Giants' loss of Bonds is foes' gain
Bob McManaman
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 24, 2005 12:00 AM
TUCSON - Despite finishing with the worst record by a National League club in nearly 40 years last season, the Diamondbacks liked their chances in the West when they reported to spring training.
Upon learning San Francisco could possibly be without slugger Barry Bonds for part or all of 2005 because of right knee surgery, the division just got a little more comfortable.
"There's going to be a lot of pitchers in our division, including a lot of guys in this room, that will be happy and relieved not to have to face him," said relief pitcher Mike Koplove, who allowed Bonds' 699th homer on Sept. 12. "You're not happy that he's hurt, but you're happy if you don't have to see him."
Bonds hinted Tuesday that his career and his home run pursuit of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron could be put on indefinite hold after undergoing a second knee operation last week.
"I'm just going to try and rehab myself to get back to, I don't know, hopefully next season, hopefully the middle of the season," he told reporters in Scottsdale.
Arizona players aren't holding their breaths, but if Bonds, 40, puts himself on the shelf, it could alter the dynamics in the West.
"We don't know yet, but from the perspective of an opposing team, he changes the way the game is played," third baseman Troy Glaus said of Bonds, who is 12 homers shy of passing Ruth and 52 behind Aaron's record of 755 home runs. "I mean, you walk him pretty much every time you get a chance.
"It's going to change a lot about how you go about doing things. They've still got some pretty good players over there, but with Barry, you're talking about probably the best player to ever play the game and with him out of there . . . it could make things interesting."
Valverde ailing
Relief pitcher Jose Valverde, who has been wildly inconsistent, will be shut down for at least the next few days to rest an irritated right biceps tendon, which began bothering him Tuesday. Manager Bob Melvin said it isn't anything serious, but Valverde hasn't been the same since 2003, when he recorded 10 saves as a rookie.
Shoulder problems dogged him much of last season, and in September, he underwent surgery to repair a partially torn labrum. Valverde, 0-1 with a 22.50 ERA in four appearances (including eight walks to just two strikeouts) said Wednesday he isn't overly concerned with the arm, but coupled with problems in his mechanics, it has been a hectic spring.
"We're going to give him a couple days (off) and hopefully, it calms down," Melvin said.
Short hops
Left-hander Brad Halsey had a disciplinary appeal hearing Wednesday regarding a three-game suspension. He was penalized for pitching up and in to Boston Red Sox outfielder Dave Roberts Sept. 26 while Halsey was with the New York Yankees. A ruling is expected next week.
� LHP Shane Nance and C Craig Ansman, non-roster players, were reassigned to minor league camp.
� The start time for the April 6 game against the Chicago Cubs at Bank One Ballpark has been moved from 6:40 p.m. to 7:10 p.m., to accommodate ESPN.
� The Cubs' starting pitchers for their opening series against Arizona will be Carlos Zambrano, Greg Maddux and Ryan Dempster. Melvin will counter with right-handers Javier Vazquez, Russ Ortiz and Brandon Webb.
� Friday's 7:05 p.m. game against the Rangers in Surprise will be telecast on FSNAZ.
� The Diamondbacks' 6.49 team ERA entering Wednesday's game was the highest in the majors this spring. The staff had given up the most hits (256) and most walks (87) among NL clubs, but had the second-most strikeouts (134) in the NL behind only the Cubs (136).
� Offensively, Arizona was leading the majors with 245 hits, 13 sacrifice hits and 126 RBIs, but also had left the most men on base (182)
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