2012 Arizona Diamondbacks season thread - June edition

[ArizonaSportsFan]

And he has lifted his fielding in LF to a new level. In addition to reaching a lot of hit balls and being dependable, he is among the league leaders in outfield assists.

I was at the game tonight and was happy to see Parra get the nod in CF.

But I couldn't help but feel that it was demoralizing for Roberts to be benched at 3B the game after hitting a walk-off 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th for a one-run victory.

Can anyone explain how Kirk Gibson, with his goofy lineup changes from game to game, could possibly justify not rewarding him for it? If we were leading the league, that's one thing (but it would still drive me batty), but we are a sub .500 team. Your approach just isn't cutting it, Skipper.

I agree. The consistent inconsistency is quite underwhelming. Bell probably shouldn't be up, or at least not playing much. Overlay should see very little time, maybe 1 in 5 games. Not sure what to do with the outfield.

 

[AZ Native]

And he has lifted his fielding in LF to a new level. In addition to reaching a lot of hit balls and being dependable, he is among the league leaders in outfield assists.

I was at the game tonight and was happy to see Parra get the nod in CF.

But I couldn't help but feel that it was demoralizing for Roberts to be benched at 3B the game after hitting a walk-off 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th for a one-run victory.

Can anyone explain how Kirk Gibson, with his goofy lineup changes from game to game, could possibly justify not rewarding him for it? If we were leading the league, that's one thing (but it would still drive me batty), but we are a sub .500 team. Your approach just isn't cutting it, Skipper.

Good observations. I also expected to see RR in the starting lineup last night.

 

[thirty-two]

Sweeeeeeep!

 

[Lefty]

Diamondbacks win 4-3 and sweep the A's and they are now playing 500 ball. Biggest play turned out to be CY tagging up at first on a flyball and then scoring from 2nd on Kubel's base hit. Next six games are big. I would be very happy if they go 4-2 on this road trip.

 

[Dback Jon]

Great to be at .500 finally again!

 

[Dback Jon]

With three at Texas and three at Anaheim, I'd be happy with a split.

 

[AZ Native]

Of course we want to win them all but I agree with Dback Jon, 3 Ws from Texas and Anaheim on the road would be good.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Of course we want to win them all but I agree with Dback Jon, 3 Ws from Texas and Anaheim on the road would be good.

Me too. These two series will be a huge test and a great barometer of where this team stands. Texas is arguably the best team in baseball, and Anahiem is playing like they are the best team... Should be fun... I hope!

 

[TJ]

Me too. These two series will be a huge test and a great barometer of where this team stands. Texas is arguably the best team in baseball, and Anahiem is playing like they are the best team... Should be fun... I hope!

We are catching Texas at a very good time. Their pitching all around has been abysmal the past couple of weeks. Yu Darvish is walking batters like it's going out of style.

With our hot hitting and improved starting pitching, we can win 2 of 3 in Arlington.


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[Lefty]

We are catching Texas at a very good time. Their pitching all around has been abysmal the past couple of weeks. Yu Darvish is walking batters like it's going out of style.

With our hot hitting and improved starting pitching, we can win 2 of 3 in Arlington.


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I'm guessing Kubel will be the DH and we will see Parra, CY and Upton in the outfield.

 

[AZ Native]

Or Upton at the DH.

 

[devilalum]

Or Upton at the DH.

Anybody else notice how AL players that have never seen Chase Field seem to know where the fences in RF are better than Upton?

 

[AZ Native]

Anybody else notice how AL players that have never seen Chase Field seem to know where the fences in RF are better than Upton?

Yeah, like Smith robbing Hill of a home run with that great catch over the fence. I know that was left field but the point about the AL players knowing where the fences are is still valid.

 

[Mathew81]

Kubel named co-NL Player of the Week. Hit .409 2HR 12 RBI last week.

 

[FArting]

Dbacks take on the Rangers 3 game series

 

[BC867]

What an interestingly mediocre set of batting averages.

G. Parra lf ............... .273
W. Bloomquist ss ...... .297
J. Upton rf ............... .249
J. Kubel dh .............. .297
P. Goldschmidt 1b ..... .291
M. Montero c ............ .247
C. Young cf .............. .273
A. Hill 2b ................. .271
J. Bell 3b ................. .182

Kubel, Bloomquist and Goldschmidt hitting in the .290's
Parra, Young and Hill hitting in the .270's
Upton and Montero in the .240's (three, if Roberts had started at 3B)

Respectable, but mediocre. If this were a couple of years from now, when our young phenom pitchers make it to the Majors, it's World Series championship.

 

[Gaddabout]

What an interestingly mediocre set of batting averages.

