Looking to 2016, this team could be a contender

[Lefty]

I know we still have 5 weeks left of the 2015 season, but I am already getting excited about next year's team. I think if they can find a starter in the offseason and a shortstop & second baseman, the Diamondbacks should be in the hunt for a playoff spot. Here is an article about next year.

http://arizonasports.com/2015/08/22...ndbacks-could-be-surprise-contender-for-2016/

 

[overseascardfan]

I know we still have 5 weeks left of the 2015 season, but I am already getting excited about next year's team. I think if they can find a starter in the offseason and a shortstop & second baseman, the Diamondbacks should be in the hunt for a playoff spot. Here is an article about next year.

http://arizonasports.com/2015/08/22...ndbacks-could-be-surprise-contender-for-2016/

Ace and possibly another front line SP should be priorities. I think Swanson would be up at some point next year and man the SS spot. Brandon Drury could be the 2B.

Price & Cueto would be the Ace targets with guys like Mike Leake, Yovani Gallardo or Jordan Zimmerman as second front line starter possibilities. Two SP's will not come cheap but right now I see Corbin, Ray & De La Rosa as the only 3 guys that should be in the rotation next year, maybe Bradley but he really needs to get it together. Anderson & Hellickson are expendable and Godley while impressive in his short time in the majors is still unproven.

The good news is ARZ looks to be set in terms of lineup for the next few years, particularly if Drury & Swanson come up to man the middle infield. Starting pitching and maybe a more reliable closer (although Ziegler has done a great job) would be the pieces needed to contend long term.

 

[GatorAZ]

Well they do have two legit superstars...

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.as...type=8&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0

I'm hoping they can trade Tomas to an AL team to open some dough to sign a TOTRP. Maybe someone out there will just look at his batting average and think he's a good hitter.

Drury is tearing up Reno like Owings did. We'll have to see how he does in September along with Blair.

 

[splitsecond]

We are not trading Tomas. We didn't finally spend on the international market to turn around and dump Tomas.

Price and Leake would by a dream but they will be expensive. I think one or two of our young guys or maybe more will level up next season.

We will contend.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[82CardsGrad]

Ace and possibly another front line SP should be priorities. I think Swanson would be up at some point next year and man the SS spot. Brandon Drury could be the 2B.

Price & Cueto would be the Ace targets with guys like Mike Leake, Yovani Gallardo or Jordan Zimmerman as second front line starter possibilities. Two SP's will not come cheap but right now I see Corbin, Ray & De La Rosa as the only 3 guys that should be in the rotation next year, maybe Bradley but he really needs to get it together. Anderson & Hellickson are expendable and Godley while impressive in his short time in the majors is still unproven.

The good news is ARZ looks to be set in terms of lineup for the next few years, particularly if Drury & Swanson come up to man the middle infield. Starting pitching and maybe a more reliable closer (although Ziegler has done a great job) would be the pieces needed to contend long term.

Agreed. We desperately need Drury and Swanson to step up and fill the huge void at second and shortstop from an offense perspective. Heck, even if they can hit .260, it would be a huge improvement...
But by far the biggest needs are in our rotation. We don't have a reliable #1... It really is amazing that we're a game over .500 and only 5 games back of first... Corbin, Ray and De la Rosa have been ok slightly more than than not, mixed with large amounts of inconsistency... Hellickson needs to go. Anderson at best is a #5.
If Tomas can get things figured out, we would have a great outfield. AJ has shown he can be a perennial all star. Peralta, with just a bit more consistency, can become a legit star as well. Ender is a "good enough" lead off hitter. They all are good to great in the field. But Tomas needs to get right at the plate.
Lamb is satisfactory at 3rd. And I'm totally ok with Castillo and Salty behind the plate.

 

[PDXChris]

Swanson will be ready late 2016 or early 2017. Getting hit in the head slowed things down a bit and once the season is done up here, they are shutting him down until Spring Training. They want to let him go through a full spring training and at least half a season in the minors next season. They can see he is still a bit gun shy at the plate, but he is coming around and finally hit his first HR a couple of days ago.

 

[Dback Jon]

It is funny how on one thread, posters criticize the Dbacks for giving up too early on young players, then in the next thread, want to dump other young players.



