Chris Owings is Useful Again

On September 12, 2016 By

The Diamondbacks are going to have a good dilemma on their hands this winter: figuring out where and how to utilize Chris Owings in 2017. Entering the season, it looked like Owings was more or less a lost cause. He was on the active roster because A.J. Pollock wasn’t and his valued was limited to just that of a oh-shit …

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Are Hits Up the Middle Hurting the Diamondbacks?

On September 8, 2016 By

The Diamondbacks have an okay offense if you look at it through the standard lens of runs scored. By that measurement, they’re 14th in baseball. But, consider they’ve played 68 games at Chase Field and 10 more at Coors Field. Those are run-producing parks, as we’ve said a thousand times by now, and if you want to take park factors …

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Get to Know Your AFL Diamondbacks Prospects

On September 6, 2016 By

The Arizona Fall League is upon us once again, which is sort of hard to believe, but I guess time flies when you’re losing a bunch of games. In case you’re not privy, the Arizona Fall League is the premier prospect league of the minor league season and it takes place in the Phoenix metro area in October and November. …

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D-backs Turn Michael Bourn Into Something

On September 1, 2016 By

On Wednesday, which is the day before today, the Diamondbacks made a move that was perhaps unexpected. They called up Yoan Moncada to provide support at third base while the team is in the thick of the wild card race. Oh wait, wrong headline. A little further down the “breaking news” wire, it was announced that center fielder Michael Bourn…

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Time for a Checkup

On August 30, 2016 By

It’s important to take a step back sometimes. The view from 5,000 feet can be useful. Getting into the nitty gritty is mostly what we aim for here, but every once in a while you’ve really got to examine the whole thing. The Diamondbacks have been bad this year and everyone knows it. The team has stunk, the front office …

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Mitch Haniger: the Next Jake Lamb?

On August 29, 2016 By

There have been few times when stats have screamed something at us the way they did with respect to Jake Lamb‘s work at High-A and Double-A; it seemed nearly certain that his minor league BABIPs revealed a sustainable source of extra bases, even though he didn’t have the home run numbers a power hitter typically shows at those levels. …

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A Little Less Golden: the Slow Decline of Goldschmidt May Be Here

On August 25, 2016 By

It’s funny how easy it is to lose sight of a great player when that player is routinely great. As good as Paul Goldschmidt is, one can lose sight of his production when looking for storylines. It’s only when he gets off to a slow start or hits a walk off home run that we stop and take notice. One …

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A Game of Adjustments for Brandon Drury (and Everyone Else)

On August 22, 2016 By

I’ve been excited about Brandon Drury for quite some time. When Justin Upton was sent to what would become a receptacle for useful Diamondbacks (also commonly referred to as “the Braves”), Randall Delgado was sort of “the big get” in return. While rumors swirled that Kevin Towers had his choice of Delgado or Julio Teheran, it was Delgado that …

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Is Extending Welington Castillo a Good Idea?

On August 18, 2016 By

While most of the talk surrounding the Diamondbacks has to do with one of many fiascos, there’s still some reason to discuss the team’s roster. Sure, it’s had it’s share of injuries and trades take their toll, leaving the team with some sub-optimal situations; one’s that seem they were unprepared to deal with, generally. Not having a backup centerfielder …

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D-backs and Run Scoring Efficiency

On August 17, 2016 By

In recent history, the D-backs’ penchant for taking extra bases seems to have them at or near the top of many base running leaderboards. As of this writing, the team is second in Baseball Prospectus’s Base Running Runs, trailing only San Diego, and last year, the D-backs finished third. It’s not like they’ve always been the NL’s top team in …

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Things Might Be Going Worse For the D-backs Off The Field

On August 16, 2016 By

When it rains, it pours, they say. No group of people know this better than residents of The Valley of the Sun now that we’re in the throws of monsoon season. The sky has literally opened up. But that whole phrase is usually an analogy, not a strict interpretation, and Diamondbacks fans understand this, too, no matter their geographic …

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Odds and Weekends: The D-Backs Had a Quirky Road Trip

On August 15, 2016 By

It’s a bit odd to think about how this season has gone – a season of juxtapositions. There was the splashy offseason that produced an interesting team on paper mirrored by the team on the field that is contending only for the top pick in next year’s draft. There’s early season Daniel Hudson and a midsummer night’s ‘mare Daniel Hudson. …

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Moving Yasmany Tomas Should Be a Priority This Winter

On August 12, 2016 By

Yasmany Tomas‘ production this season leaves the Diamondbacks at a bit of a crossroads. On a back-loaded deal with an opt-out after year four, his contract is team-friendly in the near-term. That changes significantly, however, as his salary increases to $10M in 2018, $15.5M in 2019, and $17M in 2020. The timing of those increases is poor, as the …

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In Need of Radical Change, D-backs Should Turn to Humidor

On August 11, 2016 By

Thunderstorms are in the forecast for this weekend’s series in Boston, where the hot, soupy air has had me drenched in as much perspiration as precipitation. Don’t be surprised if we see more than one player wilt over the next few days, and you can bet that most starters will get at least one of the games off. You can’t …

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The Life and Times of J. Collmenter, Vol. 1

On August 9, 2016 By

“Josh Collmenter was born February 7th, weighing in at 10-pounds, 8-ounces. He was the last of my four children, and the only one who didn’t give me any pain when I gave birth to him. That’s how I knew he was a special child.“

Okay, so between those three sentences and the title of this post, perhaps …

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Diminishing Ray-turns: A Look at Robbie Ray’s Later Inning Struggles

On August 8, 2016 By

Summertime in Phoenix is not what you want. The heat is grating and aside from Pokémon Go, there is no reason to go outside. Pool water turns to bath water and by August, we’re all essentially quarantined within our concrete and air conditioned structures. It can be relatively easy for one to forget that temperatures are actually allowed to be …

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