image from Adam Eaton's twitter profile (@AdamSpankyEaton). He'll be back in that uniform sooner than later.

Prior to yesterday’s Diamondbacks game against the Indians, I was looking around Diamondbacks’ stats pages and noticed that, somehow, Adam Eaton had weaseled his way into more spring training at-bats than a fair number of people expected to make the 25 man roster. Notably, Jason Kubel, Miguel Montero, Lyle Overbay, and Geoff Blum.

If you need a quick refresher on Adam Eaton, we previewed him in our spring training preview post. In summary, he’s a 2010 19th round pick of the Diamondbacks and played in every level from Rookie ball to AA last year and then continued his season by leading the Arizona Fall League in runs scored.

FYI: This is not the Adam Eaton you are looking for.  Although, the Dbacks’ Adam Eaton does get his paychecks occasionally. He’s fast (42 stolen bases with a 71% success rate), hits for average and power and he’s fearless. In summary: go read this story.

He’s the type of player I love and, even though he was optioned back to Mobile after yesterday’s game, he definitely made an impression this year. I’m going to make a bold prediction that he’s going to turn out to be the 5th outfielder waiting in the wings, in case of injury or trades.

At the start of the season, there was endless talk about what to do with Gerardo Parra. Now the Dbacks were going to be putting a gold glove on the bench. How could this be?! He must be on the trade block!

And, over and over and over again, we’ve heard that this isn’t the case and that he’s very much a part of this team.

Well, if it helps, it seems as though the coach staff is putting their money where their mouths are.

Currently, Gerardo Parra is 3rd overall on the team in terms of games played (23 – Eaton and AJ Pollock are tied with 24); he’s leading the team in at-bats (63 – Willie Bloomquist is next with 52); he’s also leading the team in plate appearances (67 – Paul Goldschmidt is next with 61).

And, in order to ensure that he’s playing well enough to stay off the bench, he’s leading the team in runs, hits, and stolen bases (granted, there are only 2, but still). All-in-all, it really doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.

Even though this blog has talked about Miguel Montero over and over again (he wants to stay a Dback, but they’ve stopped contract talks, there seems to be an ongoing search for some depth at catcher and, if something happens to Montero during this season, there is very little depth at catcher), after yesterday, there is still more to say.

image from flikr user afagen (flikr.com/photos/afagen/3803285289/)

It seems as though, with a good season, Miguel Montero will likely price himself  of the small-market budget of the Diamondbacks. Jack Magruder of Fox Sports Arizona reported on the specifics yesterday. And, the quotes from Miguel Montero certainly didn’t do anything to calm the speculation.

“Who knows? It can happen. It’s part of the business. I’m here right now. I have to enjoy the moment here, because you never know where you are going to be tomorrow. It’s like everybody’s life. You are here today. You don’t know where you are going tomorrow,”

Will 2012 give the Diamondbacks the arrival of Adam Eaton? A true 4-man outfield? The departure of Miguel Montero?

162 games is a long time. Everything is possible. But, one thing IS for certain – I’ll be buckled in, waiting to find out and prepared for anything.

After last night, Geoff Blum may have a new career. Third base coach.

To make an obvious statement, baseball is a game. It is a game played by a million people in numerous countries all over the world.

It’s also a very small world. What happened last night between AJ Pierzynski (of the Chicago White Sox) and Geoff Blum, who was manning third for the Dbacks, drove that point home.

We saw that earlier during spring training when former Diamondback draft pick Carlos Quentin (who was just traded to the Padres from the White Sox) faced current Diamondback and number 2 starter, Daniel Hudson (who was drafted by the White Sox and traded to the Dbacks) when the Diamondbacks played against the San Diego Padres.

We also saw it in the game that resulted in the THIRD “swarm of bees” delay in Diamondback spring training history. (As a side note, considering that the Diamondbacks franchise isn’t yet old enough to drink, that’s a pretty spectacular number of insect-related incidents. Especially considering the Dbacks are now at their second spring training facility.)

