Mark Trumbo, A.J. Pollock, Cody Ross, and Gerardo Parra were supposed to man the outfield this season. As anyone who has ever done anything knows, things don’t always go according to plan. Mark Trumbo broke his foot near the end of April and has been out ever since. A.J. Pollock got hit on the hand by a …
Continue Reading →Back in the good old days of the balanced schedule, teams played other teams in their league about equally, regardless of whether they were in the same division. The quality of one’s opponent can change drastically depending on the starting pitcher, but even though three-game series aren’t a perfect match with five-man rotations, it’s hard to say that the old …
Continue Reading →It’s easy to get lost in Diamondbacks’ 16-12 record over the last month. The schizophrenic nature of the season has left fans scratching their heads, but I’m sure it’s also caused quite a problem for the Diamondbacks’ brass. What’ the true ability of this team? If they won 16 of every 28 games played for an entire season, they’d be …
Continue Reading →The D-backs outfield has been in flux over the last two seasons. Entering 2013, Justin Upton and Chris Young were out, and Cody Ross and Martin Prado were in. Coming off a 30-HR season, Jason Kubel would also start, with Adam Eaton slated to man center. Gerardo Parra would once again be the swing man, playing mainly against RHP and …
Continue Reading →Major League Drafts are perhaps the most difficult of all drafts to gauge. Think about it: a prep pick can take four or five years to mature and arrive to the majors right on time, then take two or three more years of major league growth to become the player everyone thought he’d be. In case you’re not counting, that’s …
Continue Reading →The D-backs demolished the Rockies in a three-game sweep in Denver last week before taking two of three from the Braves at home — their plus-14 run differential during the six games was enough to bump the run differential for the season to minus-51. The D-backs are 23-19 since April 22, winning at almost the exact rate we expected before …
Continue Reading →When the season began, Trevor Cahill and Randall Delgado made up two-fifths of the Diamondbacks’ starting rotation. By mid-April both had been relegated to the bullpen. Cahill was likely on a short leash after an inconsistent 2013 campaign. Similarly, the club indicated that they did not envision Randall Delgado as a starter; he was not projected to crack the rotation …
Continue Reading →Building a major league roster is a lot like building a sandcastle while the tide is coming in. Focus on some positions to the detriment of others, and you’ll never complete it adequately. Take too little care in order to complete it sooner, and you’ll never win the contest. One must be methodical and effective — and also realistic about …
Continue Reading →While the Diamondbacks are in the process of reloading their farm system, there have been some very notable happenings with current crop of minor leaguers. The most noticeable change can be seen in AAA Reno, where they not longer have the services of Didi Gregorius. He, of course, was called up to the majors for the first time since …
Continue Reading →With MLB Draft taking place tomorrow, all sights are set on a bunch of kids expected to change the forecast of every major league franchise. No pressure, kids, no pressure. The Diamondbacks have the 16th overall pick and in the first draft primer released two weeks ago, I identified some potential targets. Rather, I should say, I collected a …
Continue Reading →More than a third of the season is in the books now, and the D-backs have played a majors-leading 59 games. The team’s offense has been at least decent, but despite better pitching numbers in May, the D-backs have allowed 4.95 runs per game, easily the worst in MLB. The pitching staff has definitely struggled, but might there be more …
Continue Reading →Johnny Cueto has been, arguably, the most dominant pitcher in baseball so far this season. On Saturday, he showed his stuff in Phoenix, taking a game from the D-backs with a seven plus inning performance. Unfortunately, he also took something much more valuable to the D-backs: the structural integrity of the fourth metacarpal in A.J. Pollock‘s right hand.
Pollock …
Continue Reading →During spring training we often hear about new workout regimens, new pitches, or some other sort of improvement from players. Brandon McCarthy was no exception as he talked about a new training regimen. McCarthy’s increased velocity this season has convinced everyone that his new training program is intense. He threw his four-seam fastball 1.21 MPH faster this April versus April …
Continue Reading →Thanks in part to playing a majors-high 56 games (thanks, Australia), the D-backs are actually tied at 13th for runs scored in the majors so far this year. Switch to runs scored per game, and the team ranks just 21st in the bigs and 8th in the NL. That’s not bad, but it clearly has not been enough to carry …
Continue Reading →The Diamondbacks were terrible in the home run department last year. They tied for 25th in baseball in home runs hit in 2013 and were 23rd in home runs allowed. You don’t need any reminder of this if watched much D-backs baseball in last year, it was literally painful to watch. Giving up a lot of homers isn’t nearly as …
Continue Reading →Here at Inside the ‘Zona, we’ve published good work on a number of players this year. We’ve discussed Miguel Montero’s re-emergence, AJ Pollock’s growth, Chris Owings’ maturity, Martin Prado’s hidden value, Evan Marshall’s strong debut, Addison Reed’s home run struggles and so much more. But in case you’re not keeping score, we’ve somewhat neglected to …
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.,
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RT @ramorin_azc: #DBacks have announced players attending Spring Training, which kicks off Feb. 13 https://t.co/XbO2DFZvXY, 
RT @ClueHeywood: The guy who in 1997 shot a Maricopa County supervisor over her vote allowing tax dollars for Chase Field spoke at a… https://t.co/2RCmryyllY, 
RT @TheAthleticAZ: So, the @Dbacks are pretty much done with key additions? And your 2B and CF are … ? @ZHBuchanan
https://t.co/Q7MujxM6w8, 
RT @BenLindbergh: Wrote @ringer about the spread of multi-position players, the blurring of traditional lines between positions, and… https://t.co/Rj6KyyqWdq, - #Dbacks get three players in the 101 this year. SS Jazz Chisholm is the highest-rated (nice) with RHP Jon Duplantie… https://t.co/1mK4RQLAfb,
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