Friday Afternoon Diamondback Rush

A nice article was done this week about Gerardo Parra by Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

It is hard to believe that a month from tomorrow will be the first regular season game for the Arizona Diamondbacks. It seemed like yesterday that we heard the news that Paul Goldschmidt finished second in the MVP race and that the team acquired Mark Trumbo from the Los Angeles Angels. Spring Training is in full bloom for the D’backs with tales of hiking and paintballing. Let’s look around and see what other folks have to say about the Snakes.

Tyler Kepner from the New York Times did a story on Gerardo Parra regarding how accurate and strong that left arm is. Gerardo indicated that before he signed with the D’backs he pitched and threw about 93 MPH.  With all of the attention paid to Archie Bradley and Paul Goldschmidt and now this feature on another player, it is good to see that the rest of the country is starting to realize there is a solid ball club in Arizona.

Foxsportsarizona has a video up taking a peek inside the D’back weight room. A.J. Pollock is shown working out indoors as well doing agility drills outside. He also gets some baseball related activities in such as hitting off a tee and taking live bating practice. The following day, Pollock and Josh Collmenter participate in the Color Run at Tempe Beach State Park.

Jeff Wiser at insidethezona has a post about regarding lineup protection as it relates to Paul Goldschmidt. While most people assume it is going to be Mark Trumbo hitting behind Goldy, Jeff uses some data that shows that he may not be the best option. Whether it is Trumbo or someone else, the important thing is that whoever “protects” Goldschmidt needs to advance the runner(s) in front of him.

Jim McLennan at azsnakepit spotlights Josh Collmenter as part of the site’s 2014 Expectations, reviewing and previewing the D’backs’ roster. Naturally, anything I see about the Tomahawk I will look favorably upon as he is one of my favorite players. McLennan points out that Collmenter threw 92 innings in relief in 2013, the most by far in the National League. He also had nine appearances of three innings or longer, also tops, and posted a 1.04 in those games.

That’s all for now. Have a great start to the weekend!

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