Arizona Diamondbacks

By Jim McLennan Almost two months left, but we appear to have a shoo-in winner of the "That is professional journalism?" category for 2009. Greg Hansen of the Arizona Daily Star demonstrates his lack of knowledge of...well, just about everything, in a sorry little piece which feels like he did nothing but co...

By Jim McLennan I've already rambled on far longer than I wanted to about this topic, though I could certainly go on a great deal further. Just to finish, throw a few random baseball-themed ones that can't go without mention. AFLAC duck: yeah, mostly lame but the one with Yogi Berra has to be one of the best adv...

By Jabber Head The Arizona Diamondbacks, who lost yet another road game this afternoon, 4-3 in 10 innings to the San Diego Padres, now need to get used to the talk that manager Bob Melvin will be fired.   As long as we continue to see the  Diamondbacks in their current state, there is no other option.  It...

The Diamondbacks are 9th in the NL in home runs and by the time the year is over they will be top five. I still believe they have the best shot at giving the Dodgers a run for the division crown. The Good – The kids. Dexter Fowler and Ian Stewart have ...

By David Martin The Diamondbacks scored their second run in the ninth as Chris Young was hit by a pitch from Ryan Speier, he then took second base on defensive indifference then moved to third on a ground ball by Conor Jackson and scored on another ground ball by Mark Reynolds.

By rss@youtube.com (URSports) None Author: URSports Keywords: MLB Predictions 2009 NL National League Baseball Funny Talk Show Under Review Cubs Mets New York Dodgers LA Diamondbacks Arizona Brewers Milwaukee Jake Peavy Phillies Sports Season World Series Playoffs Added: April 4, 2009

Diamondbacks fourth outfielder: This battle really isn't a battle if Eric Byrnes is healthy, as the job will be his, leaving Alex Romero out of the mix (the team usually carries only four outfielders, choosing to go with another arm instead). ...

By Russ Colorado Rockies: Arizona Diamondbacks: 2006 - Brett Anderson, LHP, Oklahoma HS - The other big prospect sent to Oakland in the Dan Haren trade, Anderson is poised to break into the majors in 2009. 2008 - Bryan Shaw, RHP, Long Beach State - So-so debut, but he did pitch better upon promotion...

By Rox Girl The Rockies will lose ground in their rotation to the D-backs and Dodgers The Rockies will gain ground on the Dodgers and Diamondbacks on offenseThe Rockies bullpen will gain ground on the Diamondbacks, but lose ground to the Dodgers

By Jim McLennan Brandon Webb: 22-7, 3.30 ERA, 1.196 WHIP 226.2 IP, 206 H, 65 BB, 183 K, 13 HR, .242/.302/.334 Randy Johnson: 11-10, 3.91 ERA, 1.239 WHIP 184 IP, 184 H, 44 BB, 179 K, 24 HR, .260/.306/.422 Doug Davis: 6-8, 4.32 ERA, 1.534 WHIP 146 IP, 160 H, 64 BB, 112 K, 13 HR, .282/.356/.419

By Jim McLennan Josh Byrnes rolled the dice with the Diamondbacks in the outfield, and unfortunately came up snake-eyes. Various trades left the organization denuded of depth at the position, and the team really needed everything to go right for the line-up to work. Eric Byrnes had to live up to his contra...

11 could not help an offense that finished 10th in runs despite playing in one of the best hitters' parks in the NL. It became apparent that the D-backs may ... Johnson throws 2-hitter, Diamondbacks edge Rockies The Associated Press Salt Lake Tribune - Arizona Republic

By Jim McLennan Both sides put men on the corners with no outs in the opening inning. However, that's where any similarities ended. Arizona failed to capitalize: Jackson flew out and, after an intentional walk to Dunn, Upton struck out and Young grounded out. The Diamondbacks were 0-for-3 with men in scori...

By Jim McLennan Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks stranded seventeen men in ten innings of work. That's the most by any team that scored one run or less in over seven seasons: the last team to do worse was on September 2nd, 2001 when - hey! - the Arizona Diamondbacks were shutout by the Padres, despite leaving 19 m...

Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Miguel Montero hit a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, and added a double as the Arizona Diamondbacks clobbered the ... Diamondbacks rout Astros 11-5 at Minute Maid Houston Chronicle Arizona Republic - Sports Network

By Jim McLennan The Diamondbacks pounded the Astros once again, using two grand slams, by Chris Young and Miguel Montero to cruise to another easy victory. It's the first time the team have scored 10+ runs in back-to-back road games for over eight years: the last time, coincidentally, was also in Houston...

