The Atlanta Braves just rolled out of town after a three-game series which included an opener filled with tension and anxiety. Monday’s game against the Braves set up an interesting dynamic at Chase Field. After weeks of anticipation, fans finally got to see the MLB version of Freaky Friday only instead of Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsey Lohan, it was Justin Upton and Martin Prado. Ok, so now my mind is conjuring up thoughts of Upton in a Jamie Lee Curtis haircut and Prado in one of those haggard Lohan mugshots. This could be a fun Photoshop project for later. Monday’s game was the first time Upton had played against the Diamondbacks since being traded to Atlanta in January. It was the same trade that brought Martin Prado to Arizona, who was in turn seeing the Braves for the first time since also being relocated.

Upton looked relatively calm and jovial before the game considering the amount of (unwanted) attention he was getting leading up to it. As the Diamondbacks were taking batting practice, Upton was seen shaking hands with old teammates, smiling, laughing and even acknowledging a fan or two. Prado could be seen doing the same. In fact, there was a great sense of fraternity on the field as players from both teams mingled and joked with one another in spite of how heavy the underlying mood was.

If I could make one observation, I would say that Upton looked like he finally found home. Among family, literally and figuratively. While he always seemed positive as I watched him play for Arizona and talked with him in the clubhouse, there was an undeniable sense of contentment about him now. That he finally belonged. That he was in a situation where he could just focus on his game and his career and not worry about all of the controversy that had surrounded him for the previous two seasons.

Upton has enjoyed being in a position to play on the same team with his brother B.J. In fact, you could clearly see the camaraderie the two share as they warmed up together. Both have long been very competitive and during most of their career, have achieved similar success. B.J. was drafted the number two pick overall in the 2002 draft. Three years later, Arizona selected Justin as the number one overall pick in the 2005 draft. Last year, with Justin as a Diamondback, he hit his 100^th career homer. Less than an hour later in a different game, brother B.J. hit his 100^th. All these years later, Justin and B.J. each have exactly 121 career home runs. Justin, drafted right out of high school and called up to the Majors at the tender age of 19, was early thought to be a phenom and franchise player for Arizona. After struggling periodically over the last few years in some areas, he was often the subject of trade talks. Some were anxious to see him leave while others remained confident that he was just approaching his prime.

Upton and Prado each seem to be fitting into their new surroundings nicely. Their stories are in some ways very similar. Both started playing in the Majors within a year of each other.  Both were selected to an All Star team within a year of each other. Prior to the swap, both had been with the same team since their start.

For months, fans and analysts have passionately debated which team got the best end of the deal. How does one truly judge such a thing? One way would be to look at the 2013 season as a whole. As a team, Arizona has thus far exceeded any logical person’s expectations. They completely overhauled the team in an effort to go with a more consistent short game versus relying on power hitters. One could argue that they might be even further ahead than they are with Upton on the roster, but it’s clear that without Upton, the formula is indeed working. And with Paul Goldschmidt, they still have an everyday guy who can take the ball deep.

Upton no doubt has posted impressive numbers this season. Going into Monday night’s game, he was leading all of Major League Baseball in home runs at 12, hovering over a 3-way tie at 11. Upton was hitting .269 with 21 RBIs, 24 walks and 3 stolen bases. He was voted the National League Player of the Month for April thanks to leading all of MLB in homers, tying for first in the NL for runs, and owning a .734 slugging percentage.

Martin Prado on the other hand has produced more modest results. He’s hit 4 home runs this year, was batting .233 with 9 RBIs, 11 walks and 1 stolen base. However, the infielder has said all season that he doesn’t want to be compared to Upton, and shouldn’t be. Both are different players bringing different tools to different teams who are trying to arrive at the same destination by different paths. Prado was brought to strengthen the Diamondbacks’ new commitment to focus on their short game. A hit and run offense that doesn’t rely on power hitters like Upton.

And let’s not forget that in this trade, Atlanta also got Chris Johnson from Arizona, a player who was also in Monday night’s lineup. Johnson played 44 games as a Diamondback last season.  The infielder had an unfavorable May, going 0-18 prior to Monday’s game. Even so, his average at the end of April was .369 and he was at one point hitting .403 and leading the Braves.

While we’re on the subject of former D-backs, did you know that Braves 3^rd baseman Dan Uggla was also a Diamondback? I didn’t. He was in the Diamondbacks organization for five years after being drafted by them in 2001, only he never made it out of AA. Credit that piece of trivia to Doc Corak with KQNA in Prescott. He’s my favorite walking encyclopedia of sports.

So yes, Arizona got rid of some payroll expense by unloading Upton, and ended up acquiring five players for two. If you look at just the Upton-Prado components, I would say we probably gave away too much. Looking at the whole, if Prado steps it up, and the other players who came over actually live up to their potential within the next two seasons, then in the long term, I say Arizona at best breaks even. If Upton really has a few break out years, hits 40 homers and goes on to be a Braves franchise player, I think we traded a Lexus for an Impala.  

A second means of assessment could be to look at Monday night’s game exclusive of everything else. Let’s face it, no matter how much both sides downplayed the emotional significance of that game, there was a point to be made about the trade. All the pre-game media interviews offered the same party line sound bites you would expect. It’s just a game like any other. You guys are making this out to be more than it is. Upton’s official twitter account, which still shows him in a Diamondbacks uniform on the background, didn’t even acknowledge the event.

