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Quotes of the Day
"He didn’t locate at all. I haven’t looked at the pitches (on video), but that’s a very good-hitting team. They’re very aggressive. They’re a very good fastball-hitting team. And the breaking ball that Jay hit out didn’t do much at all. It was just kind of hanging over the middle of the plate. He didn’t execute his pitches very well tonight. If you don’t execute against this club, they’re a very good hitting ballclub."
- Kirk Gibson on Heath Bell
"He’s probably the strongest guy I’ve seen. If he gets the barrel on it, it’s going to get out, no matter if he’s on one foot or one toe."
- Trevor Cahill on Matt Holliday
And now, the three stages of Heath Bell fandom
1. Hope
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Heath Bell is about to make his Diamondbacks debut.</p>— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) <a href="https://twitter.com/nickpiecoro/status/319294092653785090">April 3, 2013</a></blockquote>
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2. Despair
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>One pitch, one home run allowed for Heath Bell.</p>— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) <a href="https://twitter.com/nickpiecoro/status/319294317443293184">April 3, 2013</a></blockquote>
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3. Apathy
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Welp.</p>— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) <a href="https://twitter.com/nickpiecoro/status/319297273160949760">April 3, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Diamondbacks Links
Holliday just no fun for D-backs' Cahill - Fox Sports Arizona
The D-Backs lose 6-1. Cahill looked decent in his first start, but struggled at times, giving up the world's lowest homer to Matt Holliday.
Q&A: Archie Bradley, Future D-Backs Ace - FanGraphs Baseball
David Laurila of FanGraphs brings us an interesting interview with the Diamondbacks' ace-in-waiting Archie Bradley. When asked about Trevor Bauer's twitter comments about working up in the zone, Archie replied:
Nothing against Trevor, but I don’t understand how you can live up in the zone. I’ve watched baseball for 15 years now — and the game has been around forever — and no one has really succeeded by throwing the ball up in the zone. I think it’s a lot harder to hit a ball going 95 mph at the knees than it is going 95 mph at the chest. If you can pitch down in the zone, you can be successful.
He comes across as a cerebral pitcher in the interview, which hopefully leads to good things for the young man.
Nick P discusses Heath Bell, Matt Holliday's brute strength, and J.J. Putz's acting career.
Who is the face of replacement-level? - Tangotiger Blog
Willie B. fans avert your eyes. Tom Tango had this to say about the Snakes' utility infielder:
"What is fascinating about Willie is that HE NEVER GETS WORSE. If you win the worst player in the league all the way back in 2006, and you’re still playing without ever getting 500 PA in any season, you’ve really got something special. I love Willie in the same way that I love Mariano Rivera: they never get better, they never get worse. They just are there, every year, doing their thing, while everyone else around them succumbs to Father Time, or puts up some flukey year."
I'm sure he meant it in a good way.
Nice write-up about the D-Backs' low-A affiliate, the Hillsboro Hops (formerly the Yakima Bears). The article offers some interesting insight into the man-with-the-plan's past, to wit: Did you know Kevin Towers was a wine connoisseur? Welp, you do now and that little tidbit is gonna take up precious real estate in your cranium for all eternity.
D-backs lead MLB with lowest fan cost index for seventh straight year - dbacks.com
CHEAPEST BEER IN BASEBALL WOOOOOO!!!
The Rest of the West
Everybody's gotta win sometime.
Hyun-Jin Ryu looked good in his debut, Madison Bumgarner looked better.
Around the League
Yu Darvish loses perfect game with 2 outs in 9th - Si.com
Yu Darvish took a perfect game into the bottom of the ninth only to have Marwin Gonzalez send a single right back through Darvish's legs. Who is Marwin Gonzalez you say? Well, according to Wikipedia, Gonzalez bats "while taking dumps," throws "like a baby," was born in 1900, and wears number 69. Stay classy Rangers fans.
Free agency ain't dead, it's just boring - Baseball Nation
While free agency might not be dead, it's pretty much doing the Bernie at this point. Kevin Towers cited this trend when discussing his decision to lock up Paul Goldschmidt. Good players just don't seem to hit the open market anymore.
20 ways to improve baseball right now | The Strike Zone - SI.com
Sign me up Jay Jaffe. I'll get Bud on the horn first thing in the morning and see if we can't make this happen.
Marginalia
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Just wrapped recording on the first Fringe-Average podcast with @<a href="https://twitter.com/mikeferrinsxm">mikeferrinsxm</a> . Should be up tomorrow. It was <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23slack">#slack</a>.</p>— Jason Parks (@ProfessorParks) <a href="https://twitter.com/ProfessorParks/status/319298887301083137">April 3, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Up and In fans should get excited as Jason Parks' new podcast is almost here.
Robinson Cano Leaves Scott Boras for Jay-Z’s Agency - NYTimes.com
Hova's gonna be an agent.