When Chris Young (also drafted by the White Sox) was chased out of the outfield, it brought to mind a time a few years ago when a former Diamondback 1st round draft pick was chased from shortstop into the outfield by a swarm of bees.

That young shortstop was named Sergio Santos, who had a career rejuvenation as a pitcher in 2009, and spent 2010 and 2011 as a reliever, saving 31 games (1 in 2010 and 30 in 2011) for the Chicago White Sox. And, who is now penciled in as the closer for the 2012 Toronto Blue Jays, where his set-up man will be Darren Oliver.

The same Darren Oliver who was the first person to be chased off the field (as a Colorado Rockie) by the swarm of bees during that same game.

Which brings us to last night.

AJ Pierzynski is a good baseball player. He’s a 14 year veteran, with a career quadruple slash line of .284/.324/.422/.746. He’s good for approximately 71 RBIs and a home run total in the “teens” most seasons. He was the second-hardest person to strike out in the AL last year (striking out only every 14.1 plate appearances). He’s caught over 1000 innings in each of the last 10 years, and made his first ever DL trip last season when he broke his hand after being drilled by a pitch during an at-bat. So, he’s also highly durable.

What he is not, however, is fast.

AJ Pierzynski runs like a catcher. He’s successfully stolen 13 bases throughout his career (he’s been caught 19 times). He’s hit 3 triples since 2005. And, it’s highly unlikely that he’s ever going to beat out a routine grounder to first, which can be illustrated by the fact that, in 2004, he grounded into the most double-plays in the National League (with the Giants). In 2011, he was 8th in the AL.

click on the image to watch the video

Last night, AJ Pierzynski did the unthinkable. He launched a 1-1 pitch from Brett Lorin just barely to the top of the CF wall, where it bounced along the wall and rolled along the grass, until it was eventually chased down in RF by Justin Upton.

In the video, you can tell by the slow jog towards first base, that AJ Pierzynski thought the ball was a typical HR ball. And, then, when it started to roll, you could see him kick it into gear. As much as he, you know, can.

He turned that 1-1 pitch into an inside-the-park homerun. Seriously.

So, why all this talk about a member of the White Sox on a Diamondbacks blog? Especially considering that AJ Pierzynski has never played for the Dbacks.

Well, that might be true, but current Diamondback Geoff Blum, who was starting at 3B last night, used to be a member of the Chicago White Sox. More specifically in 2005, when the team won the World Series, in a sweep of the Astros (which, coincidentally, was Geoff Blum’s former team).

And, even more specifically, in 2005, when Geoff Blum did something very special during game 3 to help the team win, not only the world series, but the longest world series game in MLB history:

It isn’t surprising that AJ and Geoff Blum might have a little bit of a connection left over from that time.

So, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the news going viral this morning is that, as AJ was approaching third, Geoff Blum had something to say to him. More specifically:

“You gotta go, Tubby.”

click the photo to watch AJ talk about Blum & the HR

AJ Pierzynski found it “rather funny”. And, it is hard not to agree. Because for someone with only 17 triples in 5709 plate appearances spread over 14 years, the opportunity for an inside the park homerun isn’t something that’s probably going to come around again in the course of his career – spring training or otherwise.

Geoff Blum: 3B coach. Life coach.

Right there, Geoff Blum also summed up a number of important things about baseball.

1. Spring training games don’t count. Its highly unlikely in a game of any consequence, Geoff Blum is going to be acting as a 3B coach for the opposing team. This is really more than just something that people who are members (or fans!) of teams with losing records in March say to make themselves feel better.

2. Baseball is a game. Its supposed to be fun. The smart guys know how lucky they are to be playing this game for a living. And, it looks like Geoff Blum is one of those guys.

And, just in case your head wasn’t spinning enough, yet… In that same World Series Game 3 where Geoff Blum hit the winning home run, Jason Lane went 2-for-6 with a double, homer and two RBIs for the Astros.

