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All things about the Defending NL West Champions!!

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Randy Johnson wasn't sure what all the fuss was about.
After all, the left-hander, who is coming off his second back surgery in as many years, had thrown three bullpen sessions prior to reporting to camp, so to him his 27-pitch session was more of the same.

But anytime Johnson takes the mound, it's cause for news around D-backs camp.

"Just keep doing what I've been doing, continue to make progress," Johnson said. "The most important thing for me right now is to get on the mound. I did that three times before I got here, so you'll have to ask [pitching coach] Bryan Price and [manager Bob Melvin] what they thought because that was the first time they saw me pitch since the last game against the Dodgers."

That Dodgers game on June 28 was the final one for Johnson before he was forced to go on the disabled list, and he allowed four runs on six hits over three innings.

As for what Melvin and Price thought Sunday, well, consider them impressed.

"First pitch, he's throwing bullets," Melvin said. "Location unbelievable. He's ahead of the game. He's a competitor whether it's throwing a bullpen or pitching in a game. He seemed like he had a little edge when he went out there today so I kind of stayed away and watched and once again marveled at what he had to offer today."

Johnson will play catch over the next three days and continue with his strengthening work. His next bullpen session is scheduled for Thursday. The key for Johnson now is not to overdo it on the mound because he's feeling good.

"In my situation we have to be careful," he said. "At this point right now where I'm at with my health, I don't feel anything while I'm actually doing my side session. There's only so much you can do to simulate those kind of things. Until you get on the mound, you don't know. I'll be careful as far as how many we add and how much I actually throw off the mound."

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Brandon Webb
Dan Haren
Randy Johnson
Micah Owings
Doug Davis

The #1 rotation in the National League....possibly in all of baseball.

AZGrizFan wrote:Brandon Webb
Dan Haren
Randy Johnson
Micah Owings
Doug Davis

The #1 rotation in the National League....possibly in all of baseball.

Indeed - the firepower of the Dback's rotation is scary.

dbackjon wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote:Brandon Webb
Dan Haren
Randy Johnson
Micah Owings
Doug Davis

The #1 rotation in the National League....possibly in all of baseball.

Indeed - the firepower of the Dback's rotation is scary.

As long as RJ stays relatively healthy, we're good to go. I certainly hope they don't expect to win 90 games this year and be outscored doing it.... They'd better get some pop in those bats!

Webb, Haren form arguably best starting pair in the league

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Brandon Webb was home in Kentucky when he first heard the news that the D-backs might acquire Dan Haren from the A's.
"I was super excited," Webb said. "I saw where we were talking about it during the Winter Meetings, and I was like, 'Wow, if this goes down, it would be sweet.'"

Not long after that, the D-backs sent six Minor Leaguers to Oakland to give them arguably the best one-two pitching combination in the National League.

"If it's not, it's right up there," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said.

Webb won the National League Cy Young Award in 2006 and posted better numbers in 2007, but he finished second in the balloting to the Padres' Jake Peavy.

Haren, meanwhile, has won at least 14 games in each of the past three seasons, and last year he was 15-9 and the American League's starter in the All-Star Game.

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Peavy/Young at SD would be right up there, and Felix Rodriguez/Eric Bedard in Seattle are pretty damned good too...Beckett/Dice K aren't bad, but I'd rather have Haren OR Bedard than Dice-K....I can't think of another 1-2 punch that's THAT good.

AZGrizFan wrote:Peavy/Young at SD would be right up there, and Felix Rodriguez/Eric Bedard in Seattle are pretty damned good too...Beckett/Dice K aren't bad, but I'd rather have Haren OR Bedard than Dice-K....I can't think of another 1-2 punch that's THAT good.

Peavy/Young is definately the other top contender.

NL West is LOADED with pitching.

I love the spring...dreamers dream...everybody is the best...

Col Hogan wrote:I love the spring...dreamers dream...everybody is the best...

