SnakeBytes: Paint Balling edition

Hitters

• [AP] Trumbo hopes to bring more than power to D-Backs - "I understand that's why they brought me over, to hit a few home runs, drive in some runs. I look forward to the opportunity to improve my all-around game as well. The last thing you really want to be is a one-dimensional player. I'm going to have to prove a lot of people wrong, but it's my intention to go out there and play hard and do that."
• [NYTimes] A Diamondbacks Outfielder Who Throws Strikes - One teammate walked by, tapped the bat and asked if Parra knew how to use it. Another called him Billy Wagner... Parra disputed the comparison, more out of accuracy than modesty. Parra could never throw 100. He said he was more like the two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana. "When I go sign with the D-Backs, I threw 92, 93. But I like defense more. I like playing every day." [And a link to your AZ SnakePit!]
• [FOX Sports] Chavez in it to win it - "I told Kevin, I said, 'I don't even know if I want to play this year, so just give me some time.' A lot of teams started calling, and they were good, competitive teams, teams that were right there. I told Kevin, 'I would love to come back here, but I want to see what you guys are going to do.' And they went for it. They made the effort."
• [dbacks.com] Ross ahead of schedule in return from hip surgery "Today was the first official day for me to run on the ground," he said. Prior to Monday, the only official running Ross had done was on a treadmill that lifts a certain percentage of a person's body weight and in the pool treadmill. Ross was told he could participate in the team's paintball game Monday afternoon, but that he had to limit his movement. "Last year, I was one of the front-line guys that charged forward," he said. "This year, I will hold back and protect the flag and hopefully be the last man standing."
• [AP] Humble Goldschmidt becomes face of Diamondbacks - "I never really thought about it," Goldschmidt said. "You want to go out and play well every year. It doesn't matter whether you had a great year or a bad year the year before, you've got to go out and do it. We all start with no hits, no RBIs, no average so it doesn't matter what happened."

Pitchers

• [ArizonaSports] Hernandez hits reset on personal, professional life - "Being sent down, I just able to go down and just have fun, play baseball again. In the end, you always want to do well no matter where you're at, but I just knew being in Triple-A, it was just a time to just fix myself in general and my personal life and baseball as well. I just felt like the two were mixing. As much I would tell teammates, ‘oh, it's not bothering me,' but you really don't understand how much it bothers you until you go through it. It's one of those things where it's hard to separate the two."
• [AZ Central] Reed’s crossfire delivery & other stuff - "It’s crossfire," Miguel Montero said. That’s one way to describe it. Another is that he throws across his body or that he cuts himself off. Left-hander Wade Miley does the same thing. It’s a way for pitchers to create deception and for some it gives them extra life on their pitches. "He’s got some weird angle," Montero said. "It was tough to catch. It was tough to pick up the ball in the batter’s box. I like him."
• [dbacks.com] Bradley eager to learn in first camp - "I want them to understand that I respect the veterans. I'm young, I'm very talented and things like that, but I want them to know how much I respect what they do, how much I respect the things they say. To them, talking to us is not a big deal, but I take everything they say to heart and I listen to everything they say. I try to understand what they've done to be here and what they've done to be successful."
• [FOX Sports] Ziegler happy with whatever role he's given - "I don't care. I understand the media wants to report it and fantasy players want to know and whatever else, but we want to win games, we want to get to October and we want to win in October. If that means I'm pitching the ninth inning, great. If the best spot for me is the seventh inning, I'm fine with that, too."
• [AZ Central] Bradley's knuckle-curve a weapon - Bradley was first taught to throw a knuckle-curve by his Oklahoma youth team coach Mike Houser to keep stress off his elbow. Now, he considers it to be an "out-pitch." "It’s funny because a typical curve ball is pretty bad for a young kid," said Bradley. "But the way I throw it, it’s not bad for my elbow or bad for my arm. So I was able to throw it at a young age and I think that’s the reason I’ve continued to throw it and have success with it."

Other stuff

• [CSN Philadelphia] D-backs bet future on Mark Trumbo - "Arizona loses a lot of games to the Dodgers because they aren’t built to beat them. L.A.’s rotation will negate the D-backs’ biggest strength... I’m predicting they go 84-78, miss the playoffs and finish tied for second place in the NL West with the Giants."
• [dbacks.com] D-backs hit paintball course in bonding exercise - "One of the things we talked about is to think more like a tribe, where the bigger the adversary, the more formidable the tribe," Gibson said. "We'll know how we want to accomplish things, and we just have to stay within ourselves and continue to believe that we can do that. If you work together and you stay together, if you see a guy kind of drifting out there, then we have to pull him back in."
• [AZ Central] Diamondbacks have at least 5 candidates for ‘pre-arb’ contract extensions - "In his time with the Diamondbacks, General Manager Kevin Towers has finalized just one big-dollar, pre-arbitration contract extension... If the Diamondbacks do, in fact, look into extensions this spring, there are five players who stand out as obvious candidates — although only three are true "pre-arb" players. Some look like safer bets than others, but they could all make sense from the club’s perspective."
• [dbacks.com] Date Night at the Ballpark - The D-backs have teamed up with the Association of Marriage & Family Ministries to host a night focused on the importance of healthy marriages and relationships. Be a part of this special event, which will include dating and marriage stories from celebrity couples, a keynote speaker, comedy, and live music. The night will be highlighted by Jase and Missy Roberton from Duck Dynasty, sharing their love story as well as entertainment from David and Tamela Mann, co-stars on Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns.