Or are they the team that decided to string together a six hits and a walk without a single out, and rally against the Brewers bullpen for the win?  The team that has managed to put together four games in a row where they had ten or more hits?  Which team is it?

Now, I know which team I want it to be.  The team we saw in April was much more entertaining than the team we saw playing in May and June.  Every big win, I hope that this one is the game that wakes them up and brings back the team we saw rampaging through April.  But that’s especially true with games like today.

A mixed bag of updates on the injury front- on the bright side, Juan Cruz was okay.  He’s back in the ‘pen, and he’s made an appearance this afternoon.  Chris Snyder- I’ll pause to wince again- didn’t need surgery.  It’s apparently entirely possible he’ll be back on the roster after the 15 days on the disabled list, which would be nice- we’re missing him behind the plate.  Also, Mark Reynolds got an MRI on his arm after getting battered on Tuesday, and there was no sign of a fracture.  On the other hand, news is not good for Eric Byrnes.  They’re currently discussing season-ending surgery to fix his hamstring.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him gone- and, to be honest, it’s not like he’s been very effective while he’s been on the roster this season.

Of course, that does raise questions about what to do with left field.  At the moment, the position looks like it’ll be split between Conor Jackson, Jeff Salazar, and Chris Burke.  I don’t know if that’s a working long term option, though.  It’s great to be able to have CoJack’s bat in the linup, along with Chad Tracy and Mark Reynolds, but his defense isn’t the best.  Maybe we’ll see a trade sometime this month?  There are plenty of teams selling out there- someone probably would be willing to deal a left fielder, but would that be the right way to go? Or should we bring someone up from the minors?

If you’d make the trade, leave a comment with your trade scenario.  If not, what do you think is the way to go?

-Chris Snyder took a pitch to the groin on Monday night, so he’s suffering from a (wince-inducing) testicular fracture.  He’s going into surgery on Wednesday, and will be going to the DL.  They’re hoping he’ll be back after the 15 day period, after the All Star Break.
-Eric Byrnes re-injured a hamstring while trying to steal third in Monday’s game, and he’s back on the DL again.  According to Melvin’s post-game press conference today, he’ll be gone for a while.  I kind of wonder if he’s ever been at full strength since Spring Training.  Really, I can’t say I’m too sad he’ll taking a break- our offense will look better with CoJack in left, or even Salazar.  Heck, Burke isn’t really a downgrade at the plate, given how Byrnes is batting this season.
-Edgar Gonzales is on the DL, too.  He felt some elbow tightness after his last appearance, and it’s obviously bad enough that he won’t be an option for a while.  He’s on the 15-day DL, retroactive to June 28th, though we don’t know yet how long he’ll be gone.
-Micah Owings is injured, he’ll miss his start tomorrow, and Juan Cruz has a strained oblique, so he’s unavailable for now.

Yeah, that’s a lot of damage for the team to absorb pretty quickly.  We’ll see Yusmero Petit start tomorrow, and they called Connor Robertson and Robby Hammock up from Tucson- Robertson pitched in tonight’s game.

That’s pretty rough.  But, you know what?  I actually feel some optimism for this team.  Why, you might ask?

Mark Reynolds.  In the past week or so, Reynolds has shown the signs of stepping up to be a leader on this team.  Last week, after a loss to the Marlins, while Bob Melvin closed his door’s to reporters, Reynolds talked to them and told them exactly what was wrong with the team- nothing revolutionary or that we didn’t already know, but it was good to hear a player say it flat-out, rather than hedging their words.  Since then, I feel like he’s been stepping up at the plate- he’s 7 for 15 with 5 RBIs and 4 runs.  He’s also really making some good plays on defense- tonight, he got battered out there, but stuck with it and made some great plays.

If the Diamondbacks are going to stick together and comeback from their struggles, they’re going to need some good leadership, and Mark Reynolds is looking like he’s got the chops for it.

