The Arizona Diamondbacks are in one of the worst team slumps I can remember. Felipe Lopez, a most unlikely hero, is hitting like an MVP but the rest of the regulars are not producing. Three players with at least 20 at bats are hitting below the Mendoza line. Three are posting OBAs below .300. The slugging percentage column shows values of .130, .231, .233 and .300.
Connor Jackson, Chris Snyder, Chad Tracy, Mark Reynolds and Chris Young were all good minor league players who have plenty of major league experience. We should be seeing these player improve instead of regress. Stephen Drew is not young. This is his age 26 season, where he should be at his best. The only one I give any excuse based on age and experience is Upton.
This is a team that should be gelling into a group of above average players. At what point do we start blaming Bob Melvin and his coaching staff for not developing this talent? The biggest mark against the DBacks right now is Carlos Quentin who went from good to bad under Melvin, then blossomed under Ozzie Guillen. Maybe it’s time to get a mean, nasty demanding manager pushing these hitters to play up to their potential.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:33 pm | Management, Team Evaluation | Permalink | 4 Comments
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April 20th, 2009 @ 1:45 pm
This post got cut off. Thank you for all your hard work.
April 20th, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
Thanks, I fixed the problem.
April 20th, 2009 @ 3:21 pm
I don’t think you can blame the Quentin stuff on Melvin. He was hurt and then ownership/mgmt signed Eric Byrnes to a 3 year deal. Then Upton was brought up, which probably should not have happened. AZ had an over-abundance of quality outfielders (it seemed). They should obviously not have given up on Quentin though. Just my 2 cents. Thanks.
April 21st, 2009 @ 9:35 am
According to FanGraphs.com the D-Backs are hitting .251 on balls in the field of play. The only regulars above .300: Lopez, Reynolds and Tracy. And Arizona is still 5-8, not that far from .500. Let’s wait and see what happens within the next month or so. I suspect the Diamondbacks will get luckier.