Monday, March 14, 2005
Four Games...
3 days, 2 catcher candidates, 1 bad Halsey outing, and still no answers.
Sunday: win over the Brewers (Halsey takes a step back in his attempt to cement the #5 role); loss to the A's (shutout loss played in less than 2 hours).
Saturday: win over the Padres (Randy Choate makes a one-out LOOGY appearance… in Spring Training, why?)
Friday: win over the Cubs (in front of nearly 13,000 sun-baked fans).
So what have we learned over the weekend? Nothing, really. Brad Halsey had a chance to cement his status at least as front-runner for the last spot in the rotation, and got pounded. That's still up for grabs. The catcher battle goes with no discernable leader, though I'd guess that the longer this goes on, the more likely Hill gets the call as the older, "more" known quantity. Like most observers, I'd probably prefer Snyder to Hill, but it's not a major preference, and the D-Backs couldn't be blamed based on this spring's performance for picking Snyder. There's also no discernable leader in what is probably a Hairston v. McCracken battle for the final outfielder spot. Again, the longer this goes on, McCracken probably has the advantage, though the fact that the D-Backs would need to clear a 40-man roster spot for him makes things more difficult.
Villareal is supposed to pitch for about 4 innings today, so we'll see if he can get himself back into the race for the rotation.
Sunday: win over the Brewers (Halsey takes a step back in his attempt to cement the #5 role); loss to the A's (shutout loss played in less than 2 hours).
Saturday: win over the Padres (Randy Choate makes a one-out LOOGY appearance… in Spring Training, why?)
Friday: win over the Cubs (in front of nearly 13,000 sun-baked fans).
So what have we learned over the weekend? Nothing, really. Brad Halsey had a chance to cement his status at least as front-runner for the last spot in the rotation, and got pounded. That's still up for grabs. The catcher battle goes with no discernable leader, though I'd guess that the longer this goes on, the more likely Hill gets the call as the older, "more" known quantity. Like most observers, I'd probably prefer Snyder to Hill, but it's not a major preference, and the D-Backs couldn't be blamed based on this spring's performance for picking Snyder. There's also no discernable leader in what is probably a Hairston v. McCracken battle for the final outfielder spot. Again, the longer this goes on, McCracken probably has the advantage, though the fact that the D-Backs would need to clear a 40-man roster spot for him makes things more difficult.
Villareal is supposed to pitch for about 4 innings today, so we'll see if he can get himself back into the race for the rotation.
Comments:
Post a Comment
