Is Cole Hamels just getting unlucky? Or is it something else?

Unlucky.  Cole has had plenty of issues with run support before, and with bad luck, so combined with a slow start, he’s been pretty ineffective.  Especially for a guy we made such a big deal about signing for six more years.

The stuff’s in there.  We could just really use some more blatant examples of it recently, with so much less potent of a rotation backing him up.

Should Ryan Howard scare opposing fans anymore?

Absolutely.  Have you seen that contract?  They tell stories about it around the bonfire at training camp.

What’s the upside of this team? The downside?

The upside is that we have Cole locked up, Freddy Galvis is youthful and full of vigor, Chase seems to be hitting okay, and Cliff Lee is here.  The downside is that Chooch, Doc, and Chase are all up for reassignment, the team in general is not very good, Ben Revere looks more and more like a complete bust, the parts of the bullpen that work are wastes of money if the other parts of the bullpen that aren’t working continue to not work, and everybody’s only getting older.

Also, it’s all Charlie Manuel or Ruben Amaro‘s fault, depending on the day.

Why do the Phillies’ brass seem perplexed as to why their lineup doesn’t take walks? 

Related, have they heard of baseball reference before?

I’d say probably no.  Ruben Amaro shows a staggering absence of intelligence at times, for a guy who seems to have it all figured out.  His lack of belief in walks and the organizations disbelief in modern stats is sickening at times, and probably why some players (AHEM Dom Brown) have been mishandled in the recent past.

How mad are you at Kevin Towers for giving your divisional rival a christmas present of Justin Upton?

I would be pretty mad, but honestly, we’ve got about 1,000 problems to worry about before we can fathom taking on the Braves, let alone Upton.  Then again, he is an individual example of the Braves as a whole – lot of home runs, lot of strike outs.  They’re gonna hack.  And it’s already bringing them back down to earth.

Is Michael Young as classy as everyone says he is?

I’ll say sure.  But I was never worried about that.

If he could convince a ground ball to hop into his glove using that keen sense of clubhouse leadership, that’d be great.  But they’re usually moving too fast.

His questions and my answers:

So is Ian Kennedy going to be a problem or can we depend on his location sputtering out again?

This, sadly, is what we can expect from Kennedy. He’s been pretty mediocre for the past 12 months. And that’s mostly been tied to his lack of command with the fastball. While he isn’t walking a ton of people, he also grooves way too many to be effective.

J.J. Putz has decided to take some time off to be injured.  How reliable is the Dbacks bullpen now?  Express in terms of Chad Durbins.

I believe I saw that Putz was heading to the Dominican for a couple of months. I can’t confirm that, but nonetheless, it’s a weird time to take a vaca. However, I believe the bullpen should still be (just a tad) better than one Chad Durbin. David Hernandez has had a couple of shaky outings but has been pretty good and should get better. And outside of Heath Bell‘s first appearance, he’s been (stunningly) pretty good. Combined with Brad Ziegler and Matt Reynolds, the pen should be in decent shape still.

Is it correct to say Paul Goldschmidt is “becoming a star?”  And if so, what kind of a star; one that shines brightly for a long time, or when that grows too big and kills a lot of people?

He’s a star that’s going to kill a lot of people. Just not in the way you were meaning. I think he singlehandedly murdered Tim Lincecum‘s career and is in the process of burying the corpse of Chris Capuano now. He’s been a revelation. He’s improved his walk and strikeout rate, chase percentage and his fielding immensely over the past couple of seasons. He’s approaching top three first baseman in the league quickly.

Lie to me.  What do you think of this team without Roy Halladay?

They’re great. One of the best staffs that can’t pitch and one of the best lineups that can’t walk (or score) I’ve ever seen.

Is there a young prospect with a better name than “Didi Gregorius” in baseball right now?

Xander Bogaerts is a pretty dang good name. Adeiny Hechavarria? Basically all shortstops in baseball it looks like.

Apr 25, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Paul Goldschmidt (44) is congratulated by third base coach Matt Williams (9) after hitting a two run home run against the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning at Chase Field. Image Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

This is something that I can get used to, as the Diamondbacks earned another blow out victory against a division rival. This time they took out some of the frustration that they have had on offense against a Dodgers team, that has been decimated by injuries and they defeated them 9-2 on Monday night.

