Posts by: Jeff Wiser
The Arizona Diamondbacks coaching staff and front deserve a strong compliment from how they’ve handled the outfield situation in 2015. We’ve been outspoken about it here and on The Pool Shot. We knew A.J. Pollock had center field locked up, but with David Peralta, Ender Inciarte, Mark Trumbo and Yasmany Tomas in the fold early on, the situation …
Continue Reading →Let’s just skip the introductory paragraph. I’m not a fan of beating a dead horse and that’s what all of these starting pitching posts seem like after a while. The starters were 27th in WAR, 21st in ERA, 24th in FIP, 26th in HR/9, 22nd in BB/9 and 18th in K/9. That’s bad and …
Continue Reading →In the first year of collecting exit velocities, we’ve uncovered a few truths. The first and most important, although also the most obvious, is that the old adage of “hit the ball hard and good things will happen” is consistent with the data that’s been recorded. When the ball is blasted to virtually any field, the odds of a good …
Continue Reading →With the way the Diamondbacks have hit the ball in 2015, everyone knows that the pressure will be on the team to improve the pitching staff. That was a concern heading into the 2015 campaign and acquiring Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster and Jeremy Hellickson served as more of a band-aid than a solution. Robbie Ray’s earned …
Continue Reading →Nick Ahmed led off for the Diamondbacks last night. That was a surprise, but given what he’s done against lefties (at times) this year, it wasn’t a total shock. Chris Owings hit second and that was surprise, too. Considering that Owings has managed to be worse against lefties than righties in 2015, showing a neat little reverse platoon split, that …
Continue Reading →There’s some funny stuff going on in baseball. That’s more or less always the case, especially in September, but it’s probably worth pointing out nonetheless. The Minnesota Twins might make the playoffs. They weren’t supposed to be good at all but somehow have been. They’re 26th in fWAR for position players and 16th in fWAR for pitchers. They were projected …
Continue Reading →Once upon a time, the Diamondbacks were a relevant baseball team. If it seems like that was a long time ago, it’s because it kind of was. If it seems like that wasn’t a long time ago, it’s because it kind of wasn’t. I don’t really know what that means – it was a middle amount of time ago? The …
Continue Reading →When Yasmany Tomas was signed last winter, I certainly did my best to describe the asset the Diamondbacks had just purchased. But that was a difficult task. Tomas hailed from Cuba and there wasn’t a lot to go on. We had a few scouting reports from international sources, but little video, and even the reports were based on limited viewings. …
Continue Reading →Brad Ziegler is a unique pitcher. You don’t have to see him throw more than two pitches to understand that. His mechanics, his motion, his repertoire, how his pitches move – all of these fall well outside the norm. As a reliever, he’s particularly unique in that he doesn’t generate a lot of strikeouts in an era where strikeouts have …
Continue Reading →Good news comes in many forms. Sometimes you get a raise or a promotion, sometimes you find an old Snickers from last Halloween in the bottom of your sock drawer (how’d it get there?) and sometimes you’re long-lost uncle from the Ivory Coast writes to tell you that you’ve inherited millions of dollars that can all be yours if you’ll …
Continue Reading →The Diamondbacks’ roster has been on full-fledged WTF Mode for about two weeks now. Up and down, down and up, maybe a little sideways mixed in for good measure; players have been moving all over the place. Initially I wanted to create a “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego”-inspired map to show how it’s all gone down, but …
Continue Reading →Ups and downs are part of the game of baseball. Whether you want to admit it or not, it’s this series of changes that helps make baseball so compelling. Without the ebbs and flows, the waxing and the waning, the ever-changing currents, the game would be far too static. This a lot easier to admit when you’re working with that …
Continue Reading →When J.J. Putz came to Arizona from Chicago, New York and Seattle, he’d already been through a lot as a major league reliever. Five campaigns as a Mariner, then one as a Met and one with the White Sox had left Putz with a lot of mileage on his right arm. But he still threw kinda hard and had a …
Continue Reading →Hey, here’s something fun! Well, it’s fun to me, maybe it’s not fun for you. How should I know what you think is fun? That first sentence is all kinds of presumptive but, really, I just don’t care. I’m betting that you think this is fun. Luckily, I’m not betting very much. But anyways, here’s the challenge:
Tell me what …
Continue Reading →Okay, the title is a little ominous, but hear me out. Jeremy Hellickson is entering his third year of arbitration this winter. He’s making $4.28 million this year, a figure that was decided upon after he missed a good chunk of 2014 with injury and had uninspiring results. Hellickson has stayed healthy in 2015 and has improved his stock on …
Continue Reading →@ryanpmorrison
Best part of Peralta’s 108 mph fliner over the fence, IMHO: that he got that much leverage despite scooping it out… https://t.co/ivBrl76adF, 
RT @OutfieldGrass24: If you're bored of watching Patrick Corbin get dudes out, you can check out my latest for @TheAthleticAZ. https://t.co/k1DymgY7zO, - Of course, they may have overtaken the league lead for outs on the bases just now, also...
But in 2017, Arizona ha… https://t.co/38MBrr2D4b,
- Prior to the games today, there had only been 5 steals of 3rd this season (and no CS) in the National League. The… https://t.co/gVVL84vPQ5,
- RT @OutfieldGrass24: Patrick Corbin has a WPA of .318 and it's only the fifth inning.,
Powered by: Web Designers@outfieldgrass24
- Always love it when The Annual hits https://t.co/m2VgpXpEOm,
RT @ZHBuchanan: Carson Kelly has more days of service time than plate appearances. That's a hard way to get better.
Now clear of Y… https://t.co/no5tjBlyg1, - The Severino deal seems good? He's now officially rich and is protected from injury risk a bit. The Yankees get a s… https://t.co/bepLVhZKPX,
- Go talk to Eno about beers and baseball and fantasy baseball and the rain in California https://t.co/0KPLO1WWcI,
RT @NatsGMdotcom: THE @Nats_GM Show #143 - Guest @OutfieldGrass24 discusses his new gig @BaseballPro, the state of the Arizona… https://t.co/zldiBydrL8,
Powered by: Web Designers