Yes, as of today, we are exactly three weeks from the start of the All-Star Break, and I’m sure that, after the way this team has been playing, we’re all looking forward to a little bit of a reprieve.  Not everyone’s going to get the time off, though- we’ll be sending at least one representative to the game.  Now, currently the only D-back who even mentioned on the latest NL voting results is Justin Upton, and he’s 12th in voting for outfielders, about half a million votes behind Ken Griffey, Jr., for the third spot in the outfield.  So, barring anything surprising, our representative(s) will be selected by the manager.  So, who’s it going to be?

Well, first off, there’s a question of how many we’ll see.  Sure, we’re division leaders, for the moment, but it’s not like we’re playing like it.  I strongly suspect that the NL West won’t have more than six or seven players between all five teams, and I am pretty much assuming that we’ll only have one representative- we might pull two, but I’d be pretty surprised at that.

So, who gets picked?  The obvious choice, and one I think we’ll see, is Brandon Webb.  He’s the league leader in wins, he’s got a respectable ERA, and he’s pretty much our premiere player right now.  But, is he the guy we want out there?  Personally, I’d say not really.  Webb was incredible to start the season, but he’s hit a very distinct slump lately.  In June, he’s posted a 6.04 ERA and a BAA of .298- that’s just not pretty, and not necessarily the kind of numbers we want to send as our All-Star representative.  I wouldn’t be terribly upset it Webb got his third straight All-Star appearance, but I’d be a little happier if, instead, he got a few extra days off to relax and rest his arm.

So, who would we send instead?  Well, two names come to mind for me.

First, Dan Haren.  Haren pitched a beautiful game against the Red Sox today, going 7 scoreless innings, only allowing two hits and a walk, and picking up the win.  For the month of June, that gives him an ERA of 1.59, a WHIP of 0.74, and a record of 3-0.  His numbers on the season are pretty good, too- his win-loss record isn’t impressive, but he’s got the best WHIP among qualified pitchers in the National League, and his ERA is actually better than Webb’s, after Webb’s past few ugly starts.

Meanwhile, if we look away from the pitching mound?  Mark Reynolds may lead our team in many categories at the plate- slugging percentage, home runs, RBIs, stolen base- but he’s also second in the National League in strike-outs, and is only batting .250 on the season.  Not particularly impressive, and it’s not like his defense is so impressive that it makes up for his frequent all-or-nothing appearances at the plate.  So, who would be likely candidates otherwise?  Two names come to mind for me.

First, the one I think more likely to make an appearance, Orlando Hudson.  Hudson’s one of our best contributors this season- .820 OPS, he’s got 17 doubles, and though his defense isn’t as good as it’s been in previous seasons, he’s still pretty well known for it.  Besides, aren’t most All-Star appearances about how you did last season?

But, if it was up to me, you know who I’d pick?  Conor Jackson.  He’s pretty much been our most solid player at the plate, particularly lately- coming into today’s game, he’s batting 20 for 59 in the month of June.  He leads the team in batting average and slugging percentage, his defense is about as solid as anyone else on the roster, and- though this’ll never be considered by the people picking- I really appreciate the way he put the team first by playing games in left field when they needed it.  I think he deserves some credit, and though he’s no Albert Pujols, he would be a good choice for backup at first base on the NL All-Star team.

So, who’s it going to be?  Well, obviously, that’s up to Bud Black.  I think it’s likely that Webb will get the pick, though I wouldn’t be too surprised if Haren got the nod- he pitched for the AL in last year’s game.  Hudson or Reynolds would be a maybe, but I’m resigned the the idea that CoJack on the All-Star roster is probably something that won’t happen this year.  Too bad, though, because I think he deserves it. If you haven’t already made your 25 votes for the All-Star game, you’ve got until July 1st to do it.

