Going Upton! - Lan's D'Backs

[Lanteri]

Phoenix (AP) - While the title may be cliche, and sadly the best option presented to me as I wasn't able to come up with one of my own, it does fit this particular Arizona Diamondback team. A far cry from the quickest expansion team in professional sports history to win a championship, built on a squad of mostly grizzled out veterans, the current Arizona Diamondbacks feature one of the youngest rosters in all of baseball.

In what has to be considered a true shock to the baseball world, the Diamondbacks seemingly came out of nowhere in 2011 to win the NL West under rookie manager Kirk Gibson, just one year removed from a last place 65-97 finish in 2010. Led by breakout years by Ian Kennedy and Justin Upton, the D'Backs improved a remarkable 29 wins over their previous campaign. That's not to say it was all Upton and Kennedy, of course, as late season call-up Paul Goldschmidt, trade acquisition Aaron Hill, and breakout years from Gerardo Parra, Ryan Roberts, Daniel Hudson, and a return to all-star form of closer J.J. Putz all helped propel the team to success.

Arizona, in a position to capitalized on their recent success, were not content to sit on their laurels in the offseason and sought to strengthen the squad further by trading Jarrod Parker, Collin Cowgill, and Ryan Cook away for Trevor Cahill and veteran lefty reliever Craig Breslow. Cahill, just one year removed from an 18-8 2.97 ERA, struggled with command last year and regressed a bit, but still aims to be a significant upgrade to the D'Backs rotation. Breslow provides a consistent veteran left handed arm to the 'pen. In addition, Arizona added a veteran bat in Jason Kubel to the fray, as well as defensive specialist John McDoanld at shortstop.

So that begs the question, was 2011 a fluke, given how many players exceeded expectations all at once? Can Aaron Hill continue his return to form, or will he slip back into his late Toronto years? Was Ryan Roberts breakout 2011 a mirage, given that it was just his first full year as a starter at age 30? What kind of impact will free agent bat Jason Kubel have, or will the D'Backs wish they had just kept Parra as the starter? Can Goldschmidt progress any further? Will J.J.'s arm hold up?

Only one way to find out, and that's to play ball! /cheesy outtro

[Lanteri]

Arizona Diamondbacks
#	PITCHERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
32	Craig Breslow	RP	L/L	31	5'11"	190	$1,300,000
35	Trevor Cahill	SP	R/R	24	6'4"	222	$4,700,000
55	Josh Collmenter	SP	R/R	26	6'2"	235	$510,000
30	David Hernandez	RP	R/R	26	6'2"	250	$610,000
41	Daniel Hudson	SP	R/R	24	6'3"	225	$580,000
31	Ian Kennedy	SP	R/R	27	6'0"	195	$1,800,000
36	Wade Miley	RP	L/L	25	6'2"	190	$490,000
47	Joe Paterson	RP	R/L	25	6'1"	210	$490,000
40	J.J. Putz	CP	R/R	35	6'5"	250	$8,000,000
34	Joe Saunders	SP	L/L	30	6'3"	210	$3,200,000
39	Bryan Shaw	RP	S/R	24	6'1"	210	$490,000
29	Brad Ziegler	RP	R/R	32	6'4"	212	$640,000
#	CATCHERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
12	Henry Blanco	C	R/R	40	5'11"	220	$720,000
26	Miguel Montero	C	L/R	28	5'11"	215	$1,300,000
#	INFIELDERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
18	Willie Bloomquist	SS	R/R	34	5'11"	194	$575,000
33	Geoff Blum	3B	S/R	38	6'3"	221	$250,000
44	Paul Goldschmidt	1B	R/R	24	6'3"	245	$490,000
2	Aaron Hill	2B	R/R	29	5'11"	205	$1,400,000
16	John McDonald	SS	R/R	37	5'9"	180	$915,000
37	Lyle Overbay	1B	L/L	35	6'2"	220	$740,000
14	Ryan Roberts	3B	R/R	31	5'11"	195	$570,000
#	OUTFIELDERS	POS	B/T	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
13	Jason Kubel	LF	L/R	29	6'0"	220	$860,000
8	Gerardo Parra	LF	L/L	24	5'11"	195	$560,000
10	Justin Upton	RF	R/R	24	6'2"	205	$11,300,000
24	Chris Young	CF	R/R	28	6'2"	200	$8,000,000

Arizona Diamondbacks Depth Chart - 2012

• Catcher
• Miguel Montero
• Henry Blanco

• First Base
• Paul Goldschmidt
• Lyle Overbay
• Geoff Blum

• Second Base
• Aaron Hill
• John McDonald
• Geoff Blum

• Third Base
• Ryan Roberts
• Geoff Blum

• Shortstop
• Willie Bloomquist
• John McDonald
• Geoff Blum

• Left Field
• Jason Kubel
• Gerardo Parra
• Geoff Blum

• Center Field
• Chris B. Young
• Gerardo Parra

• Right Field
• Justin Upton
• Gerardo Parra
• Geoff Blum

• Starting Pitcher
• Ian Kennedy
• Daniel Hudson
• Josh Collmenter
• Trevor Cahill
• Joe Saunders

• Relief Pitcher
• David Hernandez
• Brad Ziegler
• Joe Paterson
• Craig Breslow
• Bryan Shaw
• Wade Miley

• Closer
• J.J. Putz

• Disabled List
• Takashi Saito (May 1st return)
• Stephen Drew (May 1st return)

[Cody]

Followin

[FirstTimer]

You bastard.

