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Diamondbacks Lineup
- Gerardo Parra - RF
- Martin Prado - 3B
- Paul Goldschmidt - 1B
- Miguel Montero - C
- Aaron Hill - 2B
- Chris Owings - SS
- Alfredo Marte - LF
- Ender Inciarte - CF
- Mike Bolsinger - P
Well, going by the early showing, it doesn't look like Bronson Arroyo has quite been the worst free-agent acquisition of the winter. That would seem to go to the four-year contract, worth fifth million or so, handed by the Brewers to Garza. He certainly hasn't done much to justify it so far, but it doesn't seem to have stopped Milwaukee from roaring out of the gates like a nitro-propelled dragster. Through 27 games, their 20-7 record was tied (with 1987) for the best in franchise history,, going back to their origins in the sixties as the Seattle Pilots. Since then, however, they've lose four of five, so maybe they're coming back to earth a bit?
Diamondbacks go with the all Latino outfield tonight: I was almost going to say, all Venezuelan, but I checked and realized that Marte is from the Dominican Republic. It's funny how they seem to cluster. We have had four Venezuelans this season (Prado and Montero being the other two), but that pales beside the Giants, who have used no less than seven already. The Rockies have three, while the Dodgers have none at all. All told, the most international team is a three-way tie between the Giants, Brewers and White Sox, who have all used 12 players born outside the US. We have nine; the least are the Athletics and Orioles, with two apiece.
Bolsinger will be trying to do a better job after the first time through the order tonight: There, he had been almost impeccable, opposing hitters going just two-for-24, with a .310 OPS. Second time around, that balloons to a line of .370/.370/.593, and third time a worse still .444/.444/.667. Maybe we need to make him a piggyback starter with Randall Delgado, Bolsinger working the first three innings, then Delgado taking over for the next three. Unconventional, but those numbers are almost so extreme as to belie the small sample size. Besides, unconventional is good. Just ask Jack Bauer....