The same Jason Lane that has rejuvinated his career by converting from an outfielder to a reliever while in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league organization over the last couple of seasons, and who receiving a non-roster invite to spring training with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012.

It is pretty clear by this point that this conversation could continue forever, but it has to end sometime, and this seems like as good of a place as any.

Happy Saturday, folks!

image from flickr user: paul hadsall (flickr.com/photos/paulhadsall/4854585169/)

So, a couple of weeks ago, Daniel Hudson ran his mouth a little on the subject of Justin Upton leading the National League in being hit-by-pitches last season.

In an interview with Arizona Sports KTAR 620, Daniel Hudson had the following to say, when he was asked about the number of times Justin Upton was hit last season:

“If it’s a starting pitcher, remember, he’s got to hit. “They either have to hit their spots, or expect something in return.”

This was on a Monday.

On the Tuesday, Daniel Hudson spoke to MLB.com, where he clarified what he meant by his comments. But, wasn’t willing to take them back entirely:

“The scouting report may be to throw him inside, pound him inside, but it comes to a point where you either hit your spot or you don’t, and when it becomes a problem is when you do it more than once in a game, more than once in a series. Then it becomes a problem. I said what I said and I stand by it, but like I said, it got perceived a little bit different than I actually said it.”

And, that same day, Luis Gonzalez (who knows something about playing baseball in a Diamondbacks’ uniform) took to the air and voiced his opinion on the matter:

“You know what I do now, I go in the locker room and I pull him to the side and I say ‘shut your mouth, don’t say that, and you just do it on the field because you earn more respect. Because now, if that happens in a game and he doesn’t do it, you’ve got it on tape…and fans are listening to this and they’re going ‘well why the heck would he say that if he’s not going to back it up?’”

It was interesting to note that, nowhere in either session with the media, was anyone saying that the Diamondbacks would be against the concept of retaliation.

And, interestingly, in both Hudson and Gonzalez’s speeches to the media, they indicated that plunking an opponent in retaliation had to be timed appropriately, so that when a game was on the line, opponents weren’t getting a free pass to first base.

So, when today – in the first game of a double-header, Justin Upton found himself plunked for the second time in as many days in the fourth inning when the game was knotted at 0-0, immediate retaliation wasn’t practical – even in a meaningless spring training game – seeing as wins have been so hard for the Diamondbacks to come by. But, in the top of the 7th, with the Diamondbacks down 2-0 to the Padres, there were two outs, Will Venable found himself trotting to first base after being hit by a pitch delivered by David Hernandez, a RHP out of the Dbacks’ pen.

Following the incident, warnings were issued to both sides. And, hey, if Ozzie Guillen can get himself ejected during a spring training game, a little beanball might be hard to sneak past the umpires.

It looks like Luis Gonzalez didn’t have to worry that his pitchers wouldn’t back up their words.

After the game, Hernandez spoke to MLB.com:

“For me, in the spring, I’ve been trying to get the ball in to lefties. That’s been a weakness for me. I got the ball in to the first lefty I faced. That’s something I’ve got to work on.”

That’s his story and he’s sticking to it.

“As a pitcher, you definitely have to protect your guys, but I was trying to go in and it got away and it hit him.”

No, really, He’s sticking to it:

And, just in case he needed back-up, there is at least one other person who is singing the same song:

No, that’s not highly suspicious, guys. Not at all.

As was pointed out at the official site, the Diamondbacks play the Padres 18 times during the upcoming season.

And with the 2011 NL HBP Leader Justin Upton (19) playing for the Diamondbacks and 2011 MLB (and AL) HBP Leader Carlos Quentin (23) now playing for the Padres, everyone who is planning on coming to the plate during their match-ups should likely invest in some high-quality body armor.

And, if you’re thinking about making a drinking game out of this season’s plunkings…. you’re probably going to need a very large bottle.

Play (bean)ball!

Wrapping up the week that was, while we get ready for the week to come.