What happened to the Cubs?

[Bomberooski]

I'm in

[Lanteri]

Kennedy set to take on Lincecum on opening day at Chase Field

D'Backs Set to Open With the Giants

Phoenix (AP) - Opening day is here ladies and gentlemen, and your Arizona Diamondbacks are set to open up a 3 game homestand against divisional foes the San Francisco Giants. The two teams split their season series last year at 9 wins a piece, with the D'Backs holding a comfortable +13 run differential.

Probable Pitchers

Friday April 6th, 7 PM

Diamondbacks: Ian Kennedy (2011: 21-4, 2.88 ERA)
Giants: Tim Lincecum (2011: 13-14, 2.74 ERA)

Ian Kennedy was dominant against the Giants in 2011 in 5 starts, turning in a 3-0 record and a 1.22 ERA in 37 IP, striking out 35 in the process. Tim Lincecum struggled against the D'Backs, going 0-3 in 4 starts, turning in a 4.32 ERA.

Saturday April 7th, 1 PM

Diamondbacks: Daniel Hudson (2011: 16-12, 3.49 ERA)
Giants: Matt Cain (2011: 12-11, 2.88 ERA)

The D'Backs will face newly extended Matt Cain in the 2nd of the 3 game series. Cain recently signed a 5 year extension totaling upwards of $110 million. It has to be the said that Cain is quite likely the best pitcher in baseball, with a losing career record at 69-73. And Felix Hernandez thinks he has it bad...

Sunday April 8th, 1 PM

Diamondbacks: Josh Collmenter (2011: 10-10, 3.38 ERA)
Giants: Madison Bumgarner (2011: 13-13, 3.21 ERA)

This game features a matchup between two of the better young control artists in the league. Bumgarner turned in a stellar sophomore season, going 13-13 with a 3.21 ERA in 204 IP. He allowed just 46 walks, and kept the ball in the ballpark at a tremendous rate allowing just 12 home runs, all while striking out 1961.

Collmenter's success came as a bit of a surprise given that he was not particularly touted as a prospect, but once arriving last year he made it clear he was here to stay.

[Bomberooski]

Sorry LAN but I love them... Go Giants

[Woy]

Go D'Backs!

[chazmaniandevil]

go giants!

[FirstTimer]

Go Sox!

[Lanteri]

I'll get going on this either later tonight or after work tomorrow. Got a few edits left to finish on my rosters before I get it goin'.

[albidnis]

Didn't think anyone was posting chises here anymore. Def adding mine... Following

[Lanteri]

San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks
Apr 6, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Francisco (1-0)	4	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	7	12	0
Arizona (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	6	2
W: Tim Lincecum (1-0) L: Ian Kennedy (0-1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			SFO	ARI
SFO	1	Sandoval doubled to center. Pagan scores. Theriot Scores.	2	0
SFO	1	Posey tripled to left. Sandoval scores.	3	0
SFO	1	Cabrera grounded to right for a single. Posey scores.	4	0
SFO	4	Pagan homered to right. Burriss scores.	6	0
ARI	8	Hill doubled to center. Roberts scores.	6	1
ARI	8	Overbay flied to center for a single. Hill scores.	6	2
SFO	9	Pill hit a sacrifice fly to Upton (SF9). Schierholtz scores.	7	2

San Francisco Giants
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Pagan, CF	4	2	1	2	2	0	.250
Theriot, SS	4	1	1	0	1	1	.250
Sandoval, 3B	4	1	2	2	1	0	.500
Posey, C	4	1	1	1	1	3	.250
Belt, 1B	4	0	1	0	1	0	.250
Cabrera, LF	5	0	2	1	0	1	.400
Schierholtz, RF	4	1	1	0	1	0	.250
Burriss, 2B	4	1	3	0	1	0	.750
Lincecum, P	4	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Pill, PH	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000
Affeldt, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TOTALS	37	7	12	7	8	5
BATTING 2B: Sandoval (1), Schierholtz (1) 3B: Cabrera (1), Posey (1) HR: Pagan (1) RBI: Pagan 2 (2), Cabrera (1), Sandoval 2 (2), Posey (1), Pill (1) SF: Pill (1) GIDP: Sandoval, Belt, Schierholtz

San Francisco Giants
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Lincecum (W, 1-0)	8.0	4	2	2	1	12	2.25
Affeldt	1.0	2	0	0	0	0	0.00
PITCHING Pitches-Strikes: Lincecum 118-80, Affeldt 15-10

