Revamped D-Backs are clicking
CHICAGO -- This must be the Pleasant Surprise Bowl portion of Interleague Play.
The Chicago White Sox, with baseball's best record, have had a two-month corner on exceeding expectations. But this week, making their first visit to Chicago's South Side, there are the Arizona Diamondbacks, losers of 111 games in 2004, but currently just three games out of first place in the National League West.
This should make for an intriguing three-game set at U.S. Cellular Field. The White Sox have been remade with an emphasis on pitching, defense and speed. The D-Backs have been remade, period.
In the opener Monday night, however, the newfound White Sox components of pitching and defense weren't allowed to be factors. And the speed? The really impressive velocity could be witnessed in how rapidly all those Arizona home runs were leaving the premises.
There were a couple of factors at work here. The Diamondbacks did a lot of damage to Jose Contreras, who had come into the game leading AL pitchers in opponents' batting average (.202). However, Contreras gave up four home runs to the D-Backs, three in the second inning alone, when Arizona scored six runs. The D-Backs eventually triumphed, 8-1, with Shawn Estes pitching a complete game.
The White Sox came into the game second in the AL in team earned run average. The true test of that standing is about to arrive, and not totally because of the advent of Interleague play.
The ballpark climate at U.S. Cellular changes dramatically from spring to summer. In the spring, the wind is typically pitcher-friendly, blowing in off Lake Michigan. In the summer, the wind turns around and favors the hitters. Monday night was like the turn of the season; hot and humid, a 16-mph wind doing the pitchers no favors.
But the other half of it is that the Arizona lineup doesn't offer much consolation for pitchers regardless of which way the wind is blowing. The D-Backs are fifth in the NL in runs scored. They are averaging 4.60 runs per game, a vast improvement over last season's 3.80. But then, this is a vastly improved offense.
Arizona has, among others, Craig Counsell setting the table, major run production from Luis Gonzalez and Troy Glaus, Shawn Green, the most recent NL player of the week, heating up, and Tony Clark having a remarkable career rebirth. "We've been swinging it very well," said manager Bob Melvin. "We get all those cylinders working, we're a good offensive club.
The Diamondbacks have also committed just 33 errors through 65 games. This must be very good, because the White Sox, who have now become known for their defense, have committed 38.
The problem for the D-Backs has been the bullpen, the one area of the club that did not go through an extreme off-season makeover.
"We've got some guys who have been released and we picked them up for a veteran presence and then we have a lot of young kids (in the bullpen)," Melvin said. "That was one area of the team that we didn't really address, but you can only address so many areas when your payroll is $58 million. At times we've been very good. We still do feel like we still have some very good arms.
"We want to get (Mike) Koplove back here. We sent him down to get him straightened out. We want to get Brandon Lyon back to what he achieved for us early in the year. And getting (Greg) Aquino back, we feel we can have more stability down there."
Bad luck has also played a role in Arizona's bullpen difficulties. Aquino inherited the closer's role in the second half last season and performed well, but suffered an ulna nerve irritation in Spring Training and is just now back from the disabled list. Lyon did a remarkable job as closer in the first five weeks of the season, but then went out with a right elbow strain and may not return until mid-July. In the interim, the D-Backs have seen a series of winnable games turn into draining losses because of shortcomings in the bullpen.
"We've been saying all along it's a different feeling when it's in your house," Melvin said. "When you look at the other teams that have struggled at times, you say: 'They're going to be there, it's no big deal.' But when you're around it every day, that's when it's tough.
"And we've played so many emotional games this year. Thirty-something games have gone down to the last pitch. That can wear on you when you lose games like that. We ended up winning a game that felt like a loss; we were ahead, 11-3, at home and we ended up winning in extra innings.
"Games like that all the time end up wearing on you. But we've got veteran guys here and the thing to do is put it away. Put it away and go out the next day and forget about it, because there's nothing you can do about it.
"Now, offensively, we're starting to swing it better. And it was obviously a welcome sight to get a complete game out of Shawn, against a quality club, too, and that can really help you as far as your confidence going down the road."
With all that has happened, the Diamondbacks are, 65 games into the season, solidly in contention in a division that appears highly competitive, but without one dominant club.