From “Snakes on the Grass”:

• The first day of spring training games was a good one for the Dbacks.
• JJ Putz is a big prankster. And, the Dbacks had to stop a game for a “swarm of bees” delay. For the third time in franchise history.
• We examined how having pitchers who can pitch 200+ innings can lead to success. And, how the 2010 Dbacks did not, but the 201 Dbacks did.
• The Diamondbacks have yet to come out of hibernation and are off to another slow start, much like 2011.
• Trevor Bauer is a smart kid with smart thoughts. A late-night twitter debate spawned some thoughts about the disabled list and pitchers’ injuries.
• Daniel Hudson and Adam Eaton each illustrated some of the reasons that we, as fans, need to remember that spring training games do not matter.

The best of the rest of the web:

• Go here. If its by Nick Piecoro, you need to read it.
• Ditto here. Steve Gilbert is at camp and he’s got his finger on the pulse.
• A great interview with Takashi Saito. It seems like the team is much better off for his presence.
• If you haven’t thought about the park factors involved with home field advantage, the folks at Bleacher Report have thought about it for you.
• A fun story about the family connections in Dbacks baseball, include Stephen Drew.
• Trevor Bauer was all over the news this week. Among the people heaping praise upon him was Keith Law of ESPN. Click here to listen to the interview or read a transcript.
• There were bees at this week’s game. But, there was also a game in Jason Kubel‘s career that was suspended for a college football game.

Don’t forget: The Dbacks will be featured on “30 Clubs in 30 Days” on March 15.

image from flickr user: paul hadsall (flickr.com/photos/paulhadsall/4854585169/)

So, there are many places online that you can go for a recap of today’s game – an 8-7 win over the Padres at the Peoria Sports Complex. The official site has a recap of the game, highlighting Daniel Hudson‘s stellar perfect 3-innings of baseball, and ArizonaSports.com has some post-game quotes from both teams in their recap.

And, yes, while it was nice to squeak out a win, the outcome of the game probably wasn’t really all that important. So, today’s post is going to focus less on the outcome of the game and more on something that we, as fans, tend to forget.

What is that, you ask?

Well, it is really, really, really important to remember that, unless you are:

1. Trying to earn a spot on the 25-man roster by having a stellar spring training (see: Ryan Roberts circa 2011)
2. Trying to make sure that you get a spot on the 40-man roster if you’re going to need protection from the 2012 Rule 5 draft
3. Trying to make a good impression so you’re the first number they call later on in the season if they need someone to fill in for a slumping or injured player
4. Trying to keep your spot on the depth chart (whether it be the major league or the minor league squad) or earn yourself a promotion up the depth chart… or
5. Trying to stretch out your arm or get your timing back on either offense or defense in preparation for the regular season….

SPRING TRAINING GAMES DON’T MATTER.

Repeat after me: SPRING TRAINING GAMES DO. NOT. MATTER.

» Continue reading “Putting Spring Training In Perspective. Or: Dbacks Vs. Padres Game Thoughts”

Trevor Bauer signed with the Dbacks in 2011

There were also two alternate titles for this post: “Trevor Bauer Is A Smart Dude” and “How A Pitching Prospect Spawned a Post About The History of the Disabled List“. But, basically, what it boils down to is that you should probably familiarize yourself with Trevor Bauer – if you haven’t already.

He’s a 21 year old RHP who was drafted 3rd overall in June 2011.

He did a whole lot of very impressive things while playing baseball for UCLA, eventually winning the Golden Spikes award during his draft year. And, after he signed, he pitched a total of 7 games for A+ Visalia and AA Mobile in 2011 following signing with the Diamondbacks.

Other things that are interesting about Trevor Bauer have been chronicled in a number of different places. Here’s the rundown (all links are well, well worth a read), before we get to the meat of this article:

» Continue reading “Meet Trevor Bauer. Or: Not Your Average Pitching Prospect”

click here to buy ST tickets!

