Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
The Arizona Diamonbacks are one of the most interesting franchises in baseball right now. The most obvious reason is that they've won more games than any other team in the NL thus far this season and the oldest player in their starting line-up is 31-year-old Eric Byrnes. In fact, Byrnes and old man Tony Clark (now 35) are the only two Arizona position players over 30. Meanwhile, four of the D'backs' regulars were rookies last year and three of the men on their bench are rookies this year. Things are only slightly different on their piching staff as the oldest man in their pen is 28-year-old failed prospect Juan Cruz and their rotation is led by 28-year-old defending NL Cy Young award winner Brandon Webb and 24-year-old rookie Micah Owings.
Thus far it's been that pitching staff that's put them on top as the D'backs are tied with the Mets as the second stingiest staff in the NL (fourth in the majors), allowing just four runs per game. The average Arizona starter has lasted 6 1/3 innings per start and posted a 3.51 ERA. Of the seven men to start for the D'backs this year, only rookie Edgar Gonzalez had an ERA over Owings' 3.76 in the role. Gonzalez has since been bumped to the bullpen (by Owings) where he is the only man with an ERA above closer Jose Valverde's 3.33.
Things are less encouraging on offense, but Byrnes, who looked like a right-handed platoon player who was on his way out of baseball two years ago when he jumped from Oakland, to Colorado to Baltimore over the course of a single season, has been mashing (.319/.379/.518) and doing the bulk of his damage against righty pitchers (.332/.384/.508). Orlando Hudson, the second oldest Arizona starter, was worth keeping in the lineup for his glove while in Toronto, but since joining the D'backs has come into his own at the plate to the point that he's legitimately the second best second baseman in baseball (behind Chase Utley and ahead of Robinson Cano). In his best season as a Blue Jay, Hudson hit .270/.341/.438. In his career as a Diamondback he's hitting .288/.360/.456.
As for the youngsters, Conor Jackson is from the Mark Grace school of first-basemen: high average, high on-base, but not the sort of power expected from the position. Catchers Chris Snyder and Miguel Montero aren't hitting enough to make Yankee fans regret the fact that neither was included in the Randy Johnson Deal. Right fielder Carlos Quentin started the season on the DL, then went 4 for 8 with three doubles and a walk in his first two games of the year, but has hit just .200/.289/.345 since. Shortstop Stephen Drew raked as a rookie in the second half last year, but has struggled over an equal number of games this year.
Then there's center fielder Chris Young. Young is considered one of the top prospects in the game and was the ultimate prize from the original Randy Johnson deal (he came to Arizona from the White Sox in the Javy Vazquez-El Duque deal). Like fellow prospects Drew and Quentin, Young got off to an awful start, but he's hit .315/.330/.528 since May 7 and was even hotter than that before a groin injury slowed him at the end of the month.
Of course the two Randy Johnson deals, along with the now-ancient 2001 World Series, provide ample opportunity for rivalry here, but the most compelling angle to tonight's game is the pitching matchup of Webb and Chien-Ming Wang, last year's NL Cy Young winner and AL Cy Young runner up and two of the most extreme and most successfull groundball pitchers in the business. Oh yeah, and if the Yankees win they reach .500 for the first time since May 9, when they improved to 16-16 by beating Robinson Tejeda and the Texas Rangers.
Here's to wondering if either team will play a seven-man infield at some point tonight.
Arizona Diamondbacks
2006 Record: 76-86 (.469)
2006 Pythagorean Record: 80-82 (.494)
Manager: Bob Melvin
General Manager: Josh Byrnes
Home Ballpark (2006 Park Factors): Bank One Ballpark (107/106)
Who's Replacing Whom?
Chris Young replaces Luis Gonzalez
Carlos Quentin replaces Shawn Green
Stephen Drew takes over for Craig Counsell
Chris Snyder and Miguel Montero take over for Johnny Estrada
Scott Hairston replaces Jeff DaVanon (DL)
Alberto Callaspo replaces Damion Easley
Mark Reynolds replaces Andy Green aned some of Craig Counsell
Randy Johnson replaces Miguel Batista
Doug Davis replaces Claudio Vargas
Livan Hernandez replaces Orlando Herandez and Juan Cruz's starts
Micah Owings takes over Enrique Gonzalez's starts
Jose Valverde takes over Jorge Julio's save opportunities
Doug Slaten replaces Luis Vizcaino
Tony Peña takes Jason Grimsley's innings
Jailen Peguero replaces Greg Aquino
25-man Roster:
1B – Conor Jackson (R)
2B – Orlando Hudson (S)
SS – Stephen Drew (L)
3B – Chad Tracy (L)
C – Chris Snyder (R)
RF – Carlos Quentin (R)
CF – Chris Young (R)
LF – Eric Byrnes (R)
Bench:
S - Tony Clark (1B)
R - Mark Reynolds (3B)
S - Alberto Callaspo (IF)
R - Scott Hairston (OF)
L - Miguel Montero (C)
Rotation:
R - Brandon Webb
R - Livan Hernandez
L - Doug Davis
R - Micah Owings
L - Randy Johnson
Bullpen:
R - Jose Valverde
R - Brandon Llyon
R - Tony Peña
L - Doug Slaten
R - Juan Cruz
R - Edgar Gonzalez
R - Jailen Peguero
15-day DL: L - Jason Smith (IF)
60-day DL: S - Jeff DaVanon (OF)
Typical Lineup:
R - Eric Byrnes (LF)
R - Chris Young (CF)
S - Orlando Hudson (2B)
L - Chad Tracy (3B)
R - Conor Jackson (1B)
L - Stephen Drew (SS)
R - Carlos Quentin (RF)
R - Chris Snyder (C)
I'm just disappointed the nickname "DBags" never caught on. Same with "BJays."