By Jim McLennan What genius was it who said, after the first inning, "I think our best hope is to take a lot of pitches, weather the storm, then plunder the Giants bullpen"? Oh, that was me. And the plan worked to perfection. After seven innings, San Francisco had the lead, and Lincecum was hit for in the bottom...

By Jim McLennan Elsewhere, the Rockies and Dodgers got together for a 26-run game of pinball at Coors, with the Dodgers coming out on top to stay level with Arizona. And Jose Valverde out-Lyoned Lyon, allowing six earned runs in one-third of an inning of work for Houston, as they coughed up a late lead. His ER...

By Jim McLennan The first balk, in particular, proved crucial, as it moved Chris Burke - who had reached on an error - into scoring position. A single by Chris Young then brought Burke home, and that was all the offense Arizona would need. they did add another run in the sixth - though that was equally as depend...

By Jim McLennan On May 21st, Arizona faced the Marlins in Florida, and Ricky Nolasco allowed one run as his team beat the Diamondbacks 3-1 - the defeat dropped our lead over the Dodgers to three games. On June 27th, Arizona faced the Marlins in Florida, and Ricky Nolasco allowed one run as his team beat the Di...

By Jim McLennan Arizona threatened to end the shutout in the ninth, loading the bases for Chad Tracy with two outs. That put the Diamondbacks just a bloop and a blast away from tying up the game, and sent our Win Probability shooting all the way up from 0.2% to the dizzying heights of 1.3%. Clearly terrified, Red...

Even those who don’t like the idea of picking relievers high in the draft -- something the Diamondbacks did with two of their first three picks -- liked the high-potential and the buy-low game-plan the Diamondbacks seemed to employ beyond their first few picks.

By Jim McLennan The offense were who we thought they were, getting only three runs, though they did get ten hits. No walks, however - even Upton couldn't manage anything there, going 0-for-2 with two K's - and since they were playing catch-up from before they got to the plate, it was a thankless task. Three hi...

Snyder's home run powers D'Backs past Pirates 4-3 The Associated Press D'backs hold off Pirates Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Haren takes ball for D'Backs in Steel City Sports Network

By Jim McLennan All of a sudden, the NL West has awoken. Between today and yesterday, the division which was the worst in baseball has gone 10-0 against other NL teams. Admittedly, the only team in the top two of the Central or West we're currently playing is the Cubs, but it's a start. Beat up on the bottom feede...

Unlike last season, when the Diamondbacks prided themselves on their tenacity, it has felt in recent games like they have had the life sucked out of them whenever they’ve fallen behind. Bob Melvin acknowledged as much and said it was something he addressed with his team before Friday’s ga...

By Jim McLennan Haren: 8 out of 9 Webb: 8 out of 9 Owings: 7 out of 9 Johnson: 2 out of 7 Gonzalez: 1 out of 6 Scherzer/Davis: 2 out of 5 Click to enlarge, in new window] Master of his domain: Orlando Hudson, +21.8% God-emperor of suck: Justin Upton, -28.1% Dishonorable mention: Chris Young, -26.0%

By Jim McLennan I think we all know who Player A is, so let's move on, shall we? Player B, however, might surprise you: Luis Gonzalez, in a less-than-full time role for the surprising (and NL East leading) Florida Marlins. Over on Major-League Jerk, Hef speculates on how Gonzo's career might have played ou...

By Jim McLennan His final line was six hits, no walks and four strikeouts over the nine innings, with three runs allowed, two earned: up until the final stretch, this was probably his best outing of the year so far. Even so, it still runs Webb's record to 8-0, a stunning achievement given that no-one else in t...

By Jim McLennan I know that Reynolds was incredibly streaky last year, but he was one K away from having ten consecutive games with multiple strikeouts. The seven in a row he did manage, was a franchise record, and hasn't been surpassed in the majors since Cory Snyder's eight, from Sep. 27-Oct 5, 1986. Ten wou...

By Jim McLennan My kid brother, Timmy Sickface, was diagnosed with terminal boneitis back in spring of 2001 shortly after his puppy died saving the lives of a bunch of orphans and kittens and bunnies. Aside from training puppies to save lives, Timmy's favorite pastime was watching the Arizona Diamondba...

By Jim McLennan M. Reynolds singled to pitcher J. Upton singled to center, C. Jackson scored, M. Reynolds to third, J. Upton to second advancing on throw C. Snyder doubled to right, S. Drew, J. Upton and M. Reynolds scored D. Haren lined out to first E. Byrnes flied out to right

By Jim McLennan In the face of such mediocrity, the offense would have been hard pushed to catch up. They did have their moments, getting the tying run on base in the fourth, and to the plate in the sixth, but the absence of Young in the leadoff spot was sorely felt. Eric Byrnes hit there instead, and went 1-for-...

