Good to see a few runs cross home-plate for the Diamondbacks yesterday; seems the hitters were a little behind our pitchers prior to that. Can they keep it up in this afternoon's televised game? Also today, a change of position for a top prospect, and a near-insane baseball travel challenge.
Recaps
- [ArizonaSports] Delgado gets by in spring win over Padres - "I was feeling pretty good, but had a couple bad pitches with command or something, but I feel great," Delgado said following his outing. The two pitches that were hit out of the ballpark were both fastballs, and the D-backs hurler wasn't too pleased with the location of either. "A little bit up, perfect for hitters," he said. Manager Kirk Gibson summed up his starter's performance. "He got through it, he got behind in counts and gave up the home runs," he said. "But he threw the ball well, he did good."
- [FOX Sports] D-backs game report - With Gibson looking to get plentiful at-bats for competing shortstops Didi Gregorius and Chris Owings, both entered Tuesday's game in the fifth inning, with Owings at second base. ... Catcher Tuffy Gosewisch (calf) was unavailable again Tuesday but hoped to do more during workouts. He'll likely remain out for at least a few more days. ... They got a visit from an old friend. Former D-back Willie Bloomquist, now with the Mariners, stopped into the visiting clubhouse to say hello.
Team news
- [AZ Central] Brandon McCarthy: ‘I feel like myself again’ - "Last year, from the beginning, coming off everything from the year before, you’re just kind of a broken person and you realize as the year goes on that you’re not what you want to be," he said. "The way the results kept going up and down, I wasn’t the type of pitcher I’d established the past few years. When you’re not strong physically, when you’re not strong mentally, it makes for a long, long season, and obviously the results aren’t going to follow there, either. So that makes it even tougher. Now it just feels like I’m myself again."
- [ArizonaSports] A healthy Hill would benefit the Diamondbacks - "It happens, you get hit," Hill said. "It was just kind of unfortunate it broke a bone. But all you can do is just wait for it to get healthy. I tried to play through it, obviously it didn't work, but I took the time off, came back and felt good. I felt like I finished OK. Just take the offseason to get as strong as you can and prepare for the next season."
- [dbacks.com] Bradley dazzles on mound for Arizona Diamondbacks - "He was pretty much in control out there," Kirk Gibson said about Bradley. "We all know what his capabilities are, what he's accomplished in the Minor Leagues, what he's projected to accomplish up here. It's good to see him go out and execute that way. We just want to keep him headed in the right direction. He's somebody who can be very important to our team this year."
- [AZ Central] Stryker Trahan: New position ‘a great opportunity’ - "When Diamondbacks farm director Mike Bell called prospect Stryker Trahan into his office last month and asked him what he thought about moving to the outfield, Trahan thought Bell might have been kidding. But the longer they talked, the more he realized that not only was it not a joke, it was a good idea. "I was on board with it from the beginning of the conversation, once I realized it was real — and that I had a great opportunity," Trahan said. "I’ve heard nothing but good things that can come out of this."
- [MLB.com] Delgado could start or come out of the bullpen - "He very well could be in the bullpen for us this year," Gibson said. "We've always had Josh as our only long guy. You'd rather have another guy to have some length in his arm.. I think Randall has kind of a Collmenter mentality, where regardless of where you put him, I think he'll adjust to that and do a very good job with it," Gibson said. "He just wants to pitch. He's young, he's aggressive, he's a developing pitcher. Because of where he is with options there's probably a good chance he'll be on the team."
- [Sporting News] D-backs 2014: Arizona's stock trending downward - "Miley and Cahill are going to need to step up and establish themselves as top-of-the-rotation starters, and Corbin needs to build off of his first full big-league season to give the Diamondbacks the rotation they’ll need to stay out of the NL West cellar."
- [AZ Central] Putz adjusts - Putz was scheduled to pitch in Monday’s afternoon game against the Angels, but didn’t make an appearance because he’s working on a mechanical adjustment. Putz said new pitching coach Mike Harkey first noticed the issue, which involved poor timing in his delivery. Putz said he’s working on using his lower half more to improve his direction to the plate. "The timing is off," Putz said. "You may be good for two or three, and then two or three are up here and the timing isn’t consistent. It’s just hard to repeat."
And, elsewhere...
- It's still getting there...
The transformation of the Sydney Cricket Ground to an @MLB field. #OpeningSeriespic.twitter.com/7MsZLYeXov
— MLB (@MLB) March 4, 2014 - [Baseball Prospectus] Framing and Blocking Pitches - A pretty damn detailed study shows which catchers are the best at turning balls into strikes. Since 2008, Miguel Montero is tied for seventh-best, averaging over 10 runs per year earned with his framing skills.Worth noting: one successfully framed pitch is worth about one-sixth of a run. Over a full season, framing just one pitch a game could save more than 20 runs, which works out at two-plus wins. This could be a huge market inefficiency, waiting to be exploited, as Rob Neyer discussed.
- [MLB reports] 30 MLB Parks in 21 Days For 2014? - It's possible. But it would take perfect planning, and no small degree of luck [one game going long in the wrong place, and you'd be toast]. Not sure it would count as my idea of "fun" either. I think I'll stick with my ongoing project, 30 MLB Parks in 30 Years...