Series Preview: Diamondbacks v. Nationals
* PREVIEW: ARI v. WAS - Bob Melvin's tenure as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks (12-17) has finally ended. After yesterday's extra-innings loss in San Diego, word came that Melvin would be relieved of his duties. Late last night, it was confirmed that hitting coach Rick Schu and pitching coach Bob Price would follow Melvin out the door.
Melvin's replacement is AJ Hinch, formerly the Diamondbacks' director of player development. At 34-years old and without managerial experience, Hinch faces a massive challenge: to turn around a club that has failed woefully to meet the expectations established by its 2007 NL West title.
Arizona's is the second worst scoring offense (105 runs) in Major League Baseball and ranks among the bottom three in batting average (.222) and OPS (.677). If Hinch knows and can convey to these hitters how they ought to approach their at-bats, then there may still be time to save the season. That's a tall order.
At least Hinch has a chance to get off to a good start. The Washington Nationals (8-18) are the kind of club that can help any offense regain its confidence at the plate. Neither their starters (5.20 ERA) nor their bullpen (5.72 ERA) have been able to prevent opponents from scoring in bunches. Nats pitchers are exceptionally poor at inducing strikeouts (5.74 K/9) and walk batters at the league-leading rate (4.34 BB/9).
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* PITCHERS ON PARADE - Game 1 of the weekend series pits Washington's righty Shairon Martis against Arizona's Yusmeiro Petit. Martis has held right-handed batters to a .513 OPS in 87 plate appearances for his career. That helps explain why opponents tend to stack the lineup with left-handed bats (128 PA, .961 OPS) when Martis takes the mound.
Game 2 may qualify as the pitcher's duel of the set -- a lefty-lefty match-up of Jon Lannan for the visitors and Doug Davis for the hosts. Davis is just 1-4 for his career against the Nationals, despite a 3.09 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in seven starts. Lannan has been equally impressive in his two starts against Arizona. He is 1-1 with a 0.69 ERA, 0.846 WHIP, having held current Diamondbacks to a line of .138 / .194 / .241.
In Game 3, the Nationals will send to the mound fellow southpaw Scott Olsen. In three career starts versus Arizona, Olsen has a 8.47 ERA, including an 11.70 ERA at Chase Field. His Diamondbacks opponent will be righty Max Scherzer, still in search of career win No. 1.
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* NATS BATS - A familiar presence lurks in the middle of the Nationals lineup. Former Diamondbacks slugger Adam Dunn is off to a red-hot start with Washington. He's batting .290 / .445 / .559 with 7 HR and 23 RBI in 119 plate appearances.
That batting average is well above Dunn's career mark, but right in line with his Washington teammates. All but one of the Nationals' regulars has a batting average of .290 or above.
The best of the bunch may be Ryan Zimmerman. DC's third baseman has enjoyed a 25-game hitting streak since an 0/5 performance in the season's second game. Zimmerman now owns a .336 batting average on the year.
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