Diamondbacks Notes: March 30, 2009
* MANOS DE PIEDRA - Diamondbacks Nation is counting on Mark Reynolds to improve on his strikeout-rate from last season. He set a ML record with 204 K in 2008, so there's considerable room for improvement. In a sense, Reynolds has put himself into elite company, as the record was previously held by notable sluggers Ryan Howard (197 K in 2007) and Adam Dunn (194 K in 2004).
We wish whiffs were the only flaw in Reynolds' game. Not historic but also frightening were his ML-leading 34 errors ... 11 more than any other player. In 2008, Reynolds ranked dead-last in fielding percentage and third worst in Range Factor among regular 3B. (National League numbers are cited, but no one in the AL was any worse.)
As Nick Piecoro mentioned in the Arizona Republic, Reynolds is committing errors with even greater frequency in spring. He has a half-dozen in Cactus League games and flubbed a seventh error in an exhibition loss to Mexico. Seven errors per 20 games would give him about 57 errors over a full-season. Even THAT lofty total would not be a record; the immortal Charlie "Piano Legs" Hickman of the New York Giants botched 86 plays at the hot-corner in 1900.
Generally speaking, little stock should be put into spring stats, since the sample-sizes are small, line-ups are full of not-ready-for-prime-time players, and batters and pitchers alike are tweaking their mechanics. Those factors hardly excuse a player who can't field his position, so our only hope is that Reynolds is putting in a lot of reps to improve his positioning and footwork.
A certain number of whiffs are acceptable given Reynolds' power; he does enough when he makes contact to justify some swings-and-misses. However, there is no upside to that kind of error-prone play at 3B.
* HOT DOG! - We relish the announcement that the Diamondbacks have created All-You-Can-Eat Seats for the 2009 season. No, Godzilla, you're not invited to graze on the grandstand. Rather, baseball gourmands will be able to watch the game and consume mass quantities of ballpark fare for $30 per game and $35 per premier game. The seats are located in Sections 221-223 of the mezzanine level along the left field line. (If the section's corporate sponsor wants us to reference their name, we'd be happy to discuss our advertising rates.)
Immediately neighboring sections cost $25 for regular games and $30 for premium games. So while the AYCE area is a bit farther from home plate, all that chow is a pretty nice value for an extra $5. If anyone has pricing info from last season, give a shout; we would be interested to know what seats in the free-food and non-free-food areas cost in 2008.
The Diamondbacks rang the dinner bell with a press release that also references "extra-wide seats" are available to accommodate Arizona's biggest fans.
4 responses to this Post, with 4 unique participants
how much food?
What does "All you can eat" mean in this context? Do you have to order it from servers who bring it to you (very slow and mega tips) or can you just go order your fill from the various food vendors?
Fez
03/31/09
4:01pm
Hot Dog?
So how does "all you can eat" work, exactly? Do you have to order it from servers or can you just go to the various vendors and order what you want? Ordering it from servers who bring it to you = 2 bad things: very slow, and more tips to pay.
Order Up
Wow, Fez. You sure are hungry for information! I got to check out the new section today and I can put your worries to rest. While the other sections in the mezzanine have servers to take your orders, the AYCE sections are set up buffet style. Running the length of the three sections is a self-service area with mutliple tables, each fixed with buns, hot dogs, peanuts and condiments. The area includes several soda fountains and bottled water is also available. Unfortunately, AYCE does not include free beer. Bummmmmer.
All You Can Eat Seats
What about the all you can drink seats?
Is there even a discount on booze for these seats? I bet the only way to make it work is to wash it all down with water?