DBacks need an impact hitter

[az jam]

I like the DBacks and feel that Gibby has done an excellent job on fielding a competitive team. The starting pitching is decent and the bullpen has improved immensely. However, their hitting is still very mediocre. They don't have an impact hitter that can be counted on day to day to drive in runs. I know there was anther thread discussing the disappointment in Justin Upton, but he has so far not become that player. Chris Young & Stephen Drew do hit from time to time but neither are really consistent. Additionally, Drew should not be the cleanup hitter but who else do you put there?
I don't see the DBacks as a contender until they get a hitter that can carry the team.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Been saying this for the past 2 years... CY kills this team. He remains the ultimate trap player... hits enough HR's and makes enough catches to keep you interested and continue to think, "what if". And yet, more often than not, with Runners In Scoring Position, he fails.. while hitting a measly .230.
We don't have one player who can hold a respectable OB%. Not one player who can consistently produce with RISP. Not one player who can consistently hit 30 HR's a season. Not one player who can produce 90 RBI's a season. Not one player who can hit .290 or higher on a consistent basis.
Over the past 2 years, no other team in MLB has lost more games than have the Dbacks. And while the blame can be spread throughout the team, the biggest cause, BY FAR, are the factors I just mentioned above...

 

[devilalum]

Been saying this for the past 2 years... CY kills this team. He remains the ultimate trap player... hits enough HR's and makes enough catches to keep you interested and continue to think, "what if". And yet, more often than not, with Runners In Scoring Position, he fails.. while hitting a measly .230.
We don't have one player who can hold a respectable OB%. Not one player who can consistently produce with RISP. Not one player who can consistently hit 30 HR's a season. Not one player who can produce 90 RBI's a season. Not one player who can hit .290 or higher on a consistent basis.
Over the past 2 years, no other team in MLB has lost more games than have the Dbacks. And while the blame can be spread throughout the team, the biggest cause, BY FAR, are the factors I just mentioned above...

This is what I feel Justin Upton SHOULD be. Maybe he will be some day? But the Dbacks have a chance to win the division this year.

 

[azsportsfan01]

Been saying this for the past 2 years... CY kills this team. He remains the ultimate trap player... hits enough HR's and makes enough catches to keep you interested and continue to think, "what if". And yet, more often than not, with Runners In Scoring Position, he fails.. while hitting a measly .230.
We don't have one player who can hold a respectable OB%. Not one player who can consistently produce with RISP. Not one player who can consistently hit 30 HR's a season. Not one player who can produce 90 RBI's a season. Not one player who can hit .290 or higher on a consistent basis.
Over the past 2 years, no other team in MLB has lost more games than have the Dbacks. And while the blame can be spread throughout the team, the biggest cause, BY FAR, are the factors I just mentioned above...

Do you even look at stats before you make comments?

Drew is 16th in the NL in OBP, Upton is 21st, Montero is 26th, Roberts is 30th. No other team has even 3 guys in the top 30. This team is average in hitting, by no means great and by no means bad. Roberts has cooled off to the point where he is hurting us. We need to get a 3rd baseman in here but there really is no options at this point.

The team is good enough to compete and that is all we can ask for at this point. Someone will get hot (someone always does) and we will go on a run again. For all the losses that have happened this past week we are still only 2 games back of the Giants and have a series with them starting Tuesday which will be huge.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Do you even look at stats before you make comments?

Drew is 16th in the NL in OBP, Upton is 21st, Montero is 26th, Roberts is 30th. No other team has even 3 guys in the top 30.

I'm talking about the past two seasons. So, wonderful... for the first 2 months of this season, the highest ranking OB% guy we have is Drew at 16th. Awesome...

 

[82CardsGrad]

The team is good enough to compete and that is all we can ask for at this point. Someone will get hot (someone always does) and we will go on a run again. For all the losses that have happened this past week we are still only 2 games back of the Giants and have a series with them starting Tuesday which will be huge.

