Currently viewing the tag: "Archie Bradley"

Let’s Make Archie Bradley a Bullpen Ace (For Now)

On March 17, 2016 By

Look, there’s plenty of competition for the fifth starter race, but at the end of the day, that spot’s going to Robbie Ray. Competition is fine and all, but if everyone remains healthy, the job is his. He earned last year and he’s pitched very well this spring. It’s a pretty easy call as far as I can …

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Is the Fifth Starter Race Really a Race?

On March 15, 2016 By

It doesn’t seem like it was long ago that we discussed Rubby De La Rosa being the fifth starer. If you’re tallying up “the best five,” Rubby seemed like the right guy to be about fifth on that list. Zack Greinke, Shelby Miller and Patrick Corbin are all clearly better. Robbie Ray is probably better, too, and he …

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Double Plus: What To Do With Archie Bradley?

On February 12, 2016 By

While Ryan and I were talking on the latest episode of The Pool Shot, it dawned on me that one of the biggest roster question marks heading into Spring Training was the battle for the 5th starter spot. I’m not the quickest learner, apparently. Considering where we were a year ago as The Grand D-backs Experiment was underway, it’s …

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The Race for Fifth Starter May Already be Decided

On February 3, 2016 By

When the D-backs reported for spring training a year ago (yes, it really is February!), the roster had been partially blown up. For the rotation, there were at least twelve candidates — and only Josh Collmenter and Jeremy Hellickson had slots essentially locked up. They don’t have rotation slots locked up this year.

What a difference a year makes, right? …

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Double Plus: Archie Bradley Making Strides in Instructs

On October 9, 2015 By

Look, the Diamondbacks need a shot in the arm from the pitching staff. While a lot of the offseason talk is sure to focus on which starter the team can sign or trade for, they’ll still need help from within. And a man, now somewhat forgotten in this post-hype world, who may provide that boost is Archie Bradley. You …

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Handicapping the Race for the 2016 Rotation

On September 30, 2015 By

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 …

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Chase Field’s Hardest Hit Baseballs in 2015

On September 28, 2015 By

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 “€œhit 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 …

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The D-backs Rotation: How Good is Good Enough?

On August 19, 2015 By

D-backs position players rank 3rd in the NL this season in FanGraphs’ version of Wins Above Replacement. Sure, they could be better — two teams actually are — but for a team that finished last in baseball just last year, that’s a pretty enormous accomplishment. Hitting is a big part of it. The D-backs currently have a 96 wRC+, and …

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The Dan Warthen Slider Could Be the Missing Piece for Robbie Ray

On July 20, 2015 By

If you read everything Eno Sarris writes (recommended), you already learned about the Mets and the Dan Warthen slider about 10 days ago (required). If you don’t and/or haven’t, go do that. I’ll still be here when you hopefully get back. And actually, knowing the title of this piece, I’m pretty sure you’ll come back if you do go do …

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Taking Stock of the D-backs Top Prospects

On July 13, 2015 By

With the improved play of the Diamondbacks this year, it’s easy to focus on what’s taking place in the majors. There are a boatload of compelling storylines, like Yasmany Tomas’ transition to the majors, Jake Lamb’s emergence (and Ryan’s subsequent adoration), Archie Bradley’s ups and down, Paul Goldschmidt’s battle with Bryce Harper for NL bragging rights, …

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Pitching Down is Not Working for the D-backs

On July 8, 2015 By

The Diamondbacks are not a particularly good team when it comes to pitching. By ERA, they rank 26th in the majors. Since we know that Chase Field punishes pitchers more than almost any other park, that’s probably not the best way to look at them. If we choose a defense-independent, park-adjusted metric, they’re basically the same, ranking 24th…

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D-backs Pitching Staff Prioritizing Ground Balls Again?

On June 17, 2015 By

A funny thing happened at the start of the season: even though the rotation was to be manned by three fly ball pitchers, by the end of April the D-backs staff was fourth in the majors in ground ball percentage at 49.1%. It wasn’t all Brad Ziegler. Archie Bradley was a big part of the sharp change in the …

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Bradley’s Fastball-Reliant Approach Strangely Good, Not Good Enough

On May 28, 2015 By

Two-pitch pitchers are usually siphoned out of the starting pitcher pipeline and shunted to the bullpen. Archie Bradley has been a two-pitch pitcher this year, but is still a starter — in part because this whole two-pitch business is new. Bradley has had a changeup that graded well in the minors, and yet he’s thrown just 16 of them this …

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Roundup: Recovering Pitchers; D-backs Went After Daniel Norris; Burgos Up, Way Up; 500 Posts

On May 4, 2015 By

The D-backs’ 2-4 week, complete with a sweep at the hands of the Dodgers, was one to forget — and yet just days after Archie Bradley took a line drive off the bat of Carlos Gonzalez, it sure seems like one we’ll remember for a long time. After Bradley was removed in the second inning of that Tuesday contest, …

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Bend it Like Bradley

On April 24, 2015 By

Coming into the season, one situation we were keeping a close eye on was Rubby De La Rosa‘s reliance on fastballs, which seemed to cause a problem for him in Boston, and seemed to make him something of a pre-breakout Dave Stewart. And yet, it’s Archie Bradley who has transformed before our eyes, throwing fastballs 75%, 71%, …

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Nick Ahmed the Key to a New Ground Ball Pitching Plan?

On April 23, 2015 By

With three full rotation turns and about a tenth of a season in the books, the D-backs pitching staff ranks 4th in ground ball percentage. It’s not a ton of time, but batted ball tendencies stabilize quickly — and the thing is, we were expecting the exact opposite. Josh Collmenter and Jeremy Hellickson have been fairly extreme as fly ball …

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