D-backs manager is batting Martin Prado cleanup for a reason

It turns out Mark Trumbo will not be the one “protecting” Paul Goldschmidt in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ lineup.

Instead that responsibility will fall on Martin Prado.

A guest of the Dan Bickley Show with Vince Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Monday, D-backs manager Kirk Gibson explained the decision.

“He’s a better true hitter. He’s virtually a lifetime .300 hitter, he can handle the bat,” Gibson said. “If they want to pitch around Goldy and we have multiple guys on I want to be able to do things with Prado.

“And the other thing is I want to try and get guys on base; he gets on base pretty good.”

Prado hit .282 with 14 home runs and 82 RBI last year in his first season as a Diamondback, but is a career .292 hitter with a .342 on-base percentage.

And Trumbo, who was brought over from the Los Angeles Angels, is coming off a season in which he mashed 34 home runs and drove in 100 but hit just .234 and had an on-base percentage of .294.

It came down to power or contact, and Gibson is clearly choosing the latter.

“I want to get guys on base so if Goldy cleans them up I want to get some guys on base before Trumbo again as well, because hopefully Goldy hits them out of the park, Trumbo hits them out of the park,” he said. “And the other thing with [Prado] is that I think he was a better hitter, he utilized his total game in the four spot.

“When I had him in the two-spot he was always hitting the ball through the three-four hole…and it didn’t do him well.”

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