The team has been "good enough" to compete during the first two months of the season. That is ONLY because of Kennedy, Hudson, Colmenter, and an incredible performance from the pen lead by Putz.
The team is not "good enough" to compete should any one of those pitchers begin to come back to reality.
The team can only compete if, and only if, the pitching continues to perform far above their historical norms.

So - in short, if the team doesn't improve - dramatically, on offense, the team will not be competing much longer...

 

[azsportsfan01]

I'm talking about the past two seasons. So, wonderful... for the first 2 months of this season, the highest ranking OB% guy we have is Drew at 16th. Awesome...

2010- Tied for the most in the top 30
Kelly Johnson- 15th
Justin Upton- 25th
Stephen Drew- 29th

The Giants in 2010 (who won the World Series) had 4 in the top 75 in OBP with Aubrey Huff as their top guy at 10th.

The Phillies in 2008 has 2 guys in the top 30.

The Cards in 2006 had 2 guys in the top 30 and 4 in the 80.

The White Sox in 2005 had 2 guys in the top 30.

Also 16th is very good. When you figure a team carries 12 hitters and there are 16 teams in the NL that means bare minimum of 192 hitters.

I don't get why you want this team to fail. Everything you write makes it seem like you want to see them screw up and get upset when it doesn't happen.

 

[82CardsGrad]

2010- Tied for the most in the top 30
Kelly Johnson- 15th
Justin Upton- 25th
Stephen Drew- 29th

The Giants in 2010 (who won the World Series) had 4 in the top 75 in OBP with Aubrey Huff as their top guy at 10th.

The Phillies in 2008 has 2 guys in the top 30.

The Cards in 2006 had 2 guys in the top 30 and 4 in the 80.

The White Sox in 2005 had 2 guys in the top 30.

Also 16th is very good. When you figure a team carries 12 hitters and there are 16 teams in the NL that means bare minimum of 192 hitters.

I don't get why you want this team to fail. Everything you write makes it seem like you want to see them screw up and get upset when it doesn't happen.

Why would you think I "want this team to fail"??
You keep honing in on one stat, and then comparing that one stat to World Champions. I mentioned several stats, most of which champions do quite well in and none of which we do... So, yes - we have more guys in the top 30 (none in the top 15) for OB% than most other teams. Big deal. We still can't drive them in even when they are on base. We still can't hit for average and we still can't hit HR's on a consistent basis. And please, don't start quoting me the HR totals for CY and Upton... thanks...

If you can't see that this team has only been competitive due to the pitching, and that when that pitching comes back to earth this team will be in a load of trouble, well... enjoy...

 

[devilalum]

This team is kind of an odd one. They're one game out of first place but they really don't have a single legit star. Their pitching staff has been good but none of their pitchers have a devastating "out" pitch and none of them have pin point control. Putz had a nice streak but doesn't have devastating stuff either. He gets hit hard but usually gets outs. The bullpen has been up and down and while the team has produced runs they don't have a reliable clutch hitter to count on. Sure it would be nice to have an Albert Pujols but those guys usually aren't available and when they are it usually costs you a huge amount of money and prospects to get one.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Bring up Goldy. Its time.

 

[Nasser22]

I think we certainly have a lot of work to do when it comes to our hitting. We still leave way too many on base. However, we are seventh in the majors in runs scored, unless I read something wrong. We also are second in the division in BA, although that isn't the most impressive achievement. I definitely want to see Goldschmidt come up soon and see if he can help us out.

Edit: And here we go, Kelly Johnson!

 

[PDXChris]

Bring up Goldy. Its time.

That is what I was thinking.

To get anyone, you would either need to find someone on a small market team or on a team that is out of it. For the ones out of it, you have too wait too long and usually just rent them. On the small market teams, you get raped in the players you have to give up and there is no one that sticks out to me that is worth either of those at this point.

