A 4-2 week for Arizona, sweeping the Mets, and avoiding a sweep on the road in Philadelphia. The result was our lead expanding to 2.5 games, with 38 left on the schedule. Baseball Prospectus still thinks the Giants are 70% favorites to win the division. Reading the comments on McC [part of my morning ritual, after I've read the other funny pages], they appear to be the only ones. But which of the men in Sedona Red had a good week, and which will be looking to improve? That's what I am here to tell you. A clue: it wasn't the offense.
Rotation | Trend | Notes |
Ian Kennedy | Kennedy doing what he does: two starts, though yesterday's rain-shortened outing hardly counts. Four runs in 10 innings is a 3.60 ERA - mostly versus the Phillies. A little wobbly in the control department, with five walks, but nine K's, so all seems well here. |
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Daniel Hudson | Got the win, and not helped by his defense, with two of the four runs allowed against the Mets being unearned. He's got himself back on track, with a 3.32 ERA over this trio of August starts. Looking for a strong outing against Atlanta this evening |
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Joe Saunders | Regression. Regression regression regression. Regression? Regression regression. Regression-regression. Regression regression regression regression. Regression! |
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Josh Collmenter |
Seems to have solidified his spot in the rotation. Followed up the admittedly hardly-taxing task of holding the Astros, with a decent game against the much more-formidable Phillies, keeping them to two runs in 6.2 innings, with an 8:1 K:BB ratio. |
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Jason Marquis |
Maybe the D-backs need to drink more milk. For Marquis became the fifth player, not including Matt Williams, to suffer a fracture of some kind this year. For all practical purposes, stick a fork in him: he's done. |
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Bullpen | ||
J.J. Putz |
Lightly taxed, "only" appearing in half the team's games, and nailing down all three save opportunities. One hit and one run in three innings. |
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David Hernandez |
Similarly, showed up in three games - including last night, where he came in to record the final out, with the team down by three. Just keeping it lose, Dave. One run allowed |
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Bryan Shaw |
It's taken some tinkering - most of the AZ bullpen has been replaced since Opening Day - but we've got a solid 'pen. Shaw had three scoreless innings, and has a 2.70 ERA in his first 18 games. |
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Micah Owings |
When working more than one inning in relief this year, Owings has allowed five ER over 22.2 innings, a 1.99 ERA. Good to have someone like that for situations such as last night. |
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Joe Paterson | JoePa has quietly amassed a 13-game streak of scoreless appearances. Over that time he has allowed three hits in eight innings, with no walks and five strikeouts. |
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Brad Ziegler |
Just one appearance this week, and it didn't go well. He failed to retire any of the four batters faced, though due in part to his own error, only one of the four runs were earned. |
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Zach Duke |
Got the win against the Mets, despite allowing two runs in 2.2 IP. Scoreless inning against the Phillies, but has been hit at a .355 clip over the past two weeks. Mop-up work, I'd say. |
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Starters |
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Miguel Montero |
Sat out a couple of games, but managed only three hits in 14 ABs, and may not be long for the clean-up spot. Since July 29, his line is .200/.300/.240, which isn't getting it done. |
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Paul Goldschmidt |
Speaking of clean-up hitters (potential version), Goldy took the nay-sayers and stomped them into a bloody pulp, going 7-for-16 with two home-runs and a shiny 1.408. |
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Kelly Johnson |
1-for-8, taking him to 4-for-41 in August, with 15 strikeouts. It's getting to the stage where seeing Sean Burroughs on the line-up instead, counts as a refreshing change of flavor. |
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Willie Bloomquist |
Time to get him out of the lead-off spot? Willie went 2-for-19 with one walk, giving him an OBP of .190. Unfortunately, he still has to be in the line-up somewhere... |
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Ryan Roberts |
The offense this week has more Red Arrows than the Farnborough Air Show. I'd like to thank the two readers who will get this reference. RyRo went 4-for-22. |
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Gerardo Parra |
Or more red arrows than a tribe of Sioux Indians? Is that politically incorrect? Well, we're playing the Braves, so please send all complaints to Turner Field. Parra went 2-for-14. |
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Chris Young | After last week's walk-off homer, I wrote "Maybe that blast will get him going again?" Nope. It got worse. Young went 1-for-21, and over the past month is 13-for-92, a .141 clip. Ouch. |
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Justin Upton |
Cooled off, but a respectable .273 average, and with half his hits going for extra-bases, including two home-runs his OPS of .924 was a rare bright spot for Arizona. |
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Bench |
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Collin Cowgill |
Ohfer the week, in nine ABs, but pinch-ran us to victory over Doc Halladay. |
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Cody Ransom |
1-for-6 with no walks. JABRONI = Just Another Back-up ROle-player of No Importance. |
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Sean Burroughs |
Only Goldy, J-Up and RyRo had more hits than Burroughs last week. Which would be "three". Probably says more about our offense than anything. |
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Lyle Overbay |
That ninth-inning hit off Halladay should have accumulated Lyle enough good will to see out the rest of the season. |
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Xavier Nady |
Medic! Might be back before the end of the season, but whether we want him or not probably depends on how Overbay plays. |
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Henry Blanco |
Two starts this week, probably some sort of record. However, given the team are 9-16 when Blanco is in the line-up given to the umpires, this may not be a good thing. |