Can the D-backs Add a Big Piece at the Trade Deadline?

On July 11, 2017 By

If you would have told fans the Diamondbacks could be .500 at the All Star break, most would have gladly taken it. Five over? Even better. Ten over? Now you’ve got to kidding, right?  In reality, the team just got swept in Los Angeles and is still SEVENTEEN games over .500. It seems unreal. You know the reasons why …

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2017 D-backs Midseason Top 10 Prospects

On July 10, 2017 By

Midseason prospect lists are starting to roll out as we’re more than halfway through the full season affiliates’ seasons and the short season teams are well underway. New prospects have been added thanks to June’s draft and the D-backs got all of their picks in the top ten rounds signed. RHP Matt Tabor was the last to do so and …

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Just Another Advantage: D-backs Avoiding Double Plays

On July 5, 2017 By

Baseball is full of little nuances. The Diamondbacks are succeeding on the field this year for some very obvious reasons, but there are some very small reasons for their success, too. It’s easy to point to All Star performances from Paul Goldschmidt, Zack Greinke, Robbie Ray and Jake Lamb (YAY!!!), but it’s easy to miss some of the …

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Randall Delgado Putting More Pressure on Hitters

On June 26, 2017 By

It seems like only yesterday that the Diamondbacks seemed to lack quality starting pitchers. Now, they seem to have too many. Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray are one of the best tandems in baseball right now. Taijuan Walker is back and pitching effectively. Even Patrick Corbin has turned in three good starts in a row. Losing Shelby Miller hurt, but …

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Lineout: Don’t Forget About David Peralta

On June 19, 2017 By

With the Diamondbacks winning seven in a row, including five on the road, the team is finally drawing some serious national attention. Paul Goldschmidt is off to the best start of his career. Zack Greinke is back on track. Robbie Ray has finally harnessed a breaking ball and he’s seen his stock rise. Jake Lamb leads the majors in …

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The Playoff Push: Making the D-backs Even Stronger

On June 15, 2017 By

It took three days, but the MLB Draft is over. After like nine million picks (it was actually just 1,215), it’s all said and done. The Diamondbacks didn’t draft anyone who’ll be joining the club down the stretch, and though it’s a rarity, that actually does happen on occasion. Brandon Finnegan pulled it off a few years back for Kansas …

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Lineout: D-Backs Draft Trends from Day One

On June 13, 2017 By

The MLB First-Year Player Draft kicked off last night and if you didn’t notice, I won’t blame you. The MLB Draft is certainly a smaller spectacle than the NFL Draft and even pales in comparison to the NBA and it’s ping pong balls. The Diamondbacks had the 7th overall pick, the highest pick they’ve held since selecting Dansby Swanson 1-1 …

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A More Aggressive Paul Goldschmidt

On June 6, 2017 By

In a world where breaking news is all the rage, we’re inundated with information about the unlikeliest of events. For us baseball folk, that’s learning who Dinelson Lamet is, that Zack Cozart could overtake Mike Trout for the lead in fWAR among position players, and that Adam Frazier is kind of relevant. As a community, we’ve succumbed to hot-new-thing syndrome. …

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Hard Hit, So What? Robbie Ray Doesn’t Care

On June 2, 2017 By

Robbie Ray. There’s so much we’ve said about the guy. He’s been tantalizing. He’s been frustrating. He’s been monstrous. He’s been dismal. For everything you had nice to say about him entering the season, there was a big caveat attached. “He’s got big velocity, but struggles to put guys away.” “That breaking ball looked good, but did you see …

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How Much Longer Can the D-backs Stick by Patrick Corbin?

On May 30, 2017 By

The Diamondbacks came from behind yesterday on a well-timed homer from Chris Iannetta, only to end up dropping their third game in a row. As Torry Lovullo said postgame, basically, baseball giveth and baseball taketh away. Perhaps another manager, Ron Washington, encapsulated it best, saying, “That’s the way baseball go.” You can pick your own favorite euphemism, …

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Early Reflections on the Jean Segura/Taijuan Walker Trade

On May 22, 2017 By

The Diamondbacks’ trade of Jean Segura made sense. Sure, Segura had just put together the best season of his career, his lone season in the desert, and was the team’s most valuable player by fWAR in 2016. It hurt to see him go, no doubt, as Jean’s infectious attitude on the field gave fans a reason to smile. His performance …

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Pollock’s DL Stint Costs D-backs Little, For Now

On May 19, 2017 By

Entering the 2017 season, the Diamondbacks had a very narrow path to contention. True, the team is in the thick of the Contention Window, something we identified a couple of years back. Dave Stewart and Company tried to accelerate that timeline, of course, but 2017 was always the season where it looked like things might align. And align things have. …

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D-backs Pitchers Keeping Home Runs In-Check

On May 8, 2017 By

Home runs are all the rage across baseball. Since mid-2015, the ball has been flying out of every ballpark at historic levels. It’s not just sluggers putting the ball over the fence these days — even the little guys are doing it. Chris Owings is half way to double digits already and is one away from tying his career high …

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Hot Bats and Predicting the Future

On May 3, 2017 By

In case you’ve missed it, the Diamondbacks are scoring a lot of runs. Entering Tuesday’s game in Washington D.C., they were third in baseball in runs scored with 141, third in batting average at .269, 10th in isolated slugging at .169, and eighth in home runs with 31. Put all of that together and you get a pretty powerful offensive …

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Playing the Long Game: How Can the D-backs Afford to Compete?

On May 1, 2017 By

Well, April was really something. The Diamondbacks looked competitive entering the season, but after seeing them on the field, the term “competitive” might come off as pejorative. “Dominant” would be too much, but there’s surely a descriptor in the middle somewhere. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have gotten off to a slower than expected start and the Giants are without Madison Bumgarner…

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Lineout: Is Fernando Rodney This Bad?

On April 28, 2017 By

Last night was fun. The Diamondbacks punished Jered Weaver just like they should have, launching three homers off the diminished right-hander. But after a late Ryan Schimpf home run, the D-backs’ lead shrunk to the three, resulting in anxiety. Would Torrey Lovullo get Fernando Rodney up? Just the night before, Rodney surrendered five runs on six hits while recording just …

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