D-backs the cream of the NL crop
Posted: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 3:53 PM
Arizona is the best team in the National League and the fact that the Diamondbacks earn that distinction rather than the Mets with their huge payroll is notable.
Where the Mets stand as the calendar turns to May is another subject, although they can be measured against upstart Arizona when the two teams meet this weekend in Phoenix.
But this is about Arizona, the team that appeared World Series-bound last fall until being derailed at the last-minute by Colorado. The D-backs are better this year in one major area – the rotation. The addition of Dan Haren gives them the best 1-2 starters in the league (Brandon Webb and Haren). The Mets could surpass that if they get someone consistently producing behind Johan Santana but for now no NL club is better at the top of the rotation than Arizona.
Last year Arizona won the NL West despite being outscored. This year a much different story for the D-backs, who with one day left in April lead the league in runs scored (157) and runs allowed (102). On offense they blend power (No. 3 in the NL in home runs) with patience (No. 2 in the league in OPS) -- a formula found more sparingly in the circuit that plays without a DH. In fact, one evaluator told me that Arizona had an American League lineup in that all eight position players most nights were capable of hitting a home run. That’s another quality becoming increasingly rare in the NL.
If there is a question about Arizona that needs to be answered over the full season it is the bullpen. Trading Jose Valverde opened up the closer role for Brandon Lyon, who is 8-10 in save chances. Lyon’s most notable stat: just one walk in 14 innings.
Incredibly, the Arizona bullpen is the best in the NL, holding April opponents to a meager .217 BA with a 1.97 ERA. The starters are producing innings (fourth most in the NL) and the longer that continues, the easier it will be for this bullpen to maintain success through the summer.
Don’t underestimate the value of youth -- even Giants manager Bruce Bochy commented that he notices his younger players “don’t get tired in the late innings.” Well, Arizona threw its youngsters into the fray last year and they responded magnificently. There’s no reason to suspect anything would change as they are still young and energetic with a needed dose of experience.
But if Arizona needed one thing, it was a young player to assume command as Troy Tulowitzki did in Colorado. So far that player looks to be Conor Jackson, the cleanup hitter who has streaked through a .341 first month with 24 RBI.
Right now the D-backs look as if they can’t be challenged in their division, but the Rockies and Phillies proved once again last summer that baseball is the longest season of all. And Arizona is working with a $66 million payroll -- one that pales in comparison to the Mets, Cubs and Dodgers.
Arizona is young, talented, becoming very confident and carrying the look of a team that should be good for years to come.
FIVE MORE SWINGS
1. Tuesday night saw Max Scherzer make his major league debut for the D-backs. A first-round draft pick out of the University of Missouri in 2006,
he was represented by Scott Boras. Scherzer didn’t sign for a year. Arizona gave him a major-league contract last May and less than a year later he comes to the bigs and retires all 13 Houston batters he faces, seven by strikeout. His fastball reached 98 mph. Just another example of how young and talented the D-Backs are.
2. Just so you don’t think it’s that easy for everyone Phil Hughes of the Yankees was hammered (six runs, 11 baserunners in 3 2/3 innings) last night and New York, not surprisingly, is buzzing that Hughes needs time in Triple-A.
3. Struggling Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado created a major New York buzz by refusing a curtain call during a two-homer Sunday at Shea Stadium. The view here is well done, Carlos.
This is sad to write for someone who grew up a Mets fan but I was shocked by the ugliness displayed by a growing part of the team’s fan base during my broadcast stint in New York a few years ago. I watched several talented players melt under the relentless negativity. Delgado has been booed repeatedly by the same fans that wanted him to celebrate Sunday. How do you blame Delgado for declining the curtain call? The odd part to me was that the worst Shea crowds were on weeknights and this was a Sunday afternoon.
4. Don’t overlook the significance of this stretch in the AL East race. Alongside a recent surge by Mike Mussina and the struggles of Phil Hughes, the Yankees now have A-Rod and Jorge Posada on the DL. Boston has an opening to create some separation in the division race.
5. Terrific hire by Major League Baseball in naming CBS Sports executive Tony Petitti to run the MLB Network. A strong case could be made that MLB’s most important hire of this decade has been Bob Bowman, the man who has built MLB.com into a $5 billion business. That’s a tough bar for the television network to shoot for, but Petitti is well armed for such a task.
