Happy New Year Diamondbacks fans! I’m sure many of you have come up with some New Years resolutions that you will try to keep. I have come up with five resolutions for the Dbacks. If a few of these can come true, then 2015 will be a great year for Snakes fans! Here they are!
#1: Trevor Cahill Needs a Bounce Back Season!
If the Diamondbacks starting rotation is going to have success in 2015, than Trevor Cahill is going to have to be reliable on the mound, and get back to being the pitcher he was in 2010 with Oakland.
Last season Cahill went 3-12, with a 5.61 era, a 3.89 FIP, and an ERA+ of 67, giving up 123 hits in 110.2 innings pitched. His K/BB ratio of 105/55 isn’t bad, but what concerns me is his HR9 rate which has gone up in the past three seasons. It has gone from 8.3 in 2012, to 8.8 in 2013, and a career worst 10.0 in 2014. His BB/9 of 4.47 was a career worst.
Cahill’s inconsistent release point is mainly to blame for his struggles. The key for the veteran is the command of his power sinker. Last season that pitch was all over the place, and he struggled.
Let’s hope that Dave Duncan can work his magic, and Cahill can be the pitcher he was in 2010 when he went 18-8 with an era of 2.78. That would a significant boost to the Snakes starting rotation!
#2: Stay Healthy!
This is probably a New Years resolution for every team in every sport, but in baseball I can’t think of a team other than the Rangers that was affected more by injuries than the Diamondbacks.
The Dbacks lost their ace Patrick Corbin, and their set-up man David Hernandez before the season began. After having a great start to the 2014 season, OF Mark Trumbo was injured in late April and missed extended time with a stress fracture in his left foot.
A.J. Pollock was playing his best baseball, when he was hit in the right hand by Reds ace Johnny Cueto. Pollock missed more than a month with a broken right-hand.
Chris Owings was making the case to be the N.L.’s rookie of the year when he landed on the D.L. in late June with a shoulder injury.
Finally star 1B Paul Goldschmidt was lost for the rest of the season in August when he was hit in the hand in a game against the Pirates.
If the Diamondbacks are going to compete in 2015, staying healthy is a must.
#3: Offense Needs to Hit with RISP
The starting rotation has a ton of question marks and no true ace, and we don’t know what were really going to get with the pen.
Knowing that, the offense needs to produce and score more than 3.8 runs per game. It starts with being better with runners in scoring position. The Dbacks hit .241 with men in scoring position, which was good for 25th in the MLB.
Situational hitting is going to be so crucial, and let’s hope the lineup is a lot better in that department. That’s the only way the Snakes can keep up with the Rockies, Dodgers, and Giants who finished in the top half of the league in runs scored.
#4: The Front Office Still Has Moves to Make
The Diamondbacks have been fairly busy this offseason, but my fourth New Years resolution is a hope that the Snakes front office led by G.M. Dave Stewart is not done making moves to make this team better.
A great New Years gift would be to get James Shields in a Snakes uniform, but at the very least the Dbacks need to acquire a veteran catcher after trading Miggy, and it would be ideal to add a left-handed bat to balance out a right-handed heavy lineup.
If the Dbacks are going to win 80 games like Tony La Russa wants, than more moves need to be made. It would also be nice to lock up A.J. Pollock for the next six seasons.
#5: Yasmany Tomas Will Make a Great Impact
The Dbacks have to score more runs to keep the pressure off a young pitching staff. If Cuban slugger Yasmnay Tomas can hit a lot of home runs and drive in runs often, that will help.
Hopefully Tomas can make an immediate impact in the middle of the lineup. If that happens than the Snakes lineup will be something to be reckoned with in 2015!