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The Opposing Viewpoint: Arizona Diamondbacks

By Jessica Bader | June 10th, 2008

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Welcome back to The Opposing Viewpoint, the place to learn more about the Mets’ opponents from the bloggers who write about them. The Mets return home tonight after a horrible West Coast road trip (really, is there any other way to describe a four-game sweep at the hands of a Padres team missing the front end of its starting rotation?) and get to play a team with a winning record in front of a crowd that would be cranky from the heat even if the Mets had won over the weekend. The Diamondbacks have struggled since the Mets faced them in Arizona a little over a month ago, but they remain in command of a division that has stumbled. Today’s guest, Jim McLennan of AZ Snakepit, discusses offensive woes, the ups and downs of a young starting pitcher, and the merits of drafting a reliever (among other things):

Arizona’s offense was on fire for the first month of the season but has cooled significantly since then. What is the biggest culprit behind the recent offensive struggles, and what needs to happen for the team to turn it around?

The first crack in the dyke was Eric Byrnes, who insisted on playing with bad hamstrings and went into an extended slump. While he finally went on the DL, his replacements in left have proven even worse. Justin Upton, in right, had a white-hot start, but he also is now struggling badly. To some extent, the team has been unlucky of late - their BA on balls in play for June is .237, compared to a league average of .284. But getting better production from the outfield is key: if Byrnes returns 100% healthy, that should help.

The disparity between home and road performance is far greater for the offense than it is for the pitching staff. Why do you think that might be the case?

I think this is largely a statistical fluke. The pitching has generally been fairly consistent all season. It’s the hitting which has slumped recently, and this has coincided with a spell where we have played 14 of our last 20 away from Chase. However, I think it’s possibly easier to put together a pitching staff to work in a particular park, than a roster of hitters. This is especially true as a greater proportion of our position players are products of our farm system, so we perhaps have less “choice” when it comes to them.

Micah Owings hasn’t pitched well in his two most recent starts. Is there anything he’s doing differently that’s causing him to struggle, or is this just a run-of-the-mill slump?

The first of those outings, he was one pitch away from a quality start, but allowed a three-run homer in the seventh - to a guy who only has nine of them, in an eight-year career. His last appearance was very poor, giving up eight hits in three innings, but it’s too early to read much into that. He’s a young pitcher, with less than forty career starts, so there will be ups and downs. I do have to wonder though, if his use as a pinch-hitter by Bob Melvin may perhaps be interfering with his focus as a starter.

What do you think of the Diamondbacks’ draft?

I have to say, it’s much harder to get excited about the draft when you are picking #26, than when you are in the top ten -or even have the #1 pick as we had in 2005. It was interesting to see us continue our recent trend of taking a lot of pitchers in the early rounds. I was expecting us to go more towards position players, though the trade which brought us Dan Haren did result in the clearing out of a number of well-regarded left-handed pitchers from our farm system. As for our first-round pick, I was a little disappointed to see us go with someone who is already a reliever. Daniel Schlereth is a good arm, with a lot of potential if he can stay healthy, but I tend to value starting pitching more highly than bullpen arms. It’s a lot easier to go from the rotation to relief [as Max Scherzer shows] than the other way round.

Arizona is currently the only team in the NL West with a winning record, an unexpected development given the strength of the division last year. How surprised are you by the struggles of the rest of the division?

More surprised by some than others. I think the Rockies had delusions of grandeur after their unrepeatable late-season streak, and I never expected them to be anywhere near as good. The Giants are, if anything, overperforming - Lincecum is a real stud pitcher this year, and who thought Bengie Molina would be an adequate replacement for Barry Bonds in the clean-up spot? I think the Padres may be the biggest disappointment - though in the light of recent events, your opinion on that may be somewhat different. The Dodgers, too, haven’t lived up to expectations, but signing Andruw Jones was perhaps the worst move in the entire division the past off-season. If you can’t think of better ways to spend $18m this season, you’re not trying very hard.

Bonus question: What is your favorite baseball food?

Does beer count? Though at ballpark prices, that’s a luxury I can rarely afford. I’m a big fan of garlic fries, and the traditional hot-dog is also good [Hebrew Nationals are my personal favorites]. Chocolate ice-cream around the seventh inning also works well, particularly as a comfort food if we’re getting our asses kicked! Not that this will happen over the next three games, of course…