4 games back heading into the AS break. Last season, we were 3 games back at the same point. I like where we stand. Hopefully, the break will be nice for those who are skidding, especially Upton and Young.
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Given how terrible the team has played most of this first half - it goes to show that the West remains up for grabs... The Dodgers are going to have to make a few big moves if they want to make a serious run, and the Giants pitching will alone keep them in the race the rest of the way.
Kubel has had an incredible first half. Gonna be hard for him to improve, or even duplicate his results in the 2nd half... of course, he wouldn't have to if Upton could finally snap out of his damn funk! He's been hitting the Dodgers well...we'll have to wait and see if he can carry that momentum into the second half of the season.
Man do we need Kennedy to step up and become the ace. Cahill has been good enough. Not great by any stetch... just good enough. Collmenter adequately stepped in for now, but I'd feel a lot better if Saunders comes back healthy and strong.
Miley......... Hmmm..... The kid is gonna be tested like never before. He came limping into the all-star break. The fact that he made the team while pitching so poorly his last few starts has the potential to mess with his mind. In order for the D'Backs to truly make a run, Miley has to be better than he's been. Not saying he needs to what he was to start the season. But he's got to give the team 6 -7 innings on a regular basis...
Bauer sure looked good today. If he can find his game and produce these types of games over the second half, it would be a HUGE shot in the arm!
Getting Blum back could be a tremendous plus for the team - IF he can hit. Defensively, he's clearly the best we have. And offensively, I think I like him more than Roberts as Blum's a switch-hitter. But, if he doesn't produce it doesn't matter. 3rd base has been such a hole for this team and one of the key reasons we struggled during most of the first half.
Goldy is so damn solid. He's such a professional - amazingly so for such a young kid.
Kubel is a rock... as are Miggy and Hill.
Love Bloomquist, but he's not a starter. I see him more as a guy who should play in 125-130 games. Filling in at SS, 3B and 2B.
As for Drew... I guess we're really not going to know much this year. I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't with the team after this year - or, perhaps not at the end of the year...
Upton........ gotta be the single most frustrating player to watch on this team. The most gifted, and yet, continues to under-perform and fall short of his immense potential. If he can clear his mind, slow the game down, stop trying to pull everything and start hitting the the middle and right side of the field, he single-handidly can carry this team. I have my doubts....
Centerfield has to be Parra - FULL TIME!! I swear I just don't understand how Gibby is managing this one... Parra is batting .280 with an OBP% .345 and an OPS of .774. Whole CY is batting .202 with an OBP of .298 and an OPS of .700. Add in Parra arm and defense versus CY wet noodle he carries, and it should be a no brainer!!! WTF Gibby??? Oh, and to add insult to injury - Parra is makingn $500k this year, while CY is pulling down a salary of $7.2 Million!!
Our pen is serviceable... No doubt the key for them will be the length our starters go in games. Both Hernandez and JJ have shown weaknesses this season. Somehow, they both still get the job done more often than not, but it's scary.
Corbin has looked pretty darn good the past few games. While Shaw has also shown some weakness...
Ziegler and Zagurski have looked pretty good thus far... but they scare me too.
It would be SOOOO huge if Saunders came back and pitched well, which would allow us to be able to put Collmenter back in the pen.
It's clear that the Giants and Dodgers will not run away and hide... at the same time the D-Backs MUST find a way to get above .500 and STAY there!
I think 89 wins could get it done this year - though, that would mean that both the Dodgers and Giants would have to play worse than they did in the first half... To get to 89 wins, the D-Backs will need to play close to .600 ball the rest of the way. Only the Yankees and Texas played .600 ball during the first half. So, it will be a gigantic task for the D-Backs to reach 89/90 wins... HUGE task... They will have to get a huge amount of luck the rest of the way and hope that both the Giants and Dodgers essentially collapse.
There is always the wild card of course... however, there are 8 teams that will be battling for those 2 spots: Braves, Reds, Cardinals, Mets, Giants/Dodgers, Marlins, Brewers and Philly... It won't be easy and again - we'll need to be at or very close to 89 wins to be in the running.
Gonna be quite a ride the rest of the way. Would be great to come out of the break with a sweep against the Cubbies. We've got a BRUTAL schedule the rest of the way... starting with 20 games in 20 days coming out of the break!! Then a day off and we then play 33 games in 34 days!! BRUTAL! Obviously, that stretch will either make or break the season... 53 games in 55 days. Wow!