Oh yeah, it's on My9 tonight, my bad.
The D-Backs are a tricky team. They have vulnerabilities but now that they're young 'uns are starting to gel they're tough - they're no Pirates, is all I can say. I don't see them has having much depth, and their bullpen can be "got" but they're tough. Good luck!
Jim Dean is like an elephant. And an elephant never forgets. Or gives up regret. Something like that.
http://host202.ipowerweb.com/~eve6medi/StadiumInsider/NYYStadiumInsider.html
This may be dumb, but I hate sports Blogs that post like once-a-week or less. Not much help.
Cripes. Kay is rambling about chemistry. Maybe pixies will come out next.
Anyone going to the the Giants-Yanks series next week? The one upside to the previous poor play of the Yankees (and Bonds's power outage) was that ticket prices seemed like they were coming down, and that I might be able to afford to see a game. Now that the Yankees are red hot, I expect tickets to go up, but I'd gladly take that trade-off.
For a regular midweek NL game it is $8,000 (plus food).
Wow, moonshot by Abreu!
On Gameday the pitches are not up in the zone, except for that pop-out to Jorgie which was waist hight. So I think they just aren't sinking.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curveball_(informant)
Oops, a seeing eye single by Cairo--I retract all of my previous comments.
Cairo with a diving stop, saving at least 14 runs!!!
Of the current Yankee starters rank them in the order in which you'd like them to start a playoff game.
Well, he's starting the eighth, at 86...
Here's my list:
1) Wang or Pettitte
2) Pettitte or Wang
3) Roger
4) Clippard
5) Mussina
Ignoring Cano for the moment -- who I'm convinced will still end up w/ a higher ops than Hudson by the end of the season, despite playing in the vastly superior league -- both Uggla at Fla and Atlanta's Kelly Johnson are putting up superior ops, and both are significantly younger than the 30 yr old Hudson.
Not only that, but both these two, like Cano, are having far superior seasons in the field to Hudson, who's turned into something of a butcher in the NL (hmmm, exposed by being moved off the turf?) with a 90 RATE acc to BP.
I know what Cliff was thinking -- this guy was a great fielder in the AL, and now he's finally hitting, but . . .
No problem, Wanger, you'll be fine...
I checked, it was indeed 22 pitches in the first inning for C-M W.
Boston is in a serious scoring drought. Too bad they're either pitching brilliantly or facing bad line-ups (can't tell which).
And we got NotRandy in that trade. I can't frown on it.
Gonna watch Verlander.
One more out to go.
Fuck the wild card tonight. I want to see this.
Dang, ran out of luck. Melkman can't deliver.
Wang could go eight. And we might need it, the way Webb is throwing.
A-Rod's is well, which sort of begs the question why he was dating Chyna.
Oh, Steve Drew hates Cairo.
Yeah, I guess it was a hit and run, Alex wasn't running very hard.
Not hit very hard, but solidly.
I was scared there, off the bat.
Melk made it look easy.
This is it for Chien-Ming, right?
That's not good.
I don't know about that.
That's kind of playing with fire, I think, we've only got 2 runs to work with.
Wow!!!!!
DE-REK!!
(Hopefully that'll do it for Chien-Ming. Nice outing, Wanger!)
Hey, our defense has been just flawless today! That's a pleasant surprise.
You are right about that, but if that's the case, then there's no reason to even have these guys on the roster.
God, doesn't this suck?
Or no, I think we should bring in Mo for two in that case.
If we're to make a serious run, we'll have to lean on him more.
That's our best option.
Why not one more on a short leash?
I'd like to see Wang start. If he gets an out, then Mo can always get a 5-out save...
He almost bit there.
Why not one more on a short leash?
Very nice sinker or whatever that is that the lefties bang into the ground.
Wow.
He's so good.
Nice quick hands.
Come on, you can do it!
Man, Cano pulled it, too!
Robbie.
Not good.
Nice job, Melky.
And very nice play by that Hudson.
A big inning would have been nice, but again, the bird in the hand.