But in our case (with one small exception, that being Colorado), we ARE the best.

dbackjon wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote:Peavy/Young at SD would be right up there, and Felix Rodriguez/Eric Bedard in Seattle are pretty damned good too...Beckett/Dice K aren't bad, but I'd rather have Haren OR Bedard than Dice-K....I can't think of another 1-2 punch that's THAT good.

Peavy/Young is definately the other top contender.

NL West is LOADED with pitching.

Not to mention managers like Bochy who think they're in the AL. I'm sick of teams just sitting and waiting for the jack that never comes. That's Bochy Ball to a T. Give me Billy Ball any day of the week. Especially at Petco, where it seems that the only balls to go out are hit by the other team. Guys running the bases like there's no tomorrow. Now, THAT's baseball!!!

SuperHornet wrote:

dbackjon wrote: Peavy/Young is definately the other top contender.

NL West is LOADED with pitching.

Not to mention managers like Bochy who think they're in the AL. I'm sick of teams just sitting and waiting for the jack that never comes. That's Bochy Ball to a T. Give me Billy Ball any day of the week. Especially at Petco, where it seems that the only balls to go out are hit by the other team. Guys running the bases like there's no tomorrow. Now, THAT's baseball!!!

I would hardly call Bob Melvin an AL-type manager. He's a hit/run, agressive, take the extra base kind of manager. D-Backs rarely had a big inning in '07, but scored a lot of runs in 1's and 2's. Guy singles, steals second, sacrified to third, SF home. Easy-peasy. With Byrnes, Young, Drew & Upton in the middle of the lineup stealing bases this should be a REALLY fun year to watch!

Now, Joe Torre may be another story. And in Colorado, you almost HAVE to wait for the jack. It IS coming! SF is just abysmal, and may not win 60 games in '08.

There's an exception to just about every rule, AZ.

I'll grant you Melvin and possibly Colorado, which is cr@zy by definition. But Bochy in both SD and SF and Bud Black in SD are still homer mongers, though Black has the disease to a somewhat lesser degree. The jury is out on Torre in LA as he's managed in the NL before, but it's been a while.

But it doesn't seem to be a NLW-specific problem. Teams all over baseball seem to have contracted it, and it drives me nuts. In baseball terms, at least, I worship Rickey Henderson. Give me the steal second, third, and home mentality. Throw in a bunch of hit-and-run and swipe home from second on a deep sac fly. Heck, I'd love to see someone at least try the old Little League trick of taking second on a walk. THAT's the way baseball should be played. Bring that back, and we wouldn't have this 'roid/HGH cr@p in the papers every day.

I agree that's the way the game should be played, but I think a lot of it has to do with how the team is put together, or how the talent develops. I guarantee you, if in two or three years Chris Young and Justin Upton are each hitting 35-40 homers a year, you'll probably see a lot fewer stolen bases from the D-Backs as a team. If we stay at team with 7-8 guys capable of 18-25 HR's, then the current philosophy may still apply. I prefer THIS to, say the Don Zimmer method of waiting for the three run blast, but you take what is given to you, sometimes....

I had to do a double-take there, AZ. I keep forgetting that there's another Chris Young out there. I see the name and keep thinking of the SD pitcher.

Oops!

Wow: The D-backs staff told Jarrod Parker, the team's No. 1 pick last year out of Norwell (Ind.) High School, to take it easy in his first few bullpen sessions.

Tuesday, the 19-year-old let it fly more and the difference was noticeable as the ball seemed to jump out of his hand, and Melvin said he now understands why Parker was able to hit 98 mph on the radar gun during last year's instructional league action.

"We impressed upon him not to go at it too hard, that once we get to games is when you get your chance to impress, so make sure you are healthy when you get there," Melvin said. "It looked like he turned it up a little bit today."

http://www.arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com

SuperHornet wrote:I had to do a double-take there, AZ. I keep forgetting that there's another Chris Young out there. I see the name and keep thinking of the SD pitcher.

Oops!

It's really funny when we're playing the Padres, and Chris Young is pitching AND hitting.