And Monday night was a sound way to validate the D-Backs' status. In this Interleague series between pleasant surprises, the lesser-publicized National League entry, came in and handily took round one, beating the team with the best record in baseball by seven runs.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
The Chicago White Sox, with baseball's best record, have had a two-month corner on exceeding expectations. But this week, making their first visit to Chicago's South Side, there are the Arizona Diamondbacks, losers of 111 games in 2004, but currently just three games out of first place in the National League West.
This should make for an intriguing three-game set at U.S. Cellular Field. The White Sox have been remade with an emphasis on pitching, defense and speed. The D-Backs have been remade, period.
In the opener Monday night, however, the newfound White Sox components of pitching and defense weren't allowed to be factors. And the speed? The really impressive velocity could be witnessed in how rapidly all those Arizona home runs were leaving the premises.
There were a couple of factors at work here. The Diamondbacks did a lot of damage to Jose Contreras, who had come into the game leading AL pitchers in opponents' batting average (.202). However, Contreras gave up four home runs to the D-Backs, three in the second inning alone, when Arizona scored six runs. The D-Backs eventually triumphed, 8-1, with Shawn Estes pitching a complete game.
The White Sox came into the game second in the AL in team earned run average. The true test of that standing is about to arrive, and not totally because of the advent of Interleague play.
The ballpark climate at U.S. Cellular changes dramatically from spring to summer. In the spring, the wind is typically pitcher-friendly, blowing in off Lake Michigan. In the summer, the wind turns around and favors the hitters. Monday night was like the turn of the season; hot and humid, a 16-mph wind doing the pitchers no favors.
But the other half of it is that the Arizona lineup doesn't offer much consolation for pitchers regardless of which way the wind is blowing. The D-Backs are fifth in the NL in runs scored. They are averaging 4.60 runs per game, a vast improvement over last season's 3.80. But then, this is a vastly improved offense.
Arizona has, among others, Craig Counsell setting the table, major run production from Luis Gonzalez and Troy Glaus, Shawn Green, the most recent NL player of the week, heating up, and Tony Clark having a remarkable career rebirth. "We've been swinging it very well," said manager Bob Melvin. "We get all those cylinders working, we're a good offensive club.
The Diamondbacks have also committed just 33 errors through 65 games. This must be very good, because the White Sox, who have now become known for their defense, have committed 38.
The problem for the D-Backs has been the bullpen, the one area of the club that did not go through an extreme off-season makeover.
"We've got some guys who have been released and we picked them up for a veteran presence and then we have a lot of young kids (in the bullpen)," Melvin said. "That was one area of the team that we didn't really address, but you can only address so many areas when your payroll is $58 million. At times we've been very good. We still do feel like we still have some very good arms.
"We want to get (Mike) Koplove back here. We sent him down to get him straightened out. We want to get Brandon Lyon back to what he achieved for us early in the year. And getting (Greg) Aquino back, we feel we can have more stability down there."
Bad luck has also played a role in Arizona's bullpen difficulties. Aquino inherited the closer's role in the second half last season and performed well, but suffered an ulna nerve irritation in Spring Training and is just now back from the disabled list. Lyon did a remarkable job as closer in the first five weeks of the season, but then went out with a right elbow strain and may not return until mid-July. In the interim, the D-Backs have seen a series of winnable games turn into draining losses because of shortcomings in the bullpen.
"We've been saying all along it's a different feeling when it's in your house," Melvin said. "When you look at the other teams that have struggled at times, you say: 'They're going to be there, it's no big deal.' But when you're around it every day, that's when it's tough.
"And we've played so many emotional games this year. Thirty-something games have gone down to the last pitch. That can wear on you when you lose games like that. We ended up winning a game that felt like a loss; we were ahead, 11-3, at home and we ended up winning in extra innings.
"Games like that all the time end up wearing on you. But we've got veteran guys here and the thing to do is put it away. Put it away and go out the next day and forget about it, because there's nothing you can do about it.
"Now, offensively, we're starting to swing it better. And it was obviously a welcome sight to get a complete game out of Shawn, against a quality club, too, and that can really help you as far as your confidence going down the road."
With all that has happened, the Diamondbacks are, 65 games into the season, solidly in contention in a division that appears highly competitive, but without one dominant club.
And Monday night was a sound way to validate the D-Backs' status. In this Interleague series between pleasant surprises, the lesser-publicized National League entry, came in and handily took round one, beating the team with the best record in baseball by seven runs.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
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