G. Parra lf ............... .273
W. Bloomquist ss ...... .297
J. Upton rf ............... .249
J. Kubel dh .............. .297
P. Goldschmidt 1b ..... .291
M. Montero c ............ .247
C. Young cf .............. .273
A. Hill 2b ................. .271
J. Bell 3b ................. .182

Kubel, Bloomquist and Goldschmidt hitting in the .290's
Parra, Young and Hill hitting in the .270's
Upton and Montero in the .240's (three, if Roberts had started at 3B)

Respectable, but mediocre. If this were a couple of years from now, when our young phenom pitchers make it to the Majors, it's World Series championship.

They're not horrible. .262 team average can get you some wins. OBP is a healthy .335. Almost all of the D-Backs offensive numbers can produce a winning season. Those numbers are generally top 10 (if not top 5) in the NL.

What's killing the team is the .240 team RISP, which is only 6 points better than dead-last Mariners. That almost ALWAYS points to a hole in the middle of the lineup.

 

[Gaddabout]

BTW, D-Backs team average with no runners on is .269. Their SLG with no runners is .448, which is a Top 10 MLB number. D-Backs hitters melt under pressure with RISP.

 

[Gaddabout]

Just glancing at the Sabermetrics. Some findings:

- D-Backs Weighted Runs Created Plus is 94. It means the team created 6 percent fewer runs than the rest of the league. Bloomquist and Roberts are killing the team in this category, which I want to point out is park corrected.

- The D-Backs are 6th in the league in WAR despite not having a single player with a 2+. This means everyone on the team is performing at scrub level or worse, but they don't have as many players on the bottom end. Chris Young, Aaron Hill, Gerardo Parra, Paul Goldschmidt, and Jason Kubel are the only players on the team with at least a 1.

The stats suggest to me the D-Backs have a decent group of players, but they lack that star on the everyday lineup. Put Joey Votto on this team, and I think the dynamics change dramatically.

 

[TJ]

What an interestingly mediocre set of batting averages.

G. Parra lf ............... .273
W. Bloomquist ss ...... .297
J. Upton rf ............... .249
J. Kubel dh .............. .297
P. Goldschmidt 1b ..... .291
M. Montero c ............ .247
C. Young cf .............. .273
A. Hill 2b ................. .271
J. Bell 3b ................. .182

Kubel, Bloomquist and Goldschmidt hitting in the .290's
Parra, Young and Hill hitting in the .270's
Upton and Montero in the .240's (three, if Roberts had started at 3B)

Respectable, but mediocre. If this were a couple of years from now, when our young phenom pitchers make it to the Majors, it's World Series championship.

get Montero at .260 and Upton around .285 and we have a very good lineup

 

[Gaddabout]

get Montero at .260 and Upton around .285 and we have a very good lineup

If it doesn't produce runs, it's pointless. Upton has to join Kubel in the run production department.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Just glancing at the Sabermetrics. Some findings:

- D-Backs Weighted Runs Created Plus is 94. It means the team created 6 percent fewer runs than the rest of the league. Bloomquist and Roberts are killing the team in this category, which I want to point out is park corrected.

- The D-Backs are 6th in the league in WAR despite not having a single player with a 2+. This means everyone on the team is performing at scrub level or worse, but they don't have as many players on the bottom end. Chris Young, Aaron Hill, Gerardo Parra, Paul Goldschmidt, and Jason Kubel are the only players on the team with at least a 1.

The stats suggest to me the D-Backs have a decent group of players, but they lack that star on the everyday lineup. Put Joey Votto on this team, and I think the dynamics change dramatically.

Upton is supposed to be our Votto... In fact, he's supposed to be an even better version of Votto. He is a massive, MASSIVE disappointment and more than any other single player (yes, that includes Young), is killing this team - tonight's 2-hit game notwithstanding...

 

[TJ]

With our hot hitting and improved starting pitching, we can win 2 of 3 in Arlington.


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.....or I can learn to keep my big mouth shut

 

[BC867]

With our hot hitting and improved starting pitching, we can win 2 of 3 in Arlington

.....or I can learn to keep my big mouth shut

The definition of "can" is to be able to. You weren't wrong. We were indeed able to. An umpire's missed call and a very inconsistent offense made us, I guess, disabled to.

It was fun watching us in charge in game 3. But one out of three ain't gonna cut it. Especially with one run scored in the first two games and giving our best pitcher no run support in Game 2.

 

[Avondale Red Rage]

Cahill & Co. shutout the Halo's as Kubel sets the tone early and Hill goes yard for a 5-0 win in Anaheim.