Arizona Diamondbacks' 2007 First Half Report Card
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by user Sasha
Well since these types of articles seem to be the ones in vogue now I thought it would be good to write one for my team the Arizona Diamondbacks. The record for the snakes going into the break is 47-43, they are 3.5 games back in the west and 2.5 games back in the wild card. I will first give you the cold hard numbers then give you my interpretation and spin of the numbers. So lets get started.
D-Backs by the numbers
The Snakes offense goes like this: Their 368 runs scored puts them 12th out of 16 in the NL, they are 13th in hits but 12th in doubles 2nd in 3 baggers and 7th in home runs. They have had 286 free passes which is good enough for 6th in the league and have whiffed 560 times which puts them in the 10 spot in that category. Their batting average of .248 is 14th highest while the OB% of .316 is 13th and SLG of .401 is number 10. Swiping 38 bases gives them the 11th spot and the 12 CS's are 14th most. And if you care their 26 bruises are good for number 9 in the NL. And that about wraps up offensive stats.
The Pitching has these numbers: The team gives up an average of 4 runs exactly per 9 which is good for 6th in the NL. The starters have 3 complete games this year which interestingly enough is 3rd best. There are also 3 shutouts which is 8th best. The D-Backs have the tenth best amount of hits allowed with 806 and the 7th fewest runs with 387. The 89 homers allowed are 11th fewest. The 317 walks are 3rd worst but the 610 punch outs are 4th highest. And that is the pitching.
The D-Backs by Me
The Hitting: To call this team streaky would be like saying the Yankees have kind of been a disappointment this year. The D-backs have had games where they score ten runs and games where they have trouble scoring one run which is normal for any team but the D-Backs seem to only score runs when they really need to, coming back from down 7-1 but not being able to score anything in a 1-0 or 2-0 game. This may have been what has keep the Snakes above water for most of the year because they picked up there pitchers when they struggled. It just would be nice if the pitchers got some more wiggle room during there good outings. So the hitting is inconsistent but every rule has an exception and those exceptions are Eric Byrnes and to a lesser extent Orlando Hudson. These two are the offense when the offense is struggling and have been leading the charge when the offense has been good. So the offense probable gets a straight up C so far but if they gain consistence they could easily have a B+.
The Pitching: The starters have been streaky to but not to the extent of the hitting's streaky tendencies. They will have 2 or 3 good times through the rotation and then 2 or 3 of the starters will have a bad outing or two. Brandon Webb the reigning Cy Young Award winner has been good this year and while it is not likely he will repeat with another Cy Young Webb is a deserving all-star and a solid ace. Livan Hernandez has been hittable but he has still eaten up his fair share of innings. Doug Davis has had either really good outings or really bad outings but he does a good job and usually keeps the team in games. Randy Johnson has been injured for a good portion of the year but when healthy he is dominant for 5 or 6 innings. And finally Micah Owings the rookie has been good this year and besides 3 or so starts he has showed that he can be a big league starter. The bullpen has been pretty consistent this year with Jose Valverde nailing down games and Brandon Lyon and Tony Pena getting it to him. Juan Cruz and Doug Slaten have also played their parts well. Overall I give the pitching a B- and I think they are just about playing up to their potential.
Overall the Diamondbacks get a B- since they are definitely above average but not quite a great team yet. You might ask what the future holds for the D-Backs. to which I say," How the heck should I know!"
