Tucson Sidewinders
Showing Results 1 - 5 of 9
Page 1 of 2
Diamondbacks Notes: April 14, 2009
* DO SNAKES HAVE BUTTS? - If they do, they're getting sore from yet another spanking by a visiting opponent. On Monday night it was the Cardinals who opened a three-game series by beating the Diamondbacks 2-1 at Chase Field. Starter Doug Davis pitched well and deep into the contest to finish with a line of 8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K. He took his second loss of the season despite surrendering only a pair of runs on solo homers, including a blast by monster slugger Albert Pujols.
As you can tell from the final score, pitching was not the problem for the Diamondbacks yesterday. Rather, it was the offense that failed to do its part. Arizona's bats scratched out a single run on Chad Tracy's RBI double in the fourth. Conor Jackson, who doesn't get a lot of attention for his base-running, raced around from 1B for the run. (It was the second such tally by Jackson on the season; he scored from 1B on a Chris Snyder double on Opening Day.) Monday's weak out-put continues a troubling pattern...
Continue reading to see the post in its entirety.
Major Chords: Bonifacio has Speed to Burn
One-time Diamondbacks prospect Emilio Bonifacio has always had wheels. In a minor league career spanning 656 games (2841 plate appearances), Bonifacio swiped a total of 233 bags. On a per-game basis, that would translate to more than 50 SB over a full ML season. His 77.7% success rate suggests Bonifacio was picking his spots well, too.
But speed on the base paths is only valuable if a runner can in fact get on base. And in that department, Bonifacio was found lacking. As a farmhand, he posted a combined line of .285 / .341 / .362 with 212 BB against 532 K. Considering that much of Bonifacio's time was spent in the hitter-happy environments at A+ Lancaster and AAA Tucson, the numbers are pretty underwhelming.
Here are the raw and adjusted statistics (source: Baseball Prospectus) from his last three stops in the Arizona system.
| YEAR | LVL | TEAM | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | ...
Continue reading to see the post in its entirety.
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...
Continue reading to see the post in its entirety.
Diamondbacks Notes: August 28, 2008
* CALL TO THE BULLPEN - The fine folks at DBN (some of us, anyway) have been on a little holiday. If by holiday you get us to mean staying late at work and not writing too much about baseball. The notion being that it's a big job to write a whole website everyday. Which is why we're calling for some assistance -- a bullpen, if you will. DBN needs correspondents to divvy up the daily duties of chronicling the mighty Arizona Diamondbacks We don't have a red telephone, but you can send us an email We would be relieved.
* NO, REALLY - Speaking of needing someone to get us out of a jam ... the Diamondbacks pitching staff is having a damn hard time preventing opponents from scoring these days. After a two week stretch during which they won nine of twelve games, Arizona opened the final full week of August with a four game losing streak. If losing a weekend series to the reeling Marlins was not enough, a road set against last-place San Diego turned ugly and resulted in a three-game...
Continue reading to see the post in its entirety.
Farm Bureau: August 17, 2008
* GET BACK, JO-JO -- After two rain-outs put an early end to the series in Colorado Springs, the AAA Sidewinders returned to Tucson and finally got a game in against the Padres' affiliate from Portland. Justin Upton reached on a walk and a single in four plate appearances. He showed off his wheels by swiping a base, an element of Upton's game that featured prominently in his minor league career. Like most of the Diamondbacks baserunners, Upton has done little in the stolen base department this year, with only one SB against four CS for the big club. Max Scherzer started for Tucson and lasted six innings, walking four and giving up only one hit while setting down six Beavers on strikes. He exited with a 1-0 lead, but a lack of run support and a shaky performance by the pen cost him and the Baby Snakes lost to Portland 6-1.
* PARKER PREVAILS -- The results were better for Low-A South Bend, where Jarrod Parker led the Silverhawks to a 1-0 win over Western Michigan. Parker's...
Continue reading to see the post in its entirety.