Victories have been hard to come by since the opening day of spring training for the Diamondbacks.

And, adding insult to injury is that the defeats have been almost epically lopsided. There are recaps and box scores to be found elsewhere, but in case you need a refresher, a reader’s digest of the (things that I found to be) important facts are as follows:

Diamondbacks (5) @ Rockies (6) – March 5

Things of note: Ryan Roberts hit his second HR in as many games against the Rockies and Gerardo Parra and Chris Owings also contributed with the long ball. The 2007 Blue Jays infield (McDonald, Hill and Overbay) showed up to play on March 5 again and, Jason Lane (who played 2011 in the Blue Jays’ minor league system) made his pitching debut (giving up an unearned run).

Thing worth forgetting: The boys went 1-for-9 with RISP and the infield made 4 errors. Ouch.

Diamondbacks (3) vs Rangers (16) – March 6

Things of note: David Winfree hit a 3-run HR and simultaneously drove in all of the Dbacks’ runs and stopped them from being on the losing end of a double-digit run scoring shutout. And, the Diamondbacks fans all breathed a sigh of relief.

Thing worth forgetting: Again, 1-for-8 with RISP and 2 errors on the day. Yonata Ortega pitched to 6 batters allowing 5 hits (1HR) and 6 runs to the tune of a 63.00 ERA.

Indians (10) @ Diamondbacks (2) – March 7

Things of note: Trevor Cahill made his first at-bat as a Diamondback and managed to put the bat on the ball (grounding out to third), and this was the game that was broadcast “live” with the players wearing microphones. The official site has a good recap here.

Things worth forgetting: The Dbacks’ pitchers combined for 3 wild pitches on the day and Tyler Skaggs pitched 2/3 of an inning where he walked 4 guys and gave up 4 earned runs via a grand slam. The offense went 0-for-7 with RISP and left 5 men on base.

All in all, there’s been an uncharacteristic number of errors, the pitchers are not going to be putting their spring training ERAs on their next résumé, and everyone appears to be very, very tired.

But, remembering (again) that spring training games don’t count for anything and pretty much exist entirely to get the pitchers’ arms loosened up for the season and that the Diamondbacks had a completely miserable spring training in 2011 (they won 13 out of 35 games in March…. a 0.371 winning percentage) and that turned out all right in the end, this is not yet the time to be overcome with a feeling of impending doom. I’m sure the team is frustrated, but it’s not time to panic yet.

So, keep the faith fans. This is only the beginning of a very long season and there’s a rest day tomorrow  (and, Kirk Gibson has indicated that he’ll possibly start to dial down the intensity of the team’s workouts) and Friday is a brand new day and anything can happen.

So, Diamondbacks’ closer JJ Putz is a bit of a prankster. So far, at least two of his pranks have been captured for all to see and enjoy during this pre-season.

Posted by the official twitter account of the ballclub on February 26th:

And, in the latest development:

It really is a pity that JJ Putz hates his job so much.

» Continue reading “Dbacks Spring Training=Pranks. And Bees. Or: What? There Was a Game Today??”

click here to buy ST tickets!

By now, you’ve no doubt heard that the Diamondbacks had a pretty good day, baseball-wise.

The Diamondbacks played 2 games today, winning a 9-6 contest against the Giants, and getting a 1-1 draw after 10 innings against the Rockies.

Spring training games don’t matter. Nothing illustrates that better than the fact that they don’t even bother to finish them after the 10th inning. Everyone shakes hands and they hand out participation ribbons and the whole thing ends in a tie.

When the two teams use 14 pitchers between them (and no one pitches more than 2 innings), at least 2 people play each position for each team, and half of the people on the field at any given time aren’t going to be on the 25-man roster in time for opening day, it’s really more about the individual situations, rather than the scoreboard.

Game One – Diamondbacks Split Squad Versus the SF Giants

• Ryan Roberts struck out twice (but, made the most of his one hit, collecting a HR in his first at-bat on the day), collecting 2 of the 3 Dbacks’ strikeouts.