If you’re planning to make a trip to the game yourself, you probably should be on the phone to your travel agent right now- or six months ago. If you haven’t, though, you’ve got one last, outside chance. If you listen to the games on the radio a lot, as I do, you’ve heard the ads for the State Farm Call-Your-Shot contest. If you haven’t, the short version is that the winner gets a trip for four to the All Star game and the Home Run Derby, hotel stay, some spending money, tickets to a Broadway show- no word if Damn Yankees is playing- and a chance to win a Chevy Tahoe hybrid at the Derby. A handful of runners-up will also get gift cards to the MLB store- if you win those, you may want to see if there’s a pillow you can buy so you have something handy to muffle your screams the next 84 times we’re reminded that “this time, it counts.” But, if you want to enter, your last day is Tuesday, the 24th, so get to it. It’d be great to see someone out there in D-backs gear during the Home Run Derby.

Yeah, I know, you made quite an impact last year, and I was all for it- you deserved that Manager of the Year award, no doubt.  But this year?  It’s not quite working out.  Like I said, too much mad, not enough scientist.  You might wonder why I bring it up now, so I’ll cut straight to it- Micah Owings.

The guy had a great season at the plate last year- we all remember that, it was fantastic.  The Babe Ruth comparisons ran amok, he earned a Silver Slugger, and we all leaned back to wonder what it’d be like if he hit more often.  Okay, that’s fine, we’re all together there.  I don’t think anyone really could argue much at the idea of trying him out as a pinch hitter during the season- who wouldn’t want that bat in the lineup more often?

But remember when I said you had too much mad, not enough science?  This is just where science might help.  The scientific method, as many of us were taught at the surly age of 14 is all about gathering data and using it to understand at the bigger picture.  So let’s look at the data here.  Counting today’s outing, Micah’s had 12 pinch hit appearances.  In those appearances, he’s had 2 hits and 6 strikeouts.  Not pretty numbers.  This just isn’t working.  Now, Micah’s still putting up a decent average at the plate in his starts, batting .286.  That isn’t going to win much acclaim, but that’s pretty impressive for a pitcher, and his OBP is actually better in his starts this season (.359) than it was last year (.339).  So he’s still got a pretty decent plate presence for a pitcher.  But he’s not a pinch hitter.

This problem is particularly bad when you pass up so many people who have the potential to be good batters- did you seriously look down the bench today and think that Owings was a better choice at the plate than Chad Tracy, Jeff Salazar, or Stephen Drew?  Yeah, I understand, there are match ups to take into consideration, with the left-handed pitcher and all, but a little check of the stats tells me that Micah has performed better against right-handed pitching, while Drew has done better against lefties in his career.  I mean, Webb’s got an OPS of .804 against lefties this season, versus Micah’s .411- maybe you should have handed him the bat.

That took me about thirty seconds to figure out on ESPN’s web page, so I’m sure you’ve got a guy who can tell you how they all do against pitchers with an equal number of vowels and consonants in their name, and that guy is probably also wondering why you ran Micah out there.  So, my point is this, Melvin- yes, you’re the mad scientist, but how about a little bit more science out there?

Okay, so my previous post was, perhaps, a bit overly optimistic.  (Yes, I do have a license for that understatement, officer.)   But can you blame me?  After the dark, dangerous times of May, a flare of hope just might be enough to blind us to all the other flaws that were shown in the game.  But the following two games, I think, have shown us just how bad things are for this team.  Through May, we were generally able to keep ourselves sanguine with the consolation that our pitching wasn’t doing too badly.  But the Royals have managed to take even that small, small comfort from us.

So, where do we go now?  A day off tomorrow to consider it, but there’s really only two choices.  This team can start playing better, or they can just continue to play at the same abysmal level they’ve shown all too often of late.  I know which one I’d prefer to see, but let’s see which one we get.

However, we just might be watching the glorious dawn that will drag us from our dark night of baseball ennui. If you’ve been watching the Diamondbacks in the past four games, you know exactly what it is that I speak of.

