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And here we go:
| Rotation | Trend | Notes |
| Ian Kennedy |  |
Not a terrible start to the year, and hey he's 2-0!, but it's not quite what we expect to see from our ace. Kennedy sports a 3.86 ERA after three starts and has a nice SO/9 clip of 8.2 but he's allowing more hits than usual. BABIP induced or not, we'll want to see that number regress down before he gets a thumbs up from us. |
| Daniel Hudson |  |
Back-to-back sub-par starts to start the season against the Giants and Rockies. Hudson went 6 2/3 innings against San Francisco, allowing four runs off of five hits, and followed up that performance by allowing six runs and ten hits in a 3.2 inning effort against Colorado. He righted the ship today in a two-run effort against the Pirates in 7 2/3 innings but still took the loss. He's already allowed five home runs through the first three games, nearly a third of what he gave up in 2011. |
| Joe Saunders |  |
The guy everyone hates to love or loves to hate... aka our best starting pitcher so far in 2012. Bazooka Joe has a 0.64 ERA after two golden starts against the Pirates and Padres. Well, yeah, it was the Pirates and Padres but let's not focus on that. Joe continues to do veteran things and pitch deep into games posting back-to-back quality starts with a pair of 7 inning outings. He's allowed only ten hits with just one of them being an extra-baser and his K:BB is a little better than normal Saundo level at 9:4. |
|
Josh Collmenter |
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Josh has started 2012 by doing his best Barry Enright impression and totally flopping in his Sophomore debut. After two poor starts, Collmenter has a 12.86 ERA and hasn't pitched deeper than the 4th inning, allowing three home runs along the way. His walk rate has skyrocketed going back to Spring Training and recent discussions seem to have him pegged as a soon to be Reno Ace or Bay Bear. |
|
Trevor Cahill |
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Despite a terrible 11:8 K:BB Cahill has been fairly impressive on the mound as a Diamondback. Two strong starts, allowing only six hits and two runs, has Trevor looking like a pretty decent pickup so far. He's also tabbed a pair of double-plays and, like Saunders, has allowed just one extra-base hit. |
| Bullpen | ||
| J.J. Putz |
|
Already one blown save in the books and a somewhat shaky first appearance in the opening game but, for the most part, he's looked like himself. Half of his outs are via the strikeout while the rest are mostly on the ground. Given that he's appeared in five of the first twelve games I'd chalk this one up and hope for better results going forward. |
| David Hernandez |
|
Essentially copy and paste from above with Putz. Hernandez has appeared in seven games already and has had most of his issues occur on limited rest. He inherited his first runner today against the Pirates and allowed him to score giving the Pirates the 2-1 lead and eventually the win. |
| Bryan Shaw |
|
Stranded all four inherited runners so far but seems to be plagued by the same thing as Putz and Hernandez - overuse. Shaw has pitched in seven games as well with most on short rest. He's been admirable so far but gave up some key hits and the lead to the Pirates a day ago. |
| Craig Breslow |
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Only one hit allowed through five innings but a terrible 4:5 K:BB needs to be addressed. He has stranded his only inherited runner to start the year. |
| Brad Ziegler |
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Like Breslow, Ziegler has pitched fairly well but has already allowed three walks. A 1.80 ERA is nice but he allowed an inherited runner to score while facing his only batter in a game against Colorado. |
| Joe Paterson |
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Much like last year it looks like Paterson will be pitching at a rate of about five innings a month. After just three appearances, Joe-paw has had a bit of a rough start, allowing a trio of hits and a run while allowing one of his three inherited runners to score. He's also failed to record a strikeout after facing 9 batters. |
| Wade MIley | |
Gibson seems to be reserving Miley sightings strictly to Collmenter starts. Miley has replaced Collmenter in both of his poor starts, pitching to the tune of 2 hits allowed through seven innings with a 1:3 K:BB. Not the best peripherals, but he's kept us in games when Collmenter hasn't. In fact, the April 8th win against the Giants is largely attributed to the his no-hit work in relief. |
| Starters |
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| Miguel Montero |
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Montero has been effective both offensively and defensively to start the year. He has a 9:7 K:BB rate and a .840 OPS with 2 homers. Behind the plate, he has caught 4 of a potential 7 stolen bases and, despite recording a passed ball, seems to be blocking pitches like the boss that he is. Also, he's batted cleanup in every game so far. |
| Paul Goldschmidt |
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A little more playing time would be nice but so far the results haven't quite been there. He had the home run off of Tim Lincecum (who hasn't this year? teehee) in the opener but he's been fairly unproductive since then. He's hitting a measly .631 OPS and is on a Mark Reynolds-esque K% of 29.4%. |
| Aaron Hill |
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Kelly Johnson? Not exactly, but damn near close to it. Hill has a trio of home runs to go along with a triple. That about sums up what Hill has done to start this season aside from some solid defense at 2B. |
| Willie Bloomquist |
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Meh. 10-39 with a pair of doubles and triples to go along with a .685 OPS. He's lead off every game he's started and has only one stolen base to show for it, along with a caught stealing and a pick off. |
| Stephen Drew |
 |
No more scootering and the latest reports have him returning around the first weeks of May. |
| Ryan Roberts |
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Just 9-40 with a pair of stolen bases. Nothing more and really nothing less. Optimistic for some positive regression but it's hard to imagine Roberts having another year like 2011. |
| Chris Young |
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15-Day DL retroactive to April 17th. Young was raking before the injury and arguably the best player in the league next to Matt Kemp. Young had a 1.397 OPS and a 5:6 K:BB rate. He was successful in both steal attempts and was leading the team with 13 RBIs. Fingers are crossed for a quick recovery. |
| Justin Upton |
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Hard to say what kind production has been hampered by the injury but Upton has had a rough start to the 2012 season. On the bright side, a 10:7 K:BB rate is pretty damn good for him. |
| Jason Kubel |
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A slow start for Kubel hurts him the most as he backs the most criticism. That KT depth doesn't look nearly as bad anymore even if it is expensive as hell. Kubel's starting to pick it up recently but still has a .627 OPS and has yet to hit a ball into the bleachers. |
| Bench |
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| Gerardo Parra |
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Like much of the Arizona offense, Parra is still looking to hit his stride. With the slew of injuries in the outfield he'll have a few extra at-bats to get things going. |
| Cody Ransom *** |
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| Lyle Overbay |
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In six games Overbay has a .800 OPS and has looked like a faithful backup to Goldschmidt. Hopefully it stays that way in more ways than one. |
| John MacDonald |
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More home runs than Albert Pujols. |
| Geoff Blum |
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15-Day DL retroactive to April 16th due to... oldness. |
| Henry Blanco |
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One game, one hit wonder. |
*** Recalled from Triple-A