Series Preview: Diamondbacks @ Athletics
Aside from the abomination that is the Designated Hitter rule, we kinda dig interleague play. It's fun to see teams match up against opponents they rarely play. And you get to watch all those exotic players you've only read about in the boxscores.
Well, except when you have the Arizona Diamondbacks (17-24) against the Oakland Athletics (15-23). Given the number of former Snakes on the A's roster, we may as well refer to the Oakland franchise as Diamondbacks West.
The Dan Haren trade infused the Athletics with erstwhile Arizona farmhands including Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland and Aaron Cunningham. Current A's Jack Cust, Edgar Gonzalez and Russ Springer have also spent time on the Diamondbacks' roster. Mix in Arizona State University product Travis Buck and longtime NL West rival Matt Holliday and the D-Backs/A's series feels like a reunion.
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Arizona's offense has enjoyed a rebirth since we declared the 2009 season DOA a week ago. In the first six games of their coast-to-coast road trip, the Diamondbacks put up 41 runs (6.83 runs/game) to finish 4-2 against the Braves and Marlins. That explosion raised their season average to 4.15 runs/game.
By comparison, Oakland's offense has scored 4.45 runs/game, an unimpressive total considering they don't have to send pitchers to the plate. Holliday has been disappointing on the season (.271 / .346 / .424 in 163 plate appearances), but he's had good success against Arizona for his career. His all-time line against Diamondbacks pitching is .307 / .363 / .480 with 19 doubles, two triples, seven homers and 43 RBI in 281 plate appearances.
The A's rely on some very young starting pitchers. On the whole, they lack the experience and stamina to pitch deep into contests; they have a 5.07 ERA and their average of 5.3 innings per start is second lowest in the Majors. In turn, the Oakland bullpen is asked to throw a ton of innings: 149.1 IP on the season. Although they've performed admirably so far -- A's relievers have a 3.62 ERA -- the workload is bound to catch up with them eventually.
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Arizona has recalled Billy Buckner (15.75 ERA in 2009) to start Game 1. After getting hammered in a middle-relief role, he found success pitching primarily as a starter in Reno (3.81 ERA in 28.1 IP). His opponent will be Trevor Cahill (2-3, 5.01 ERA), a top prospect whose arsenal, like that of all modern sinker-ballers, gets compared to that of Brandon Webb.
Game 2 features Haren against his ex-teammates in Oakland. Haren had scheduled starts against Atlanta and Florida rained out, so he should be fresh for Saturday's match-up. Oakland sends Gonzalez, a veteran of six seasons in the Diamondbacks uniform, to face his former club.
In Game 3, Jon Garland takes on a team he battled often during his long tenure in the American League. Garland has a rough track record against current Oakland hitters, who've compiled a line of .296 / .363 / .546 with twelve doubles, a triple and eight home runs in 173 plate appearances against the Snakes' starter. As for Garland's opponent, lefty Josh Outman, we know this much: he's got a better pitchers' name than Grant Balfour.
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Buckner a Bright Spot
What a surprise Buckner was in his last start! Can he keep it up for another outing? I know I am hoping he continues on this road and becomes a nice story of a struggling player turning it around mid-season.
We have a few other players that can hopefully take a page out of that book and get their turnaround started before it is too late.