Washington Nationals
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Diamondbacks Notes: May 10, 2009
* RESISTIBLE FORCE V. MOVABLE OBJECT - Some series you see on the schedule and you think: "Aha! This is the soft spot. The Diamondbacks are sure to make up some ground here."
Didn't the three-game home set against Washington look that way? A Nationals club with a team ERA over five and an incapacity to induce strike-outs seemed the perfect tonic for Arizona's ailing offense. Instead, the Snakes managed to overcome their futility at the plate only in Game 3. After scoring six runs total in losses on Friday and Saturday nights, the Diamondbacks recorded a 10-8 victory on Sunday to salvage a series split.
Arizona earned its win in Game 3 -- and the first of AJ Hinch's managerial career -- by hitting well with runners in scoring position. The Snakes were 8/21 in scoring situations on Sunday; in the first two games of the series, they were 3/26 with runners in scoring position.
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* DYNAMIC DUO - In winning the weekend set, Washington got tremendous contributions from its two best...
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Series Preview: Diamondbacks @ Giants
* PREVIEW: ARI @ SF - There are just two teams in the National League off to a poorer start than the Diamondbacks (3-6). The first is the dysfunctional Washington Nationals (1-7) franchise; the other is the San Francisco Giants (2-7). The Snakes will have wait until May to sink their fangs into the Nats, but as Arizona embarks on its first road trip of the season, the NL West-rival Giants look like a feast of kangaroo rats.
The Diamondbacks just completed a three-series home-stand that ought to have been a springboard into contention, but was more akin to a backyard trampoline accident. San Francisco fared even worse over their first nine games. After winning a home set with the Brewers, they were swept on a six-game trip through San Diego and Los Angeles. Thanks to the Giants, the Diamondbacks are not the doormats of the division.
How brutal has San Francisco been? For a sample, consider the probable starting pitchers for this weekend.
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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 | ...
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Farm Bureau: Upton, Wieters, Strasburg and Hype
Matt Wieters, b. 05.21.86.
Justin Upton, b. 08.25.87.
Stephen Strasburg, b. 07.20.88.
The dates of birth for these three players are provided to offer some context for evaluation of the HYPE! that each has engendered. At the risk of selling short their talents, which are in each case prodigious, each of these players is, has been, or is soon to be the "Flavor of the Month" among those who follow baseball futures.
This month's flavor is most certainly Wieters, since David Price had his coming out party late last season. The Orioles assigned Wieters to AAA this week for no good reason except that, by demoting him, Baltimore is likely to keep the young backstop under its control for an extra year. No one seriously believes that crusty Gregg Zaun is a better option than Wieters to serve as the O's No. 1 catcher. Almost everyone who expresses an opinion on the subject unabashedly lauds Wieters as a player ready to make a huge impact, both at the plate and behind it....
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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...
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