By Jim McLennan Monday - Opening Day - marks ten years to the day since the first-ever game for the Diamondbacks. The Tribune cover the past decade in a series of articles, going back to the moment when Colangelo nearly bailed, after MLB suddenly upped the expansion fee by $20m. There's also a 76-picture sli...

By Jim McLennan The game was totally sold out. I don't think I've seen so many scalpers at a Spring Training game before. That was probably no surprise; we bought our tickets a couple of months back, and even at that point, the best seats remaining were in the last section bleachers, out by the AZ bullpen.

By Jim McLennan We're approaching Fantasy Baseball draft time, so it's been interesting to see ourselves as others see us. Patrick of The Fantasy Baseball Generals takes a look at five D-backs, but seems to find much of concern: Eric Byrnes "will break your heart"; "it wouldn't be a surprise if [Drew] con...

By Jim McLennan At the other end, poor Justin Upton had 288 baseballs, 61 bats, 120 photos and 39 jerseys: including team items, that's 508 pieces, most on the team, so it's clear they expect him to reach superstar status in 2008. Webb would likely have come top, except they only got him to sign six bats - and I...

By Jim McLennan The winter meetings ended in Nashville, without further action on the part of Josh Byrnes and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hard to say exactly how close we came to pulling off a trade: Steve Gilbert says "they were close on a few things at the Meetings, including a three-team deal that include...

The Diamondbacks' week in review AZ Snake Pit, AZ - Bob Melvin acknowledged the possibility during a session with reporters on Tuesday, saying "It's potentially, depending on how our roster looks, an option. ... D-Backs’ Quentin dealt to Chicago East Valley Tribune all 2 news articles

By Jim McLennan No question about the big news over the last week; the trading of Carlos Quentin to the Chicago White Sox for a young prospect, who won't even be able to drink legally for another couple of weeks. It's a sad end to the career of someone who was expected to be a cornerstone of the Diamondbacks' fu...

By Jim McLennan Overall, that's 488 in 1983 - one every 4.06 at-bats. The overall rate in the National League last season was one every 5.13, so the Diamondbacks do appear to support this theory. The study also noted that students whose names began with an A or B got better grades than those where the first lette...

By Jim McLennan You can tell the Diamondbacks' season is over: for the first time in a long while, there was absolutely no mention of them to be found in the Republic sports section this morning. Not even all that much baseball, just a little bit about Eric Wedge of the Indians, whose team are one game from the...

By Jeff Kallman Neither he nor the Rockies would have reason or desire to backtrack from that. If you’re the Colorado Rockies, you couldn’t do it with any better exclamation point than bagging your single most public underminer for the Monday night out that means game, set, 21 wins in your previous 22 game...

By Jim McLennan A rare picture of Doug Davis, standing on second-base - and wondering where to go from there. :-) Gameday Graph Click graph to enlarge, in new window] Master of his domain: Stephen Drew, +23.2% God-emperor of suck: Augie Ojeda, -23.9% Honorary suckness: Bob Melvin, minus several million

By Jim McLennan Ouch. That was not the National League Championship Series I signed up for. I signed up for the one in which the two best teams in the league collided, an ultimate test of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. Whenever that series starts, please let me know - because it clearly w...

By Jim McLennan Certainly, you can look at other factors, to analyze where and how a team is performing,. But claiming the Diamondbacks are not a good team is like saying Bill Gates isn't rich because he drives a Lexus. You can look at someone's car, and it might give you a good idea of how rich they are - though w...

By Jim McLennan The Chicago Cubs are going to win the 2007 World Series... From lovable losers to World Series champions? Good things come to those who wait. Their pitching was so good and so deep, they allowed the second-fewest runs in the National League (behind only San Diego) and the third-fewest in baseb...

By Jim McLennan Couple of random game-notes. Chase Field did not become Wrigley SW: most reports say Cubs fans were no more than 20% of theose in attendance, and were rarely heard, on TV at least. Credit too, for having Jerry Colangelo throw out the first pitch before the game: perhaps a sign that fences are b...

By Jim McLennan Last night, we had a good spread of contributions, with nine different players crossing home-plate: every starter bar Conor Jackson, but including Brandon Webb. He and Ojeda did a good job of legging it out on a bunt by Webb, turning a potentially inning-ending double-play into a failed f...

By Jim McLennan Looking at the Cy Young award, here are the four real contenders (I debated about including Hudson, but his ERA+ is only 141, so I've left him out), ordered by ERA+: Chris Young: 213 Jake Peavy: 188 Brandon Webb: 176 Brad Penny: 170 God-emperor of suck: Orlando Hudson, -9.8%