Trevor Cahill is looking better with each start he makes this season, and was effective at forcing the Dodger hitters to hit plenty of ground balls. Cahill went seven innings, allowed six hits, gave up two earned runs, walked two batters, and struck out two batters. Cahill also lowered his ERA to a respectable 2.80. The offense for Arizona struggled to hit in the series against the San Diego Padres, but the offense came out roaring in this game.

The Diamondbacks looked like they were going to squander another scoring chance when the bases were loaded and no outs in the second inning, when Josh Wilson hit into a double play with Trevor Cahill due up next. Cahill never ceases to amaze me, when he hit a triple to left field that scored two runs. This triple would not have happened if left fielder Carl Crawford did not try to make a diving catch.

Then the following batter A.J. Pollock hit a double that scored Cahill. The fifth inning saw Arizona hit back-to-back HR’s coming from Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Ross that scored three more runs.  Arizona was not done scoring as they plated another three runs  in the ninth inning that came from singles by Goldschmidt, Miguel Montero and Gerardo Parra.

The Dodgers starter Chris Capuano did not look good in his first start coming off the disabled list. He had a problem locating his pitches and throwing strikes. Capuano lasted just four innings, gave up eight hits, allowed five earned runs, walked two batters, struck out two batters, and now has 10.38 ERA this season.

The offense for the Dodgers was once again horrendous, as they only scored two runs in this game. Matt Kemp hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and then Crawford hit a HR in the third inning.

The Diamondbacks offense looked great in this game and leading the charge was their first baseman Goldschmidt, as he had four hits to go with three RBI’s. Montero also had two hits, and looks like he is starting to break out his slump. A.J. Pollock also had two hits, and of course one of those hits was a double.

Image: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The D’backs were crushed throughout baseball for the trades that sent Trevor Bauer and Justin Upton packing this offseason. Yet, the main pieces in their haul in those trades, Didi Gregorius and Martin Prado, hit a home run each to give the D’backs their only two runs in the regular nine innings against the Yanks.

Then, after closer J.J. Putz gave up a game-tying solo shot to Francisco Cervelli in the bottom of the ninth, Cody Ross, whose 3-year, $26 million contract he signed this offseason was also panned, delivered the go-ahead single in the 12th to put the D’backs on top for good.

It was sort of a redemption game for GM Kevin Towers as the entire league watches Justin Upton hit home run after home run. Now, nothing can be taken from a one-game sample like today, but it had to feel good anyways.

In the third, Phil Hughes threw a fastball down and in and Gregorius turned on it, driving it out on a line to right field. The home run was Gregorius’ first in the majors and came in his first at bat, and the first pitch, as a D’back.

In the sixth, Hughes tried to go upstairs on Prado, who promptly drove it into the left field bleachers.

The Yanks scored their first run on another mammoth blast off of the bat of Robinson Cano, who was the only blemish on an otherwise outstanding outing from Patrick Corbin.

Corbin went seven innings, only gave up the one run on Cano’s shot, struck out seven and gave up two hits.

In the 12th, Gerardo Parra broke up an 0-for-5 game for him by leading off with a double to right center. After Prado flew out to deep center to move Parra to third, Paul Goldschmidt reached on a catcher’s interference, the second of the game, and Miguel Montero was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Ross.

One of the reasons cited for Ross’ signing in the offseason despite the utter depth of talent in the outfield at the time was his ability to be “clutch.” At least in this case, Ross proved that to be true by hitting a liner into left to score Parra.

Eric Chavez shut the door on the Yanks in the next at bat with a bases clearing double to make the final 6-2.

The win saved the D’backs from the three-game sweep.

The D’backs now travel to Colorado to face the red-hot Rockies, who have won six straight and lead the NL West with an 11-4 record. The pitching match ups look to be Ian Kennedy (1-1, 5.79) against Jhoulys Chacin (2-0, 1.96 and Trevor Cahill (0-2, 3.50) facing off with Jorge De La Rosa (1-1, 3.86). On Sunday, Brandon McCarthy (0-2, 7.47) will be on the bump for the D’backs against a pitcher yet to be determined for the Rockies.