Arizona Diamondbacks
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Bloomquist, SS	4	0	0	0	0	3	.000
Young, CF	4	0	0	0	0	4	.000
Upton, RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	.250
Montero, C	4	0	1	0	0	2	.250
Goldschmidt, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Kubel, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	.250
Roberts, 3B	3	1	0	0	0	1	.000
Hill, 2B	3	1	1	1	1	0	.333
Kennedy, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Miley, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Parra, PH	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.000
Shaw, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Paterson, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Overbay, PH	1	0	1	1	0	0	1.000
Ziegler, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TOTALS	32	2	6	2	1	12
BATTING 2B: Hill (1), Upton (1) RBI: Hill (1), Overbay (1) HBP: Roberts SAC: Kennedy
BASERUNNING SB: Parra (1)
FIELDING E: Upton (1), Roberts (1)

Arizona Diamondbacks
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Kennedy (L, 0-1)	5.0	9	6	6	4	4	10.80
Miley	1.0	0	0	0	2	1	0.00
Shaw	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0.00
Paterson	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Ziegler	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	9.00
TOTALS	9.0	12	7	7	8	5
PITCHING Pitches-Strikes: Kennedy 104-60, Miley 17-6, Shaw 20-14, Paterson 18-8, Ziegler 15-11

[Woy]

Unrealistic. Timmy doesn't pitch that well anymore.

[Lanteri]

San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks
Apr 7, 2012	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Extras	R	H	E
San Francisco (2-0)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0 0 2	5	10	3
Arizona (0-2)	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0 0 0	3	11	0
W: Clay Hensley (1-0) L: Bryan Shaw (0-1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			SFO	ARI
ARI	3	Upton grounded out to Theriot. Bloomquist scores.	0	1
ARI	6	Upton homered to left.	0	2
SFO	7	Cabrera homered to right. Belt scores	2	2
ARI	7	Young grounded to fenter for a single. Parra scores.	2	3
SFO	9	Huff lined to left for a single. Cabrera scores.	3	3
SFO	12	Sandoval lined to center for a single. Pagan scores.	4	3
SFO	12	Posey grounded to center for a single. Theriot scores.	5	3

San Francisco Giants
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Pagan, CF	6	1	1	0	0	1	.200
Theriot, SS	4	1	0	0	2	1	.125
Sandoval, 3B	6	0	2	1	0	1	.400
Posey, C	4	0	1	1	2	2	.250
Belt, 1B	5	1	0	0	1	3	.111
Cabrera, LF	5	2	3	2	1	1	.500
Schierholtz, RF	3	0	1	0	1	1	.286
Burriss, 2B	5	0	1	0	0	2	.444
Cain, P	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Otero, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Pill, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Mota, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Lopez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Huff, PH	1	0	1	1	0	0	.000
Blanco, PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Casilla, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Hensley, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
H. Sanchez, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Wilson, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TOTALS	42	5	10	5	7	12
BATTING 2B: Pagan (1) HR: Cabrera (1) RBI: Cabrera 2 (3), Sandoval (3), Posey (2), Huff (1) SAC: Cain, Schierholtz GIDP: Belt, Burriss
FIELDING E: Schierholtz (1), Theriot 2 (2)

San Francisco Giants
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Cain	5.0	5	2	2	2	5	3.60
Otero	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0.00
Mota	0.2	2	1	1	0	1	13.50
Lopez	1.1	1	0	0	0	3	0.00
Casilla	2.2	3	0	0	1	4	0.00
Hensley (W, 1-0)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0.00
Wilson (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0.00
TOTALS	12	11	3	3	3	17
PITCHING Pitches-Strikes: Cain 81-52, Otero 6-5, Mota 15-9, Lopez 23-15, Casilla 53-34, Hensley 4-3, Wilson 10-7

Arizona Diamondbacks
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Bloomquist, SS	6	1	3	0	0	1	.300
Young, CF	4	0	1	1	2	2	.125
Upton, RF	6	1	1	2	0	3	.200
Montero, C	5	0	2	0	1	2	.333
Goldschmidt, 1B	6	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Kubel, LF	6	0	1	0	0	2	.200
Roberts, 3B	5	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Hill, 2B	5	0	2	0	0	1	.375
Hudson, P	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Parra, PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	1.000
Hernandez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Breslow, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Putz, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Blum, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Miley, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
McDonald, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Shaw, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
TOTALS	47	3	11	3	3	17
BATTING 2B: Hill (2), Parra (1) 3B: Bloomquist (1) HR: Upton (1) RBI: Upton 2 (2), Young (1) SAC: Hudson
BASERUNNING SB: Bloomquist (1)

Arizona Diamondbacks
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Hudson	7.0	5	2	2	3	6	2.57
Hernandez (H, 1)	0.2	0	0	0	1	1	0.00
Breslow (H, 1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0.00
Putz (BS, 1)	1.0	2	1	1	0	1	9.00
Miley	2.0	0	0	0	2	1	0.00
Shaw (L, 0-1)	1.0	3	2	2	1	2	9.00
TOTALS	12.0	10	5	5	7	12
PITCHING Pitches-Strikes: Hudson 93-65, Hernandez 14-7, Breslow 4-3, Putz 14-11, Miley 28-15, Shaw 34-19