Willie Bloomquist		Sometimes I forget the Wilie is still on our roster. Bloomquist went 2-7, going 1-5 as a starter and 1-2 as a pinch hitter. He scored the winning run in the 6-5 win against the Marlins.
Melvin Mora		0-4. He's most likely due for an uptick in playing time with Roberts in a minor slump.
Sean Burroughs		2-5 with a strike out and a GDP - all in pinch hit attempts. On the season, he's 5-16 as a pinch hitter with zero walks and three strike outs.
Xavier Nady		Nady continues to put up decent numbers in a backup role. He started three of his last five games, going 3-12 with two doubles and three RBIs. He's a prime example of what a "serviceable" guy is.
Geoff Blum		Hurt: 15-Day DL stint retroactive to March 22 due to right knee surgery. No timetable for a return yet.
Henry Blanco		Like the majority of the bench, playing time has been scarce. Blanco went 0-2 with a walk and a strike out in his only appearance. He also went 0-2 on CS attempts.

***Optioned to Triple-A

# Designated for Assignment and subsequently outrighted to Triple-A

++ Optioned to Triple -A... recalled and subsequently optioned to Triple-A again