 

[PoolBoy]

Paul Goldschmit. Trade CY for a 7th inning reliever and Bring up Cowgill, then put Parra in CF.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Towers on Goldschmidt:

Moving on to the issue at hand: With Goldschmidt raking and Triple-A Reno outfielder Collin Cowgill the latest Aces hitter to go on a tear – and, it should be mentioned, this isn’t Cowgill’s first prolonged tear of the season – how much longer will Towers wait before reaching down to the minors for reinforcements?

He said the organization already has talked internally about bringing Goldschmidt up.

“We’re kind of approaching that time to where we’ll make some decisions on people in our system,” Towers said. “I wouldn’t say we’re at that point right now, but probably leading up to the All-Star Game, that’s when we’d probably have to decide to make moves. I think we’re always looking for ways to improve the club and the first place we’re going to look is internal.”

Lots more here: http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/NickPiecoro/130997

 

[sundevil04]

Bring him up!

 

[Lefty]

I would not be surprised if they trade Miranda and then bring up Goldschmidt. Paul is just tearing it up in Double A and has done enough to get a call up soon.

 

[Azlen]

In what I think is kind of a weird stat, the D'backs are 19th in MLB in batting average but 7th overall and 3rd in the NL in runs scored. Their run to hit ratio is .539 which puts them 4th in MLB behind NYY, BOS and CIN. Part of that is that they are second in baseball in extra base hits. Put a few guys in there who hit for average and you could see this offense really explode.

 

[Gaddabout]

If not for the Indians collapse I would have guessed Paul Konerko available. Now Konerko is injured and the White Sox still think they can make a run. But if he comes off his injury OK and the Sox falter, I'd make a trade for him in a hurry. He's the kind of guy who can add an extra dimension to this offense, and at a position that's not currently solidified. Not to mention, it would slow down the rush to call up Goldschmidt without adding a player who would block him for years to come.

 

[PDXChris]

If not for the Indians collapse I would have guessed Paul Konerko available. Now Konerko is injured and the White Sox still think they can make a run. But if he comes off his injury OK and the Sox falter, I'd make a trade for him in a hurry. He's the kind of guy who can add an extra dimension to this offense, and at a position that's not currently solidified. Not to mention, it would slow down the rush to call up Goldschmidt without adding a player who would block him for years to come.

He is in the first year of a 3 year $37 million deal.

 

[Gaddabout]

He is in the first year of a 3 year $37 million deal.

And he's earning it.

 

[Mulli]

And he's earning it.

So Sox would NEVER give him up.

 

[Gaddabout]

So Sox would NEVER give him up.

You would know better than me, but 35-year-old first basemen with big contracts tend to be very available when the team is in third place and under .500. The Sox could still turn it around, I guess, but if they don't I'd have to think they'd at least entertain offers. The D-Backs interest would depend on where they are at the all-star break I suppose.

 

[Matt L]

I would not be surprised if they trade Miranda and then bring up Goldschmidt. Paul is just tearing it up in Double A and has done enough to get a call up soon.

Wouldn't trading Miranda and asking Goldschmidt to come in and carry the power production be too much to ask of a rookie?

 

[TJ]

Wouldn't trading Miranda and asking Goldschmidt to come in and carry the power production be too much to ask of a rookie?

Yes. Especially since we are in a division race now.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it (with a rookie I might add)

Guys like Konerko I would make a trade for in a second, barring the severity of his injury.

BTW...where the hell did all of this David Wright to AZ talk come from? The answer is no.

As for the team right now, we are scoring runs at a torrid pace, so if we dont get an impact player, it's not the end of the world. CY could be good trade bait, but although he is hitting .243, he always seems to get extra bases,

I'm most afraid of our starting pitching regressing. Zack Duke is not impressing me and Saunders has been more miss than hit. Those are our only two lefties as well.

But right now, I'm loving me some D-Backs baseball. Cant wait for them to come to LA for the next Doiyers series

 

[Gaddabout]

David Wright? The same David Wright with the .337 OBP? That solves nothing.