Adam Dunn
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Diamondbacks Notes: May 10, 2009
* RESISTIBLE FORCE V. MOVABLE OBJECT - Some series you see on the schedule and you think: "Aha! This is the soft spot. The Diamondbacks are sure to make up some ground here."
Didn't the three-game home set against Washington look that way? A Nationals club with a team ERA over five and an incapacity to induce strike-outs seemed the perfect tonic for Arizona's ailing offense. Instead, the Snakes managed to overcome their futility at the plate only in Game 3. After scoring six runs total in losses on Friday and Saturday nights, the Diamondbacks recorded a 10-8 victory on Sunday to salvage a series split.
Arizona earned its win in Game 3 -- and the first of AJ Hinch's managerial career -- by hitting well with runners in scoring position. The Snakes were 8/21 in scoring situations on Sunday; in the first two games of the series, they were 3/26 with runners in scoring position.
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* DYNAMIC DUO - In winning the weekend set, Washington got tremendous contributions from its two best...
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Melvin’s Pink Slip is Showing
Press, press, press. For two weeks now, the Diamondbacks have pressed. And for a long time before that, if we want to be honest.
Spring Training was Pressure Fest ’09. We shouldn't care about wins and losses in the Cactus League, but we couldn't help notice the way the Snakes were losing. Arizona had Mark Reynolds booting balls, Justin Upton striking out, Brandon Webb and Max Scherzer and the bullpen all not right.
That followed an off-season in which nothing went to script, from Randy Johnson’s departure to San Francisco, to Orlando Hudson’s defection to Los Angeles, to the degradation of the infield defense, to the egg-on-our-faces discovery of money for Jon Garland when Johnson and Hudson were allowed to walk to division rivals.
We understand that an arbitration offer to Adam Dunn could have been a disaster. Were he to accept, he might have commanded a salary in the eight-figure range. The team already has four starting OF and only one 1B job for Chad Tracy, Tony Clark and...
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Series Preview: Diamondbacks v. Dodgers
*PREVIEW: ARI v. LAD - The first few weeks of the year are supposed to be a feeling-out period. Maybe that would be the case if the Diamondbacks (1-2) were facing inter-divisional opponents or had made wholesale changes to their lineup. But heading into a weekend series with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers (2-2), the 2009 season feels more like a continuation of 2008 than a fresh start.
The Snakes' biggest changes among regulars are the substitution of Felipe Lopez for Orlando Hudson (who missed much of the second half due to injury) and the departure of short-timer Adam Dunn. Otherwise, Arizona looks much the same in the field. Since modifications to the batting order are par for the course under Bob Melvin, it doesn't feel especially odd to see Lopez leading off or Justin Upton batting eighth. It's been awhile since we witnessed Chad Tracy at 3B or Eric Byrnes in the outfield, but those sights are not unfamiliar.
It's a similar story in Los Angeles. After the...
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2009 DIAMONDBACKS SEASON PREVIEW - PART III
* WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN - As a franchise, the Diamondbacks' age, payroll and record rocketed sky-high on the way to their 2001 World Series victory. Those expensive, aging veterans that won Arizona's first major professional title began to fall from the stratosphere in the seasons to follow. The 2002 Diamondbacks (98-65) managed to repeat as NL West champs, but were swept 3-0 in a NLDS rematch with St. Louis. By 2003, Arizona would slip to a third-place finish at 84-78 behind a half-hearted mix of veterans and youngsters.
Fortunately, Arizona had found its cornerstone in Brandon Webb, whose sinker opponents were helpless but to pound into the infield grass. Drafted in 2000 while the "old" school roster was still ascendant, Webb would make his debut in 2003 and come to exemplify the Diamondbacks' new strategy: to win by developing its own talent. Another pair of building blocks joined the organization that year with the selections of Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin....
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Diamondbacks Notes: April 3, 2009
* BONES BRIGADE - Diamondbacks Nation was introduced to James Skelton when Arizona snagged him from the Tigers in the Rule 5 draft. He got a fair bit of play in the Cactus League, showing the defensive versatility to man multiple positions. Unfortunately for Skelton, his bat didn't come to play this spring: he finished just .150 / .244 / .175 in 40 AB. That was not nearly good enough to earn Skelton a roster spot, but the spike in the middle of that line highlights part of what the Diamondbacks saw in Skelton in the first place. The young man draws a mean walk. He had 5 BB in 45 PA this spring, despite failing to demonstrate enough power in his skinny 165 lbs frame to scare opposing pitchers. (With his distinctive surname and slight build, Diamondbacks Nation proposes that "Bones" is an ideal nickname.)
Skelton possesses a keen plate discipline that belies his age. The 23-year old has advanced no higher than AA, where he has appeared in just 24 games, but he commands the strike...
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