We've been doing that much, much more lately it seems to me.
Now we can go back to Wanger on a batter-by-batter basis.
Huge run.
Well, the run is goooooood.
It's our old buddy Kyle!
Come on, Kyle, you can do it, man, you can do it!
Farns????
What happened to EDSP?
Trouble....
Before. He's for-ever banned.
Yes'n how maany runs must-a one team score.
Before the game's well in hand.
The answer...
What's he still doing in???
Get him out of there, get him out of there!
You can thank me later.
Nice job, Kyle, nice job!
Keep it up!
That's it, I am gone.
GO YANKEES!
Bad: Seeing Farnsworth in there.
I think Torre and Guidry feel that 'Good' Kylr is needed for a successful PS. I guess they have faith that they can turn him around. It's sorta like brain surgery. Great when it works....
Then we're screwed.
Oh, why not Mo now?? Or at least Myers.
I don't like the way that was played at all.
Shouldn't Abreu have called off Robby?
Or something.
That was dangerous.
I mean, he made the play (nice play, Robby), but still.
But that begs the question, of course, because there's no reason he has to rely on him in that spot.
He could make up some kind of rule about when Mo comes in if that helps. Whatever, but Mo has to be in there.
Perhaps we might just try to re-harness him.
There's no reason he needs to be the 8th inning guy, but who knows, he might be ok to have out there if you need a strike out.
I don't know...
Don't forget, an A1 start from Wang. And now this. I don't remember the eighth. I don't think we played an eighth inning today.
I think Viz has to go before Farns.
damn, Mo is back.
Ahh, such sweet music.
14.1 IP 8 H 1 R 1 HR 2 BB 1 HBP 15 K 5 SV .63 ERA
This feels so good.
Holy sh1t, SEVEN!!!
Indeed.
Clearly you underestimate my hatred of Carl Pavano the baseball player and the signing there of. I would have taken a three legged dog to be rid of him, his attitude, his baggage and his lack of talent.
it's nice to have a down night and win 4-1. What happens tomorrow when the Bombers are actually ON?
Let's go Yankees!
I can almost, almost understand refusing to trade him. WHY WAS HE MADE A MAJOR PART OF THE 2007 YANKEES?
When the inevitable happened we were left with our dicks in our hands.
NotCarl would be a badge of honor.
But consider this - if the Yanks had traded Pavano, they'd have to eat most, probably all, of his salary. And they'd get squat in return.
If the Yanks kept him, and he pitched OK, no harm no foul - and they could trade him if he's doing well, without having to eat all the salary. And maybe even get something decent in return.
If the Yanks kept him, and he got injured again, at least they could collect insurance on his salary.
All things being equal, I'm much happier with the ~$20M for the next two seasons.
We'll catch them. I actually think we will. Not for sure, but I'm getting confident.
Watching Mo be so un-Mo was probably the most disturbing part of April and May. Even if we could say it wasn't his fault, doubt was creeping into my mind. I know there will come a time when there is no more Mo, or when Mo isn't Mo anymore, but I was not ready to face that this year. I'm glad I don't have to. =)
Boston beat Colorado 2-1 behind Wakefield.
Damn, I wish we could get a piece of them right now.
Ah, well. We keep winning, and the Sox' bats stay cool, and we're going to start closing hard.
What do we do when that time comes?
I was completely dejected when we let Andy walk.
And it was all right watching the gradual decline of Bernie, Tino and Paulie.
But Mo's a whole nother story. A whole nother level of emotion.
I just can't bear to watch him play mediocre baseball, it hurts more with him than it did with the position players.
Now, a pox on their house. Let 'em drop 10 straight. The iceholes.
It had to be said.
If the Yanks kept him, and he pitched OK
I'll stop you right there. It wasn't going to happen. I knew it. You knew it. Cashman knew it. If Pavano pitched a VERY liberal 150 IP of league average ERA, it would be the second time in ten tries.
Carl Pavano was an oft injured pitcher that was bad when he could be bothered to show up. This should have been obvious in 2004 when Carlapalooza was going on. By 2007, a blind man could see it.
Peterson tried to go the phone, but there were three boxes on the wall and--get this--he actually couldn't find the telephone!
He was looking around for it and he went to the first box and it was locked, and proceeded to screw around with the boxes in sequence until finally he found the magic button to open the box, but the phone wasn't behind door number 1!
He found the thing, finally, but man, what vaudeville.
But seriously, the man was trying to win a baseball game and there he is, fucking around with the communications device as play continues.
Seemed really unfair to me, but man, was it funny.
That's nonsense, that's not a gidp, that's a baserunning error.
HA!
It was at Fenway, right? The game when Alex touched Papelbon?
That was Farns too, right? (Or was it?)
Because that out by Tony Clark could have gone otherwise too.
Never again.
Good God, never again.
5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 4-2 GB/FB
Big man making it look easy.
So I win.
/regional joke/
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