Currently viewing the tag: "Zack Greinke"

For a very, very long time, we’ve talked about how the Diamondbacks have a vortex coming. It’s a financial vortex and one that’s not necessarily unique. The way the D-backs are constructed, they rely on young players producing value that far outpaces the team’s financial commitment in terms of salary. That means guys making the league minimum or advancing through …

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The last two posts here have focussed on extending Diamondbacks first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt. The first installment crunched the numbers to seek a reasonable figure, for both Goldy and the team, to keep the slugger in Arizona past 2019. The second installment discussed the problems with even a relatively team-friendly deal, notably paying a sum of money annually to …

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Last week I explored the possibility of a Paul Goldschmidt extension. If you didn’t read it, I think you should, but here’s the gist: the D-backs, if they act quickly, could save money by extending Goldy. To do so, however, they need to trade Zack Greinke sooner than later. That’s no small issue. No matter the discount, Arizona can’t …

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The #hotstove has been downright frigid for most of the winter. The Winter Meetings did kick up some activity, but not the heavy-hitting kind. J.D. Martinez is still out there. So are Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta and Lance Lynn. A trio of former Royals remain on the market in Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer, …

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Is This What Success Feels Like?

On September 27, 2017 By

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think I’ve fully come to terms with the success the Diamondbacks have experienced this season. The team was projected to win 77 games entering the season, and after what we witnessed last year, you can understand why. There were very few changes to the squad in the offseason. It was mostly the same …

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Earlier this week, we took a broad look at some Diamondbacks pitchers who showcase strong pitch tandems and troublesome pitch tandems. The basis of this work is the new data available from Baseball Prospectus which tracks a number of items, including release points, how similar (or dissimilar) two distinct pitches look upon release, and how similar (or dissimilar) two distinct …

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There are those times, in my journey to learn about baseball, that I’ve legitimately had my mind blown. Most of them occurred early on, when I learned that saves were made up by some guy in the late 60’s, RBI’s were mostly a function of guys getting on base in front of a hitter, and pitchers don’t have all that …

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First we couldn’t wait for pitchers and catchers to report, then position players followed them. Then we couldn’t wait for the Diamondbacks to play their first spring game, and now they’re almost half way through their spring slate. Funny how that happens — the first game of the season is literally in the process of sneaking up on us. Fans …

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Pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training in about a week. That’s cool, and plenty of Diamondbacks are already in Scottsdale given the team’s headquarters fall inside the Cactus League boundaries. You don’t need a refresher on how the starting staff fared last year. It was a disaster, and even Robbie Ray‘s bright spot (strikeouts) had it’s own detractors …

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The Arizona Diamondbacks are getting a little less buzz this offseason than they did a year ago. Spending big and falling on your face with do that to you. They’re not a sleeper like the Rockies may be, and they’re surely not front runners like Dodgers. The biggest move was trading away arguably their most productive player from last season’s …

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How do you know if something is broken? Usually, you give something a go and don’t get the desired effect. Maybe you try again and still get an error. Other times, after a second try, everything works just fine. There always little blips on the radar of life. I mean, we all have to cycle our routers once in a …

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There’s an axiom on the internet that simply states, “don’t read the comments.” I get that. Comment sections are littered with thoughtless, rude comments. Well, I should say most comment section, because here, things have been very good. I can’t even count the number of posts that have been born in the comments here. Readers have been a great inspiration …

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The playoffs started yesterday, and that’s both good and bad. Playoff baseball is fun (good), but with every passing final box score, we’re reminded that the long, cold, dead, baseball-less winter is fast approaching (bad). The Jays beat the Orioles in a game that’ll remain notorious for Buck Showalter neglecting to use Zach Britton, the best reliever in baseball, …

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One of my favorite debates within the baseball analytics community is how to evaluate pitching. We’ve collectively moved on from ERA since it has some obvious problems. The first is the most glaring: ERA tells most of the story of what happened, not how talented a pitcher is. We don’t really care what happened, we care mostly about how good …

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A little over week ago, we unleashed our 2016 Midseason Plan, looking to improve a team that has underwhelmed for a wide host of reasons. The moves, in case you didn’t notice, were mostly small. Trades of Yasmany Tomas and Welington Castillo were proposed, and I guess those aren’t the smallest of transactions, but the rest of the ideas …

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In the past, Zack Greinke has been hyperaware of the statistics pitchers control most: strikeout, walk, and home run rates, the statistics used to calculate FIP. But focusing on which type of batted ball he was looking for while trying to be a FIP pitcher didn’t turn out so well in 2010 and 2011. By 2016, Greinke’s slider had lost …

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