• Why you should not read too much into this: While its great to see that Ryan Roberts hasn’t lost his power, this puts him on pace for a 120-HR season and that’s not happening.

• Why you should not read too much into this: While we’re glad to see you again, Mr. Upton, it’s the FIRST DAY OF THE SEASON. » Continue reading “Day One Wrap-Up Or: Good Stuff Happened in Arizona”

So, what can we learn about Kirk Gibson‘s plan for this 25-man roster based on the first two lineups that he’s put together for today’s pair of games?

Probably absolutely nothing – other than, only in spring training do you get to watch a game between NL West rivals that includes a DH.

While some teams are embracing the intra-squad match-ups, pitting their probable starters versus their probable bench team, Kirk Gibson is not giving away any of the thoughts in his head about his future roster if the line-ups for these split-squad games are anything to go by.

In case you haven’t heard already:

Today @ Salt River Fields (Diamondbacks @ Rockies) – 3:10 pm (EST)

• The pitchers: Trevor Bauer (starter), Chris Jakubauskas, Patrick Corbin, Mike DeMark, Jonathan Albaladejo, Evan Marshall, Kevin Munson, Mike Zagurski
• The line-up (credit to one of the best beats in the biz, Nick Piecoro, for the info): Bloomquist 6, Hill 4, Kubel 7, Goldschmidt 3, Blum DH, Parra 9, Davidson 5, Blanco 2, Pollock 8, Bauer 1
• Of note: Catch the radio broadcast of this game on Arizona Sports 620 or follow it on MLB.com’s gameday HERE.

Today @ Scottsdale Stadium (Diamondbacks at Giants) – 3:05 pm (EST)

• The pitchers: Josh Collmenter (starter), Sam Demel, Wade Miley, Zach Kroenke, Jason Lane, Jensen Lewis, Brett Lorin, Yonata Ortega, Bryan Shaw
• The line-up (credit to one of the best beats in the biz, Nick Piecoro, for the info): Roberts 5, McDonald 6, Upton 9, Montero 2, Young 8, Overbay 3, Schmidt DH, Krauss 7, Ryal 4, Collmenter 1
• Of note: There’s not going to be a broadcast of this game, but the SS will be playing the Giants again tomorrow (at home, this time) and that will be broadcast on Arizona Sports 620. You can follow this game on MLB.com’s gameday HERE.

Versus the Rockies, the skipper has lined up what most people are predicting to be his starting SS (with Bloomquist sharing duties with Johnny Mac until Stephen Drew is cleared for takeoff), his starting second baseman (Hill), and his starting RF (Kubel).

He has paired that with his young first baseman (there’s a mixed set of opinions floating around as to just how much time Goldschmidt will share at first base this season), his rumored fourth outfielder (Parra – who has been rumored to either be a true fourth outfielder, or maybe share time/compete with Chris Young in CF) in RF, his backup catcher and a couple of rookies.

Which, by process of elimination means that he has his likely everyday 3B (Roberts), CF (Young), RF (Upton), catcher (Montero) and his possible 1B platoon paired (Overbay) with his backup SS (McDonald), a youngish prospect known mostly for his bat (Krauss) and the seemingly somewhat randomly chosen Schmidt and Ryal.

It is an interesting mix – and certainly, there’s a true mix of veteran and rookie presence equally divided between the two teams.

We can spend all the time in the world speculating as to which players ended up on which team for any number of reasons (and, since that’s what we like to do, you know that we’ll be thinking about it for the remainder of the afternoon), but trying to figure out what Kirk Gibson is truly thinking with these line-ups is possibly and probably a futile endeavor.

So, instead, we’ll continue to mull it over but trust that Gibby knows exactly what he is looking to see and to work on during these games today. Instead, we’ll simply try to enjoy the fact that there will be REAL! LIVE! BASEBALL! happening for the Diamondbacks today!