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Diamondbacks Line-up
- Gerardo Parra, RF
- Didi Gregorius, SS
- Martin Prado, 2B
- Eric Chavez, 3B
- Miguel Montero, C
- A.J. Pollock, CF/li>
- Jason Kubel, LF
- Eric Hinske, 1B
- Brandon McCarthy, P
In all likelihood, even if we win the division, we're going to lose around 70 times this season, so after yesterday, it's worth remembering that it will happen - a lot. No winning streak lasts forever: the key is not to ensure your winning streaks are better. And so far, even when we've lost, we've rarely been outclassed. In the 16 defeats the Diamondbacks have suffered thus far, six have been by a single run, and another half-dozen by a two-run margin. That definitely a better place to be than getting blown out - though, on the other hand, we have a total of fourteen wins by two runs or less.
Still, thus far, our actual record of 21-16 is spot on the Pythagorean projected one, based on our runs scored and allowed, so that would seem fairly sustainable. There's likely some room for improvement on offense, due to our clutch hitting still not getting going: with runners in scoring position, we're hitting .218. No surprise who the stud has been: Goldzilla, who is hitting .433. And nor those at the other end: Montero and Prado are a combined 4-for-53, which startlingly bad. However, our pitchers have held the opposition to a .214 average in the same situation, so regression is probably likely to bite from both ends
Will probably look into all that a bit more on Thursday's off-day, which conveniently marks the one-quarter mark (or close enough!) of the season. Today, we''ll see if McCarthy can follow up on his first quality start of the season with his first victory. After a bad April (7.48 ERA), things seems to have improved a little in May (5.11 ERA), and he certainly did pitch better last time out. But he has still been far from what we wanted or expected, and far too prone to the long ball, with a .947 OPS against this month. That isn't a recipe for success, shall we say. We need him to step up to join Corbin, Miley and Cahill at the top of the rotation.
The big surprise today in the line-up, is not seeing Paul Goldschmidt's name in there. He has been an ever-present, starting all 37 games at first. I suppose a break is perhaps in order, and we can hardly grudge him one afternoon off a quarter season. Hinske takes over at first, making his first start in the field of 2013 - he did start one game against New York, but that was as designated hitter, which is why he has appeared in 27 games this season, but only accumulated 29 plate-appearances! He has played all of four innings on defense this season, so I hope that doesn't come back to bite us this afternoon.
azshadowwalker will be on the guest recap this afternoon, I believe, so stick around for that after the gameday thread, of course. Fang Food and the SnakePit Video Round-table to follow later. My Mother isn't on Twitter, Facebook or even the Internet - it's not even Mother's Day in Scotland, and she always used to say firmly, "Every day is Mother's Day." So I won't be doing much, but Happy Mother's Day to all who qualify for the title!