The Diamondbacks Starting Pitching Situation

Last week i previewed the 2009 Dbacks in two segments, one for the outfield, and the infield. Today i'll get to my last preview for the season, the starting pitching.

Unlike anything behind the mound, the Dbacks starting pitching for 2009 seems pretty well set. They made one major acquisition (Jon Garland), and had one major loss (Randy Johnson). They have one guy who will be stepping up into a starter's role (Max Scherzer), and three guys who were all here last year (Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, and Doug Davis). Without further adu, let's get into it.

#1
Just as it's been the last 5 years, Brandon Webb is the anchor of the Dbacks pitching staff. A ground ball machine, Webb is about as reliable a #1 starter as you could ask for. With a 22-7 record last year and his penchant for going deep into ballgames, Webb is the perfect pitcher to head a rotation.

#2
At 16-8 with a 3.33 ERA, Dan Haren has good enough stuff to be a #1 on a lot of staff's in MLB. The fact that the Dbacks only need him to be a #2 is fantastic. The Dbacks acquired Haren before the 2008 season, with the clear intention being that they were building on pitching on defense. Unfortunately for the Dbacks (and Haren), the defense wasn't always there. The pitching was, and Haren was a big part of that in 2008. He will be counted on again this season if the Dbacks look to win the NL West.

#3
There seems to be a bit of a debate on which pitcher to put in this slot and which pitcher to put in the #4 hole, but for now it seems like Doug Davis will be here. Davis is a lefty who won't overpower anyone with his stuff, but is a crafty pitcher. When his curve is working it's absolutely filthy. Most games he can be counted to get through 6 innings; anything more than that is a bonus. Davis went 6-8 last year with a 4.32 ERA, though to be fair he missed a good chunk of the season after undergoing surgery to remove some cancerous cells. Davis has a tendency to start the season a little slow but finish very strong. Something like a 12-8 record from him would be great.

#4
Diamondbacks newcomer Jon Garland will fit nicely into this spot for the club. A record of 14-8, which Garland posted last season with the Angels, would be a pretty good record from your #4 spot. Garland has been an 18-game winner twice, and has posted double digit win totals in each of the last 7 seasons. If he can continue to do that, the Dbacks are in good shape.

#5
Which brings us to the back-end of the rotation, the one 'weak' link if you will. How weak it actually is depends on how well you think a rookie will do. Ok, so maybe Scherzer isn't a rookie, as he got playing time last year, but this is the first time he goes into a season as a starter. He was just 0-4 last year, but posted a fantastic 3.05 ERA. It's hard to predict how he will react to being 'the man', but seeing as he's only the #5, and the Dbacks have four really solid pitchers in front of him, there shouldn't be a ton of pressure on him. All you really look from a #5 is something close to a .500 record.

So there you have it. I will not delve into the bullpen situation, mostly because it was such an abject disaster last year and i have no idea how it will play out this year. But with a very strong starting rotation, a little bit of defense, and a little more maturity from our young players, the Dbacks could be on the cusp of a great year. Let's hope it plays out that way...

Diamondback Breaking News!!

The Dbacks designated for assignment both Joe Kennedy and BK Kim and put Chad Tracy on the DL because of his ailing knee. Jeff Salazar, as the 4th outfielder, is back up along with Dustin Nippert and Jose Peguero for some needed bullpen help. The plan is to send someone down next Sunday and bring up Yusmeiro Petit for the 5th starter spot, lastly held by Kim.

Jarrod Parker, the Dbacks first round draft pick this year (#9 overall), must be signed by 9 pm tonight Arizona time or else he will attend Georgia Tech and re-enter the draft next year. Jarrod was considered the #1 high school pitching prospect in the country. The Dbacks have offered slot money at 1.89 million but Parker is holding out for 2.1 million or so. Hopefully the two sides will come together and get this contract signed and send him to single A.

Pitching Staff

I said it when we signed him, i said it after his first start, and i'm saying it now: We should not have signed BK Kim, and if we did sign him, we sure as HELL should not have handed the fifth spot in the starting rotation to him. I hate to be negative, and i'm usually not, but god this guy sucks! He lasted 17 pitches last night. 17! He only retired one batter and gave up four runs!! I can't emphasize this enough! Oh, and just for good measure, he managed to toss in a throwing error in his 1/3 of an inning...

The Dbacks had a fantastic thing going, with a good rotation that was putting up 5-6 innings or more every start, including the rotating fifth spot held by Yusmeiro Petit and Edgar Gonzalez. Dbacks management decided this wasn't good enough, and thought BK Kim would be the answer. Wrong! In his two starts combined, Kim has lasted just 2 2/3 innings. Combined! His ERA in those two games is 23.62! How does he even have a job?!?!

(Sigh...) Ok, i've calmed down now. That was kinda mean, but man he has stunk out the joint since joining the Dbacks. While manager Bob Melvin refused to say whether Kim would stay in the starting rotation after last nights game, i don't see how there is any way he does. He has gotten absolutely shelled in his two starts, to the point where i predict an automatic loss every time he starts. I don't even want him throwing out of the bullpen at this point. Just release him and bring Petit back up. He was pitching much better than Kim is at this point.

One bright spot last night for Arizona was Chris young, who took two pitches deep for his 20th and 21st home runs of the season, including a lead-off homer in the first inning. Young is REALLY starting to look good, and has a chance to be a 30-30 guy this year, which would be quite a statement to the team and the league in general. He already has 19 stolen bases, and with 43 games left, it is possible to get 11 more and hit 9 more home runs.

As for the rest of the pitching staff last night... well, it wasn't good either. Gonzalez gave up four more runs in the 2nd inning, Joe Kennedy gave up six more in the 4th inning while getting just one out (Don't even get me started on him either. With a 20.25 ERA, he might actually be pitching worse than Kim, which i'm not sure is humanly possible), and combined the staff gave up 14 runs on 14 hits. Mercifully, Juan Cruz came in and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings, followed by Doug Slaten pitching a perfect 7th. And just for fun, with his first appearance on the mound in the Majors, position player Augie Ojeda pitched a perfect eighth inning to end the massacre.

Now, to be truthful: I didn't see the game. Since it was on early, i recorded it and meant to watch it when i got home. However, i accidentally heard the score on my way home, and decided i could do without watching the bloodbath. I saw some of the 'highlights' (or lowlights...) on ESPN, including the complete and utter debacle that was Joe Kennedy 'pitching'. I put quotation marks around it because anyone i know wouldn't actually consider what he was doing on the mound pitching by any stretch of the imagination (Uh oh, i'm started. I told you not to get me started on him). In 1/3 of an inning, he somehow managed to hit three batters, walk in a run, and allow another run in on a wild pitch. He got one out, but gave up six runs on only three hits! He threw 37 pitches, and 21 of them were balls! Even Ojeda, who is not a pitcher, went 50-50 on balls and strikes thrown!! Hell, even Kim had a better ratio! In 1/3 of an inning, he faced the same number of batters (9) that Cruz did in his 2 2/3 innings!

(Sigh...) Ok, i've calmed down again. Last night was a complete meltdown, but the good news is that it's only one game. It is two losses in a row, but they're back at it again today to try and right the ship, with Doug Davis on the mound. Davis has been pitching extremely well as of late, and will look to continue that trend today. If the Dbacks have shown nothing else the last month or so, it's their ability to bounce back from bad games/bad losses and forget about them. That's what they will need to do after yesterday's game.