Gonzalez remains optimistic about Marquis, Goldschmidt
Aug 10, 2011, 11:35 PM | Updated: Aug 11, 2011, 12:46 am
Nearly two weeks ago the Diamondbacks made a few moves, including trading for pitcher Jason Marquis and calling up first baseman Paul Goldschmidt from Double-A Mobile.
Neither has had much success since donning the Sedona Red, with Marquis posting a 12.38 ERA in two starts and Goldschmidt struggling his way to a .192 batting average with just one home run.
Even still, former D-backs great and current team executive Luis Gonzalez is not concerned about either player.
“Marquis, he’ll find a way,” Gonzalez told Sports 620 KTAR’s Burns and Gambo. “He’s had two bad starts, we’ll get these out of the way. When he gets tired that’s when he’s a better pitcher because his ball sinks, and we need a sinker-ball pitcher in this ballpark.”
Indeed, Chase Field is known as a hitter’s park, where home runs fly out with regularity. The sinker is a pitch that works to get guys out, as D-backs have seen in the past with Brandon Webb.
But while the Diamondbacks want to see Marquis keep the ball in the park, the hope was that the rookie Goldschmidt would hit the ball out of it.
So far, that simply hasn’t been the case.
“What did we have before,” Gonzalez asked in defense of the 23-year-old. “We really weren’t putting out offense. We’ve trickled him with all these other guys, his power potential is there.”
Gonzalez said Goldschmidt will hopefully rely on the veterans for guidance, because there really isn’t much time for him to adjust right now.
The D-backs, after all, are in the middle of a pennant race and he, along with Marquis, were added in hopes that they would help the D-backs overtake the Giants to win the NL West.
While it would be easy to declare each move a failure, it would be premature to do so. The D-backs and their fans would be wise to give Marquis time to get used to his new surroundings and Goldschmidt a chance to adapt to Major League pitching.
The guess here is both will not only be fine, but also contributors on the 2011 NL West Champion Diamondbacks.
