First Place D’backs Still Flying Under the Radar
By Thomas Lynch
I normally do not pay attention to “Power Rankings” or “Power Polls” or whatever title is used by people to compile a ranking of all the teams in Major League Baseball. However, I wanted to confirm my suspicions about what people who cover baseball think about the Arizona Diamondbacks. After all, the big stories over the past two weeks or so have been Yasiel Puig and the streaking Toronto Blue Jays. Judging by the five sites I checked out, it seems my hunch was correct.
The first place D’backs are not getting any love.
Gerardo Parra , not Yasiel Puig deserves a trip to the All Star Game. Image: Jennifer Hilderbrand-USA TODAY Sports Images
Out of the sites I visited (ESPN, CBS, FOX, MLB and USA Today) The highest any of them had the D’backs was ninth. CBS was the biggest disgrace ranking Arizona 12th BEHIND the second place San Diego Padres and the fourth place San Francisco Giants. Yes, I know the Padres’ record since April 23rd is real good. I also have the utmost respect for the defending champion Giants. However, the D’backs have a three game lead in their division and are poised to get back Aaron Hill, the 2012 Silver Slugger Winner for second basemen in the National League. More nonsense comes from FOX who placed the Blue Jays above the Snakes in their rankings. For all the hype surrounding the Jays’ 12 game winning streak, the team is still in last place, albeit 5.5 games out. If they were in the same division, Arizona would be 4.5 games ahead of Toronto. Individually, Paul Goldschmidt has gotten his share of recognition and so has Patrick Corbin to a lesser extent. What about the rest of the team? There is no doubt abput the greatness of Puig but if he somehow gets put into the All Star Game instead of Gerardo Parra, there ought to be an investigation. Outside of Goldy, Parra is the team’s MVP. Leaving him off the team after the YEAR he has had in favor someone who will have played 30 games or so is a joke.
Maybe the D’backs will get noticed after they stand a good chance of beating up three teams in the National League East on a ten game road trip. By then, expect the team to be flying high as they will close the first half with a ten game homestand. We could be looking at a six or seven game lead as we reach the halfway point. How many teams in first place will be able to day that?
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