:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/11755801/20130220_jla_ar5_292.0.jpg)
|
|
D-backs line-up:
- Gerardo Parra, CF
- Martin Prado, 3B
- Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
- Miguel Montero, C
- Cody Ross, RF
- Eric Chavez, DH
- A.J. Pollock, LF
- Didi Gregorius, SS
- Cliff Pennington, 2B
How appropriate is it that the next Derek Jeter (phrase courtesy of Wildly Inaccurate Misquotes, Inc, a subsidiary of Dead Horse Enterprises) will make his Diamondbacks debut at Yankee Stadium. An MVP campaign surely beckons. Less facetiously, I confess that I am looking forward to seeing how he does. If we apply the Reno adjustment to his numbers with the Aces, we get a line of .307/.324/.505, which we would all take in a heartbeat. However, I'd rather not, since that was based off only seven games in Triple-A: Kila Ka`aihue has basically the same OPS there and his major-league stats have not lived up to expectations.
Random trivia question. Didi is wearing #1 for the D-backs, and will be the fifth player to do so. Can you name the other four?
Neither starter has ever gone up against their opponent as that role. Cody Ross and Cliff Pennington do have experience against Hughes and the latter has done pretty well, going 4-for-8 with a double and a home-run. More of that today would be nice. As yesterday with Wade Miley, Ben Francisco is the only Yankee to have seen our starter, having gone 0-for-3 against Corbin. Thus far, he and Hughes have had dramatically opposite starts to the season, and I'm hopeful that will continue, with Arizona perhaps managing not to blow the lead they had in each of the first two games, and taking the final contest/.
Even if we lose today, and the Yankees complete the sweep, we should retain a sense of perspective. Look at our divisional rivals, for instance. The Giants just got swept by the Brewers - the same team we swept in Milwaukee - and the Dodgers were also swept this week, at home, being outscored 22-7 by the Padres. LA are now below .500, with their Greinke replacement, Chris Capuano, hitting the DL today. Matt Cain and Clayton Kershaw took the losses in the sweep-clinching contests. In comparison, being swept on the road by the Yankees would seem a worthy performance in comparison. But I'd rather it didn't happen, obviously.
[The other D-backs to wear #1 are: Cody Ransom (2011-12), Bobby Crosby (2010), Orlando Hudson (2006-08), and Andy Green (2004-05)]