Series Preview: Diamondbacks @ Braves
Let's be honest: the Diamondbacks (13-22) are indisputably among the worst teams in baseball. Not the least talented on the field. Not the most rudderless in the front office. But with the exception of a handful of players, the team has performed atrociously. Their record does not lie. They're just bad.
We, the die-hard fans of Diamondbacks Nation, have predicted on several occasions that change for the better was coming. Each time we raised our hopes, the Snakes' play has left us bitterly disappointed. The latest opportunity for salvation -- the nearly simultaneous suspension of Manny Ramirez and replacement of Bob Melvin with AJ Hinch -- was followed by a 1-5 home stand against the Nationals and Reds.
Arizona has now set off on a road-trip of ten games and more than 7,000 miles, a distance that affords us the opportunity to adopt a new perspective. No longer should we view the Diamondbacks as a should-be contender that pains its fans with each inexplicable loss. Rather, let's look at this team as perhaps we should have from the start: as a very young club with the deck stacked against it and everything to prove. Arizona's payroll ranks 19th in the Majors, nearly $30M lower than the NL West leading Dodgers. The offense, defense and bullpen have all deteriorated. The team's best player, Brandon Webb, has not played since Opening Day.
Of course this team is nine games below .500. They have no business being fewer than 10.5 games behind Los Angeles in the division. A finish above fourth would be a pleasant surprise. So let's not wring our hands with every defeat. Let's celebrate every victory and bide our time until the current crop of players either develops or is displaced by a new crew.
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The infusion of even more young blood has begun. Gerardo Parra hit well enough at AA -- 3 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 22 BB, 13 K, .361 / .469 / .491 in 130 PA -- to earn a call-up two days ago. His command of the strike zone, contact skills, gap power and speed make him as good an option to bat No. 2 in the order as any player in the Diamondbacks organization. The issue for Parra is where to put him on defense. He has the range to play center and arm enough for right. But because he has yet to crack double-digit home runs in a season during his professional career, his bat will play a lot better in center field than in a corner.
That seemed like a pretty big problem when the Diamondbacks had a fixture in center. Luckily for Parra, Chris B. Young (.185 / .236 / .328) is more of trade candidate than a roadblock at this point. The pair are effectively auditioning for single roster spot until Conor Jackson returns from the DL. The loser of the competition is likely to find himself toiling at AAA. Parra's campaign got a boost when he homered in his first ML at-bat against Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto. Your move, CBY.
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Right-handed starter Bryan Augenstein (187 IP, 27 BB, 146 K, 2.45 ERA, 1.037 WHIP over three seasons in the minors) joined Parra in making his debut on Wednesday. Augenstein had qualified for a quality start before surrendering a pair of runs in the seventh. He took the loss and his final line (6.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 7.11 ERA, 1.579) doesn't show it, but Augenstein looked worthy of an extended stay in the rotation.
Augenstein has an ideal pitchers' frame at 6'5", 225 lbs. He maintained his composure, threw inside without fear and pitched out of trouble. Most promising was the quality of his stuff. Although his velocity topped out in the low-90s, Augenstein got good late movement on his fastball and slider. Brandon Phillips was so fooled by an Augenstein change-up that the Reds second baseman landed on squarely his ass. Relish the schadenfreude, Diamondbacks Nation.
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Oh, yeah ... the road-trip. Parra and Augenstein included, Arizona visits the Braves (17-17) for a three-game weekend set. Atlanta has introduced a trio of new starters to their 2009 rotation, each of whom the Diamondbacks will face in the series. Game 1 will feature enigmatic former-Snake Javier Vazquez (3-3, 3.80 ERA, 1.144 WHIP) versus better-than-anticipated Doug Davis (2-5, 3.25 ERA, 1.241 WHIP). In Game 2, Japanese import Kenshin Kawakami (2-4, 5.79 ERA, 1.684 WHIP) continues his acclimation to American baseball. His opponent is the still winless Max Scherzer (0-3, 3.98 ERA, 1.358 WHIP). Game 3 pits erstwhile Dodgers' ground-ball machine Derek Lowe (5-1, 3.80 ERA, 1.331 WHIP) against freshly shelled Jon Garland (3.2 IP, 10 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 7 ER v. CIN on Monday).
Atlanta still has Chipper Jones and Brian McCann -- at 25, already a two-time Silver Slugger winner at catcher -- in the middle of their order. Despite undergoing Lasik surgery over a year ago, McCann has recently battled a perplexing case of blurry vision. His spell on the DL contributed to Atlanta's anemic total of 27 HR on the year. McCann has taken to wearing prescription eyeglasses at the plate, which seem to have remedied the condition. But like Suns' forward Amare Stoudemire, McCann complained that the glasses fogged up, so he sheds them when he plays backstop. (Should we tell him how ditching the goggles worked out for Amare?)
Otherwise, the Braves bats (4.47 R/G, .753 OPS) are a tick below the league average (4.71 R/G, .754 OPS). That's still several degrees better than the Diamondbacks' offense (3.69 R/G, .700 OPS). But we don't dwell on such things anymore. We just wanna see the kids play some ball.
2 responses to this Post, with 2 unique participants
Lucky Rainout
We get to play that game later when we may be capable of winning two in a row.
It's a sad day
It's a sad day when you see Doug Davis fighting with his manager in the dugout on national TV. And that was the most interesting thing going on in game one with the Braves. How does going on th road fix things? Except when you do a bad job the crowd is cheering instead of booing. Already I miss the days of "one inning too long" Melvin.