SS is not a problem. Ahmed's defense is stellar. his hitting needs to improve, but you can survive a poor hitting SS.



Dbacks problem is starting pitching. Worry about that.

 

[Matt L]

It is funny how on one thread, posters criticize the Dbacks for giving up too early on young players, then in the next thread, want to dump other young players.



SS is not a problem. Ahmed's defense is stellar. his hitting needs to improve, but you can survive a poor hitting SS.



Dbacks problem is starting pitching. Worry about that.

Completely agree. Ahmed's defense makes up for his poor bat. 2B can probably be improved but my guess is there will be some sort of rotation/platoon of Owings, Drury, and Hill and possibly Drury sharing time at 3B when facing a left handed pitcher. Wellington Castillo has played very well this season and should be given a chance to hold the starting job at catcher. I would look into upgrading Saltamachia but I wouldn't break the bank on a backup catcher when Tuffy can be an okay back up. The rotation and bullpen are really holding this team back from making the playoffs.

I have to say, we are a game over .500 with 5 weeks left in the season and 5 games behind the division leading Dodgers. Although unlikely, we could make some noise in the division with a little luck and a little improvement from our starting pitchers. Kudos to everyone on the team for making this an enjoyable season.

 

[Bert]

It is funny how on one thread, posters criticize the Dbacks for giving up too early on young players, then in the next thread, want to dump other young players.



SS is not a problem. Ahmed's defense is stellar. his hitting needs to improve, but you can survive a poor hitting SS.



Dbacks problem is starting pitching. Worry about that.

I agree 100%. Ahmed is so good on defense I can totally live with his hitting even when it's terrible. Watching him this last month I'm a believer. For every run he costs you he saves you it and probably more out in the field.

Now 2b I would like to upgrade. I mean if we just got a consistently good hitting 2B we would be in good shape and it will all come down to our starting rotation.

 

[splitsecond]

The bizarre anomaly in all of this is the fact that Robbie Ray is 3-9 with a 3.38 ERA. It's like the offense goes on strike when he pitches.

 

[Ronin]

SS is not a problem. Ahmed's defense is stellar. his hitting needs to improve, but you can survive a poor hitting SS.

I don't think that it is that far fetched to think that Ahmed could be the next Brandon Crawford. Crawford wasn't known for his bat until this year.

 

[GatorAZ]

The bizarre anomaly in all of this is the fact that Robbie Ray is 3-9 with a 3.38 ERA. It's like the offense goes on strike when he pitches.

Don't even look at a pitchers W/L record. It's irrelevant and insignificant.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

 

[crisper57]

Looking ahead to September, this team is a contender now. 5 games back before September is doable, especially with LA going into the tank. Now the D-Backs have to at least split with the Cardinals to hold on, but this team is playing well right now. It could happen.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Looking ahead to September, this team is a contender now. 5 games back before September is doable, especially with LA going into the tank. Now the D-Backs have to at least split with the Cardinals to hold on, but this team is playing well right now. It could happen.

Our starting pitching is a serious problem... Contender? Well, we have busted our arses and thanks to Pollack, Goldy, Peralta, Castillo and Ender, we've gotten ourselves into an amazing position.
We just beat a team in Cincy that has literally given up. We now have 4 games against one of the top teams in baseball... This will likely tell the story for the rest of the season.

 

[82CardsGrad]

It is funny how on one thread, posters criticize the Dbacks for giving up too early on young players, then in the next thread, want to dump other young players.



SS is not a problem. Ahmed's defense is stellar. his hitting needs to improve, but you can survive a poor hitting SS.



Dbacks problem is starting pitching. Worry about that.

Is SS our biggest issue? Of course not... However, we did draft Swanson #1 overall. Ahmed will eventually be traded.
Can we win with Ahmed? Sure, if other key position players are putting up big numbers in a way that compensates for his continues poor performance at the plate.
But combined with the lack of offense at 2nd base, the pressure this puts on Goldy, AJ and Peralta to perform at the highest levels at the plate is huge.