AZGrizFan wrote:

SuperHornet wrote:I had to do a double-take there, AZ. I keep forgetting that there's another Chris Young out there. I see the name and keep thinking of the SD pitcher.

Oops!

It's really funny when we're playing the Padres, and Chris Young is pitching AND hitting.

Chris Young has OWNED Chris Young...

In 11 Plate Appearances against Young, Young has gotten ZERO hits, with one walk, and 4 strike outs.

dbackjon wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote: It's really funny when we're playing the Padres, and Chris Young is pitching AND hitting.

Chris Young has OWNED Chris Young...

In 11 Plate Appearances against Young, Young has gotten ZERO hits, with one walk, and 4 strike outs.

OUR Chris Young was a rookie last year. I believe this year will be different.

AZGrizFan wrote:

Col Hogan wrote:I love the spring...dreamers dream...everybody is the best...

But in our case (with one small exception, that being Colorado), we ARE the best.

OK, you're second best in the NL, which is second best to the AL.....

Got it.......

TUCSON, Ariz. -- For most players in Spring Training camps, Sunday is no different than any other day of the week. For Chad Tracy, however, this particular Sunday was his own personal hump day.
In his attempt to recover from late-season microfracture surgery on his right knee, Tracy took a big step, raising the level of intensity with agility drills to start simulating the kind of movements the game calls for.

It's hard to "hit a home run" on a day like that. You cross your fingers and hope unexpected pain or discomfort doesn't lead to a setback, while acknowledging that positive results are likely to be inclusive. But for Tracy, the end result was a good feeling and a great day.

"Today was the day that I feel like you get over the hump and get back on the good side," Tracy acknowledged after a full workout with the team, taking a blistering batting practice session against live pitching and shagging flies after his early-morning agility testing. "I feel good. No pain. I haven't pushed it really hard, but I feel good. This was a little more intensity. Basically getting some of the patterns and running movements back ingrained."

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Col Hogan wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote: But in our case (with one small exception, that being Colorado), we ARE the best.

OK, you're second best in the NL, which is second best to the AL.....

Got it.......

You sure about that?

AZGrizFan wrote:

Col Hogan wrote: OK, you're second best in the NL, which is second best to the AL.....

Got it.......

You sure about that?

I'm fairly comfortable with that position...AL is better than the NL...

And we know who the best in the AL is....

Col Hogan wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote: You sure about that?

I'm fairly comfortable with that position...AL is better than the NL...

And we know who the best in the AL is....

I'm expecting a step back from Beckett, Dice-K was overrated, they didn't get Santana, Schilling is done, Lester gave up 10 HR's in just over 60 innings...Lowell played out of his MIND last year and won't duplicate that, JD Drew is a putz and a clubhouse cancer, Varitek is a shell of his former self, Lugo is a stiff at short...

So, my thumbnail analysis is you've got a suspect pitching staff (at best) after Beckett, you're placing unlimited faith in two rookies (Ellsbury & Pedroia) you've got a third baseman who's primed for a HUGE fall and 3 position players that couldn't start on most other teams in the bigs. Hopefully half a team can get you to the promised land again.

AZGrizFan wrote:

Col Hogan wrote: I'm fairly comfortable with that position...AL is better than the NL...

And we know who the best in the AL is....

I'm expecting a step back from Beckett, Dice-K was overrated, they didn't get Santana, Schilling is done, Lester gave up 10 HR's in just over 60 innings...Lowell played out of his MIND last year and won't duplicate that, JD Drew is a putz and a clubhouse cancer, Varitek is a shell of his former self, Lugo is a stiff at short...

So, my thumbnail analysis is you've got a suspect pitching staff (at best) after Beckett, you're placing unlimited faith in two rookies (Ellsbury & Pedroia) you've got a third baseman who's primed for a HUGE fall and 3 position players that couldn't start on most other teams in the bigs. Hopefully half a team can get you to the promised land again.

You owe me a computer screen......I laughed so hard...

Glad you're not running Player Personnel on my team...

We will see, my friend....we will see.....