Currently viewing the tag: "outfield"

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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2017 Spring Previews: Filling Up the Outfield

On February 16, 2017 By

Keeping this whole spring preview thing rolling right along, we make our way today to the Diamondbacks’ outfield. Last year was, shall we say, not what they had in mind? A second busted elbow for a prized centerfielder derailed things before they ever got off the ground. Further injuries and ineptitude took their toll and when it was all said …

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The D-backs Have the Worst Defensive Outfield in Baseball

On May 8, 2016 By

When Ender Inciarte was traded for Shelby Miller, it was a swap of production — from the outfield to the pitcher’s mound — with an extremely high transaction cost. Inciarte was a 2-3 win outfielder while Miller looked like a 2-3 win pitcher and the Diamondbacks were short on productive arms with established track records. It was a terrible …

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Double Plus: The Improving Value of Socrates

On October 2, 2015 By

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 …

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Yasmany Tomas in Left and D-backs Outfielders for Sale

On March 11, 2015 By

If you’d like to acquire an outfielder, you might want to call the Arizona Diamondbacks. They have plenty and might have one more on their hands sooner rather than later, because according to reports, the Yasmany Tomas-at-third-base-thing isn’t working out so well. While that was predictable, the organization had been going to great lengths to highlight what they could, …

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On Defensive Value and Ender Inciarte

On February 17, 2015 By

Over the last decade or so, defense has become an increasingly important aspect of baseball. When the Steroid Era slipped away and the old, plodding sluggers capable of hitting 40+ home runs per season all but evaporated from the game, they were often replaced by younger, faster players who could at least help prevent runs even if they weren’t capable …

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David Peralta Not the Righty-Killing Hero the D-backs Want, But the One They Need

On January 9, 2015 By

David Peralta is starting to pull together a track record from which we can draw solid inferences. He is, essentially, a good-not-great fielder in right field with merely average power — and a knack for knocking the cover off of the ball. But he also has flaws, as we saw toward the end of the season, and as we started …

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Will the D-backs Address their Imbalance at the Plate?

On December 17, 2014 By

The Diamondbacks have a balance problem and balance is important, at least to a degree. We hear time and again that teams seek to keep a mixture of right and left-handed bats in the lineup because, as we know, platoon splits are very real and very common. Righties usually hit lefties well and lefties, righties. This is not startling news …

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Trumbo In Right? You’d Better Believe it

On November 18, 2014 By

About ten days ago, Dave Stewart came out and publicly declared Mark Trumbo the team’s every day right fielder in 2015. Aside from the fact that I disagree with the organization making bold public statements about players, especially this early in the offseason, I also disagree with Trumbo lining up in right 150 times next year. The experiment in …

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A Mark Trumbo Platoon or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Ender’s Game

On August 22, 2014 By

The D-backs have recently stated that they’re after an outfielder and starting pitching this winter (that sounds familiar). But if no outfielder is brought into the fold and injuries aren’t a problem, the D-backs would enter spring training with a five-man outfield of players they’ve already used this season. A.J. Pollock would lead the pack, almost certainly starting every day …

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With the Season Lost, How Should the D-backs Align Their Outfield?

On July 14, 2014 By

The Diamondbacks have five outfielders on their active roster. Gerardo Parra, Mark Trumbo, and Cody Ross have all spent time as starting outfielders. Rookies Ender Inciarte and David Peralta are looking to establish themselves are legitimate major-league players. A month ago I wrote about the effects of the injuries to the outfield. Now, the rookies have played well …

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The Pain of Replacement Outfielders

On June 16, 2014 By

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 …

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Diamondbacks Steamer Projections – 2014 Outfield

On January 1, 2014 By

*Previous entries: Steamer Projection Primer | 2014 Rotation

The Diamondbacks’ outfield was solid but unspectacular at the plate in 2013. There were no black holes, at least once Jason Kubel stopped receiving playing time, as everyone posted a wOBA right around .320. Unfortunately, there were no standouts with the bat and unit lacked offensive punch last season. Defense, though, …

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Roster Breakdown: 2014 Outfield

On September 25, 2013 By

We can be pretty darned sure that Tony Campana won’t be a full time center fielder for the D-backs next year.  Beyond that, there isn’t a whole lot we can bank on.

Just before Cody Ross got injured, I wrote how the time share in the Arizona outfield was working.  Jason Kubel had been edged out, leaving most of …

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