 

[Dback Jon]

Is SS our biggest issue? Of course not... However, we did draft Swanson #1 overall. Ahmed will eventually be traded.
Can we win with Ahmed? Sure, if other key position players are putting up big numbers in a way that compensates for his continues poor performance at the plate.
But combined with the lack of offense at 2nd base, the pressure this puts on Goldy, AJ and Peralta to perform at the highest levels at the plate is huge.

We drafted Swanson to trade him

Or knowing that it is likely one of Ahmed or Owings will flame out, and they can move Swanson to that position.

Offense hasn't been the issue most nights.

Getting Castillo turned the C spot from a hole to a strength. We DO need to improve offense from 2nd Base

 

[82CardsGrad]

We drafted Swanson to trade him

Or knowing that it is likely one of Ahmed or Owings will flame out, and they can move Swanson to that position.

Offense hasn't been the issue most nights.

Getting Castillo turned the C spot from a hole to a strength. We DO need to improve offense from 2nd Base

Dury has to be the answer at 2b... Swanson's defense is reportedly top-tier. I honestly don't know about Drury's defense, but it would have to be pretty horrific to keep him out of the bigs given his incredible offensive production...

 

[Dback Jon]

Dury has to be the answer at 2b... Swanson's defense is reportedly top-tier. I honestly don't know about Drury's defense, but it would have to be pretty horrific to keep him out of the bigs given his incredible offensive production...

Let's see how both do in the bigs.

If they are as good as advertised, then we have a great upgrade.

 

[Phrazbit]

Dury has to be the answer at 2b... Swanson's defense is reportedly top-tier. I honestly don't know about Drury's defense, but it would have to be pretty horrific to keep him out of the bigs given his incredible offensive production...

The PCL is a strange league. Its tiny ballparks and a lot of them are at higher altitudes and (as you've seen the Dbacks do) a lot of teams don't bother to bring their better pitching prospects through the PCL for very long... probably to protect their confidence from the damage playing in these matchbox stadiums can do. We've seen, several times now, pitchers get promoted from the PCL and they actually improve statistically in the MLB over their AAA stats. Similarly we've seen guys like Danny Dorn put up video game stats in the PCL, get to the MLB and they're useless.

For comparison's sake; Nick Ahmed hit .312 in the PCL with a .425 slugging, after hitting .236 with a .324 slugging in AA.

You have to take Drury's numbers there with a rather large grain of salt.

 

[82CardsGrad]

The PCL is a strange league. Its tiny ballparks and a lot of them are at higher altitudes and (as you've seen the Dbacks do) a lot of teams don't bother to bring their better pitching prospects through the PCL for very long... probably to protect their confidence from the damage playing in these matchbox stadiums can do. We've seen, several times now, pitchers get promoted from the PCL and they actually improve statistically in the MLB over their AAA stats. Similarly we've seen guys like Danny Dorn put up video game stats in the PCL, get to the MLB and they're useless.

For comparison's sake; Nick Ahmed hit .312 in the PCL with a .425 slugging, after hitting .236 with a .324 slugging in AA.

You have to take Drury's numbers there with a rather large grain of salt.

Sure... I get that. But at some point you need to bring him up, don't ya? Or, move the team out of Reno altogether...

 

[BC867]

Steve was quoting Chris Owings as saying that, now that he's gone back to SS for a few games, he feels so much more comfortable and it affects the rest of his game.

I am sure Owings is speaking from his heart, but the bottom line is that he has decided that he is not going to be as good while playing 2B as at SS.

That creates a bad situation. Looking ahead, it means that the only viable solution is to trade him to a team that will play him in his natural position.

I didn't play a lot of baseball when I was younger but, as a lefty, I felt much more comfortable playing 1B than the outfield. More "in" the game. I always gave my best, but my best playing 1B was best-er than in the outfield.

I empathize with Owings, but it doesn't help the situation.

 

[AZ Native]

I don't think that it is that far fetched to think that Ahmed could be the next Brandon Crawford. Crawford wasn't known for his bat until this year.

Interesting that you should mention Crawford. I drafted him for next to nothing in this years fantasy baseball (as only offensive stats count) and he has been the steal of the draft for me. (not to mention what he has done for the Giants)