Mid-Season Thoughts

[Nasser22]

We are now officially halfway done with the regular season at 46-35. I sure hope I got my math right. What do you guys think so far? I'm pretty excited. We're at 14-12 in June with one more game to go. That's pretty impressive for us with our bad history in this month. The team is on pace for 92 wins, wouldn't that be great? Half game behind the division lead with a 3.5 game lead over anyone challenging us for a wild card spot outside of the division. I really like our pitching if Randy can survive the season and I think the younger guys will start hitting the ball a little bit better in the second half. The playoffs are looking like a great possibility if we can just improve on our 17-19 divisional record.

Eric Byrnes has had a great season, but looking at the stats, WOW I never realized how much he's dropped throughout his career after the all-star break. I hope it's not as dramatic of a change, of course he did hit 2 more home runs last year. Eh, we'll see.

Hey, even if we go .500 the rest of the way, I'll definitely take a 10 or 11 game improvement from last season...but I'm looking forward to having the playoffs here again because I have no excitement anymore for football here.

 

[Black Jesus]

I think we need to make a move for a first baseman... Sorry Conor.

 

[Nasser22]

I think we need to make a move for a first baseman... Sorry Conor.

Well I'd rather go for a third baseman if we can. Tracy is much better at 1st than 3rd. He's as bad as Conor defensively when he's at 3rd base.

 

[HooverDam]

I can't believe this team is doing as well as it is. They had that one great stretch of starting pitching that coincided with Mark Reynolds tearing the cover off the ball and other than thats its been mostly .500 ball (.500 ball is what I expected the whole season). If they ever catch fire again for a week or two they may be able to pull away from the rest of the division.

 

[Gaddabout]

The NL isn't as strong as it has been and the NL West is just weak. The D-Backs aren't really even a good team yet, though they're capable of it. Far from great, though. It's really interesting comparing this team to the 2001 squad. It seemed like on that team there was always someone on a long hitting streak, usually either Gonzo or Fins. This team has yet to have a hitter go off like that for a month. Reynolds approached that, but like we expected, pitchers adjust quickly.

Just waiting for the light bulb to go on for one or two of our young guys. You can see it happen, like Adrian Beltre. It's like one day he wakes up and everything is moving a little bit slower.

 

[HooverDam]

The NL isn't as strong as it has been and the NL West is just weak.

I don't know how on earth you can say the NL West is weak. Sure the NL in general is down right now, but the West is the best division in the NL.

Lets look at the records:

West:
SD 46-33
AZ 46-36
LA 45-36
Col 39-42 (they were a few games over .500 until a recent skid)
SF 34-45

East:
NY 46-33
Atl 43-38
Phi 41-40
Fl 37-44
DC 32-48

If you want to talk about a weak division, here it is:
Central:
Mil 47-33
Chi 39-40
StL 35-42
Pitt 35-42
Hou 34-47
Cin 31-50

The NL West is the only division in baseball w/ 3 teams that are 9 games over .500. It will probably end up being the only division w/ only one team under .500. Its not as top heavy as say the AL West or East, but it does have 4 teams that on any night can beat each other and anyone else in the league.

 

[Dback Jon]

Yes - I don't get the whole NL West is weak bit. The NL West won 7 more games against the East than they lost. The NL West tore up the Central, winning 21 more games than they lost. The NL West is the TOUGHEST in the NL, by far. To claim otherwise is down right ignorant.

 

[The Commish]

My thoughts:

We need a bat.

Our corner positions are coming weak.

 

[Stallion]

if we can just improve on our 17-19 divisional record.

That's the key to the 2nd half. Beat the rest of the NL West and we'll have a great season. Continue to lose more than we win (another series loss to the Giants this weekend) and we'll fade away.

Go Snakes!

 

[Gaddabout]

My NL West comment: I can't fathom any NL West getting to the World Series. I see three good teams but no legitimate contender.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I can see the Pads and Dodgers making runs, their pitching at the top of the rotation is lights out.

 

[Gaddabout]

I can see the Pads and Dodgers making runs, their pitching at the top of the rotation is lights out.

If Dodgers made a trade for another strong starter behind Penny, I could definitely see them making a run. Two good starters and a strong bullpen is a recipe for playoff success. But everything I've read in the papers suggest they're standing pat. I don't see the two starters behind Penny -- Lowe and Wolf -- surviving, say, a 7-game series with the Mets. And it's not like that lineup is murderer's row.

That said, the only thing unimpressive about Lowe and Wolf this season are their won/loss records. Most other things we use to measure pitchers like KO/BB have been outstanding. They generally get the Dodgers into the 7th in good shape. I believe all three pitchers are averaging more than 6-2/3 innings per outing.

 

[kps0001]

Quentin has been a major disappointment so far. Or maybe most just expected to much out of him. The Randy signing has also be rather disappointing but I wasn't to hip on that signing anyway as it, imo, was only to get people in the seats.

Overall I am pretty happy with the way things have started but I am not getting to confident as there is a lot of work that still needs to be done.

I don't think we make the playoffs this year due to lack of a big or some big bats and some weaknesses at the corners as some have stated. However, like Hoover stated if we were to catch fire again we would be hard to stop. I just think too many stars need to be aligned for us to make a run into the postseason or even get there.

 

[Nasser22]

Randy has actually been pretty good for the most part and everybody that we traded has had a very bad season so far.

 

[kps0001]

He has done OK, I guess. I really just meant we probably could have signed a couple of players for what we are paying him and gotten the same production if not better. I think if he gets more than 10 wins this year we are lucky but we could have spent the $9 mil on a few guys that had some potential to put together 10-12 wins combined, and not the potential of playing their last game everytime they step on the mound.

 

[Gaddabout]

RJ's projecting to throw 109 innings this season, probably 70 less than the D-Backs projected, and 90 less than what they were hoping for with the money they spent.

Still, he has something like a 6-to-1 KO/BB ratio and an ERA under 4. The innings he has pitched have been quality. If they could get just one more inning a game out of him he'd be worth every penny ... assuming that one more inning doesn't include a walk, an error and a 3-run homer.

 

[Nasser22]

The last two games have been very, very bad. What the hell happened to Webb?

 

[BC867]

The last two games have been very, very bad. What the hell happened to Webb?

From what I hear . . . the bullpen.

 

[asudevil83]

The last two games have been very, very bad. What the hell happened to Webb?

its the bullpen.

and this team is pretty flawed and nowhere near seasoned enough to even think about competing for the NL West title. we started the season playing way over our head, and we've fallen back to reality.

 

[BC867]

Yesterday against the Cardinals, Melvin made some bold lineup changes

Reynolds back in at 3B (the RBI machine had a sac fly and a solo HR), with Tracy at 1B and Jackson on the bench.

Young back at leadoff, with Hudson batting second and Pigpen third.

Hairston in LF and Quinton on the bench.

Montero catching (probably because our starting pitcher speaks no English), rather than Montero deserving a chance to be our everyday Catcher.

The offense came to life for a one-sided victory. When asked if he would continue that successful combination, instead of proudly saying ''yes", Bob Melvin hedged with his usual passive responses.

I hope that was just to not spill his guts to the Cardinals and that he does intend to stay with a winning combination.

He, and his mentor Bob Brenly, have had the weird habit of finding a solid combination, then abandoning it after one game.