Four games. In those games, three times have they by three runs or more. Ladies and gentlemen, in response to adverse odds such as these, the Diamondbacks two weeks ago might well have flopped over and let the game slip away without a struggle. But this time, they fought back each time to tie it up. They’ve given us three ninth inning rallies, and we’ve seen three consecutive games go extra innings. Our offense has been shut down by three of the four starters we’ve faced, but they didn’t give up and they’ve fought back against the bullpen of the Mets and the Royals. Meanwhile, our own bullpen has put in a pretty excellent showing- kudos to them for giving us 19.1 innings over four games, and only allowing two earned runs. In comparison, our starters have given us 22.1 innings and given up nine earned runs over the same games.

Seriously exciting games, folks. This team is waking up, they’re showing that they can- and will- fight back when the game is on the line, and they’re showing that they’re moving on from the trudge that was our May slump. This team is coming out of their slumber, and I think they’re about to start showing the rest of the league why the Diamondbacks are going to be a team to worry about in October.

After starter Edgar Gonzalez allowed 6 runs on 8 eights and 2 walks, Bob Melvin brought Scherzer in with two outs in the third inning.  Scherzer struck out the first batter he faced, Houston starter Jack Cassel.  Over the next four innings, Scherzer did not allow a single base runner and struck out 7 total on just 47 pitches in 4.1 innings.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Scherzer’s performance

was the longest debut outing in modern major-league history by a pitcher who retired every batter he faced.

After the game, Bob Melvin did not want to comment on whether Scherzer would replace Gonzalez in the starting rotation until Doug Davis gets back.   Davis is hoping to return for the series against the Cubs (May 9-11), meaning that if all goes according to plan, there may be only one start left for Gonzalez or Scherzer, depending on the severity of Micah Owings’ injury.

Starting Gonzalez means it is likely that Scherzer is going to have to come in the game anyway in long relief.  The other D-backs starters all consistently throw 6 or more innings, but Gonzalez has only done that once this year and has twice pitched 3 or fewer innings.

After his dominance in AAA and this performance, Scherzer is making a heck of a case for himself to be a major league starter — and to be one right now.  But when Davis returns, Josh Byrnes will have to send an Arizona pitcher back to the Sidewinders.  Gonzalez, unfortunately, does not have any options, but he’s easily the worst pitcher on the team.   He is still young but has never pitched well in the majors.  Unless Byrnes wants to put Edgar on waivers, Max’s time in the majors is limited.  I say give him at least one start.

Looking at the D’Backs roster, it seems — as is the case with many teams — that the bullpen is their weakest aspect. The good news is that it’s still early, and they have time to figure out if they need an upgrade. If they do, Tracy would be a decent candidate to acquire one. He’s owed $3.75MM this year and $4.75MM in 2009, with a $7MM club option ($1MM buyout) for 2010.

But how weak is our bullpen really? Sure, Brandon Lyon is not an ideal closer, but the D-backs are not looking for an upgrade there, not when they have so many potential options to fill the role later (Tony Pena, Chad Qualls, Max Scherzer). But how much additional bullpen help do we need? Lyon, Pena, Qualls, and Juan Cruz are all pretty solid. Doug Slaten showed a lot of potential last year as a lefty specialist. Brandon Medders is off to a great start in middle relief. Our weakest reliever is Yusmeiro Petit, but he’s nothing more than a mop-up man and emergency starter. With the D-backs rotation set, particularly once Doug Davis returns, Max Scherzer will probably eventually join the bullpen later this year (think Joba Chamberlain), making the bullpen even better.

If all the D-backs are going to get by trading Tracy is a reliever, I say keep him. As I discussed in my earlier post, I would strongly consider keeping Tracy on the bench this year, using him as the main pinch-hitter, occasionally starting him at first and third to rest Conor Jackson and Mark Reynolds, and start him in every AL-park interleague game, giving Reynolds the time to show what he can do in a full season — and then I’d consider trading Reynolds in the offseason, particularly if we can get a quality second baseman to replace Orlando Hudson, a free agent after this season (Ian Kinsler and Aaron Hill are ideal).