I would like to take a moment, before I start talking about
baseball, to thank all the men and women who have served our
country
past or present. The moment of silence we took before each game
this
weekend to honor the fallen troops is one that should happen every
day. I
can’t thank you enough.

On to baseball…

Boy, did the Diamondbacks look like the team I thought they were
at the
beginning of the season this weekend. Outside of Ian Kennedy’s
consistent
struggles, the D-backs looked very good against Milwaukee. The
back end of the
bullpen was absolutely lockdown in every game, the key bats in the
lineup
are starting to get swinging, and oh yeah, the Diamondbacks just
won their
first home series since Opening Weekend.

After looking at a few things a little bit deeper, I found a few
interesting
trends with the D-backs so far this season. I guess I’ll give you the
bad
news first…

One troubling stat that I came across, via Jules Tompkins on twitter,
is that
Wade Miley has won as many games (3) in the month of May as the
rest of
the rotation combined. That was the bad news, now on to the good
news.

Well D-backs fans, you can breathe a sigh of relief… Justin Upton
is
rolling.
Arizona’s star right fielder, who had a disappointing start to the
season,
has caught fire of late. Since that ninth inning two-run home run in
Colorado, J-Up went on a nine-game hitting streak (which ended
Sunday) in
which he hit .419 with 2 HR and 9 RBI (he had ten total before the
streak).
Also, since that homer in Colorado, Upton has only struck out 5
times (he
had struck out 17 times in May prior to that swing of the bat.)
During the
streak, Justin saw his batting average increase from .224 all the way
up to
.276 entering Sunday.

Another D-back whose bat is starting to get hot? That’d be Paul
Goldschmidt. The D-backs first baseman is currently on a six-game
hitting
streak. Over that span, Goldy has a home run, 4 doubles, and 6
runs
scored.

With two of the Diamondbacks’ crucial bats starting to get hot and
the
lineup and rotation finally nearing 100% healthy, the time is now for
the D-
backs to get back into the playoff race.

Series Report Card

Record: B+
Wow, the Arizona Diamondbacks cannot beat Yovani Gallardo.
Including
the postseason, Gallardo is now 7-0 all time against the Snakes. His
performance was pivotal in helping the Brewers take game one of
the
series. However, in the next game the D-backs jumped all over the
Brewers
ace Zack Greinke… Don’t you just love baseball? The D-backs
needed to
win this series, and they did just that. However, I am giving it a B+
because
they probably should have swept the series, if Ian Kennedy was
pitching
like Ian Kennedy.

Offense: B+
It seems that the Diamondbacks don’t understand how to run the
bases.
They’ve been picked off more than any team in baseball, and are
tied for
the most times caught stealing in the majors. What good is hitting
the ball
if the runners are just getting out on base? If the D-backs want to
make a
surge, they must improve on the base paths. Offensively, it was a
typical D-
backs series at the plate. The offense was very inconsistent, they
couldn’t
do much of anything to Gallardo on Friday, hammered Greinke for
seven
earned runs in 2.1 innings on Saturday, and struggled against
Randy Wolf
on Sunday, only to recover to retake the lead in the sixth inning.

Defense: C+
The defense, for the second series in a row, was nothing to write
home
about. Ryan Roberts had a few errors at third base, and I still
wonder if he
can actually throw from third base to first in a close play without
having to
hop the ball there. Also, even though Henry Blanco is very good
behind the
plate, it’s clear the D-backs can’t go for too long without their star
catcher
Miguel Montero.

Pitching: C+
In the past I have brought to light the big time struggles of Ian
Kennedy,
and his struggles continued in this series. Kennedy has now lost
five
consecutive games, and is no more threatening to an opposing
lineup than
if a puppy was on the mound. The current ace of the
Diamondbacks, Wade
Miley, struggled as well on Saturday, but he was able to battle
through it to
earn his sixth win of the season. But the story of this series was the
return
of Daniel Hudson from a long stint on the DL. And man… was it
good for
the D-backs to have Huddy back on the mound. He looked good in
the first
few innings, even though he had to work out of a few jams. In the
fifth, he
gave up two runs and it seemed as though he was starting to lose
control
over the location of his pitches. Some great news? The bullpen was
lights
out on two consecutive days on Saturday and Sunday, and that is a
good
sign.

Managing: A-
I liked Kirk Gibson’s decision to sit Montero for the whole series
against the
Brewers, the new $60 million man shouldn’t rush back from being
hurt,
he’s as important to the team as anyone in the locker room, so they
will
need him at 100% if they are to make a run at the playoffs. When
asked
about getting a steady lineup back out there for the team, Gibson
said that
was his goal, and didn’t shy away from noting that the team needs
to make
a push, and soon.

Series Awards

Play of the Series:
The play of the series was Gerardo Parra’s running catch in center
field in
the ninth inning on Saturday. The catch stopped J.J. Putz from
getting in a
jam, which is outrageously important for a pitcher like Putz who
had been
struggling. The great over-the-head catch helped J.J.’s confidence
as he
earned the save.

Player of the Series:
The player of this series goes to no one player, but the entire D-
backs
bullpen. The bullpen was absolutely lights out in the late innings in
this
series, which was a great sight to behold. J.J. Putz looked great as
well,
earning two saves in the series.

The “Dikembe Mutombo Finger Wag Award:
This award goes to the entire Diamondbacks organization. Not for
anything
on the field, but because they have made the choice to make “Call
me,
maybe” the seventh inning sing-a-long song. I don’t know
specifically who
approved this, but they should be punished in some way. My ears
can’t
take too much more.

The Worst Punchline Award
This award goes to Wade Miley. When I asked him about his double
on
Saturday, he responded, “I thought it was a pop up, when I saw the
outfielder running back I just blacked out and ran.” Hearing this,
Joe
Saunders walked by and mimicked Miley, and a whole minute later,
when
Saunders wasn’t in the room, Miley shouted “hey Joe! Keep breaking
bats!”
Now that’s a bad comeback if I’ve ever heard one.

Best Moment of the Series:
The best moment of this series for me was on Sunday, when, for
the
second time this season (that I have seen), D-backs President and
CEO
Derrick Hall jumped out of his seat and jogged across the stadium
to check
on a fan who had been hit by a ball. I love seeing that sort of
compassion
out of Hall, because I rarely see anyone who cares that much about
the fans
that attend the games.

The Road Ahead:
The Diamondbacks head to San Francisco to take on the Giants on
Memorial Day (and the two following days). The Kennedy vs.
Lincecum
matchup on Wednesday is interesting, as both “aces” have
struggled out of
the gates this season. I also want to see if Paul Goldschmidt
continues his
dominance of Lincecum. The young slugger is hitting .545 (6-for-
11) with three homers and five runs batted in against “The Freak”.

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