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Diamondbacks line-up
- Willie Bloomquist, SS
- Adam Eaton, CF
- Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
- Eric Chavez, 3B
- Martin Prado,LF
- Aaron Hill, 2B
- Miguel Montero, C
- Gerardo Parra, RF
- Trevor Cahill, P
Well, good job we've got Bloomquist on the team to hit leadoff, since it's a tough left-handed pitcher in there for the Giants tonight. Yes: this is sarcasm. Vogelsong is right-handed, but instead of the left-handed Gregorius or switch-hitting Pennington (career OPS 100 points better against RHP), we have Bloomquist there. Who is also the worst defender of the trio. Look I know it's Old Fogey Alumni Night, Kirk, but that doesn't mean you need to play all the old guys. We're just missing Wil Nieves, getting a spot-start in place of Montero, and we'd have every position player on the team who is 32 or older.
Frankly. Miggy might deserve a benching after that horrible at-bat with the bases loaded and one out last night - he was fanned on three swinging strikes, without even making contact with the ball. That was the kind of swing you see in Game 162, from a player worn-down to the nub by a long season: which would be okay, if Montero wasn't on course for his lowest number of PAs since 2010, probably ending up about a hundred down on last season. Hard to pick on him alone though, considering the shutout was a thoroughly collective effort. Hope the offense shows up in more meaningful fashion this evening.
And which Cahill will we get? It's time to play "Wheel Of Trevor", with about a one in four chance of being unhittable, a one in four chance of being totally awful, and the balance is thoroughly moderate. Seriously: if you look at starts by Game Score, he has four of 68 or better; four of 30 or worse, and the other eleven are all in a fairly narrow range, between 40-58, with a clear ten-point gap on either side. His last start was one of the upper-end appearances, allowing one run over seven innings in Cincinnati. However, his last game was four innings of scoreless relief, in the marathon last Saturday night. I suspect recapper Marc is hoping there will be no repeat this evening...