Even with the constant dismissals, you could sense early on that something significant was brewing. The Braves had just come off a painful four-game series against the Giants, the last three games of which they lost. During those games they accumulated a meager four runs to the Giants’ 23. Between that motivation, and the fact that any sentient being with even an ounce of pride would be gunning for their former boss with an “I told ya so” attitude, something big was going to happen. One third of the Braves lineup Monday night was given up on by the Diamondbacks at some point.

The game was, to my surprise, poorly attended. At first pitch, it looked like only half the seats were filled. Officially, there were 25,052 fans there, but those numbers are always a bit generous in my opinion. I expected a lot more butts in seats. A random sampling of the crowd revealed that probably a solid third consisted of Braves fans. At the very least, they were definitely the most vocal of the bunch.

In the spirit of full disclosure I too was, briefly, a Braves fan. Growing up, I was a Mets guy. I emigrated from Connecticut in 1992 to find refuge in the Tucson desert. I was an impoverished (soon to be debt-laden) college student at U of A. As such, I couldn’t afford cable and my TV was a used console set that I had rescued from a curbside trash collection. With a complex array of coat hangers that even E.T. would have been proud of attached to the back of the set, if I stood in just the right pose with my tin foil hat, I could get one signal, and it was TBS. Thus, to get my fix of baseball, I became a Braves fan. And remained one for five years until Jerry Colangelo brought forth on this continent a new baseball team, conceived in purple, and dedicated to the proposition that Arizona deserved more than just Spring Training.

Upton’s much anticipated first appearance was met by an equal chorus of cheers and jeers. What I couldn’t determine was whether any significant portion of the cheers where coming from supportive Arizona fans. It’s no secret that many of Upton’s fans had abandoned him long ago. There are those among us who felt that Upton was never a good fit with the team. That he had a poor attitude. That he was injured more than was acceptable or perhaps didn’t push himself through recovery hard enough. That he amassed way too many errors on defense. No matter what your opinion of him was as a player, the reality of it is that he was a major component of the D-backs’ success during the years that he played for them, and they would have likely ended up with even less in his absence. More than that, he was not the one who asked to be traded. If you so hated someone for being a lousy player, would you not be happy that he was now playing for the competition? If you thought he was a great player, would you boo the person you didn’t want to leave when it wasn’t by his choice? I must admit, I was a little confused by the degree of animosity out there. But it was not a shock to anyone, even Upton.

“It was mixed,” Upton said of the fan reaction. “It’s what I expected. It is what it is. I had fun with it.”

Fun with it he did. Upton went four for five on the night including a monster blast to center field. In fact, the three Diamondbacks alumni combined for some pretty substantial numbers. Upton and Johnson each hit two-run home runs and were each a triple short of hitting for the cycle. Both, with Uggla, were responsible for six of the ten total runs that the Braves scored on the D-backs. In reply, Arizona was only able to squeeze in a single run in the first. While starter Wade Miley threw four strong innings, he was completely solved by the 5^th and it was all downhill for the D-backs after that.

“It was a fun game. We were fighting for wins the whole road trip,” Upton said. “To come out here and put together some hits, and get a win is a nice feeling.” No matter how much the media baited him, the soft-spoken outfielder refused to make it personal.

Johnson followed suit but was willing to acknowledge that it was an important day for Upton. “I think everyone in here is pretty happy for Justin to have the game that he had,” he said, implying that his part in the trade received little attention. In fact, the fans barely reacted when he was announced at the plate.  “I wasn’t here too long, tonight was the Justin Show.”

Prado, who denied it, but who I am sure wanted a stellar night as well, did not find as much success. The third baseman went two for two before being replaced. He offered up an error on a throw to first right before the Braves punched in seven runs over two innings. He was also called out at home in an attempt to beat a throw from shallow center field after a Wil Nieves fly ball.

So if Monday’s game is your litmus test for a trade victory, then I do believe the decision goes to Atlanta.

A final option to assess the trade would be to simply listen to me and accept my opinion as gospel, which really is what everyone should do on a regular basis anyway. The debate is not simple. It’s not a simple matter of numbers. It involves things like a player being in the right venue, one that is conducive to their success. Being compatible with the team you’re on and its management and their goals and vision. Having a skill set that matches the team’s offensive philosophy. Putting a value on the potential of unproven players involved in the trade. As an employer, I’ve hired people who were incredibly smart, who were driven and ambitious and had a solid resume of proven results. Even so, I found that some of those ringers would go on to fail and fail miserably because it was simply a bad fit. No matter how much I tried to push that round peg into a square hole, I was never going to be able get that person to achieve their highest potential in that environment. The true value then is not actually tied to the person, it’s tied to the situation. I think the true value of Justin Upton is in Atlanta. Everything else being equal, I think the Braves can get more out of him than Arizona would be able to. Personally, I really liked Upton as a player and as a person, and wish we could have kept him in Sedona Red.

Most major stars peak in their late 20’s. Upton got drafted out of high school and is only 25. His best years are yet to come. He might have been a franchise guy for Arizona, but his continued presence was becoming toxic for everyone, including himself. Whether you blame him or the Diamondbacks leadership for that toxicity is up to you and your conscience. Either way, I don’t think you would have gotten the same results if he remained in Arizona this year. If I went to work every day knowing that my boss was going to send me to a competitor, I am not sure what kind of results I’d produce.

My conclusion is that the beneficiary of this trade will not be realized for two seasons. If I was to call it, I think it’s Atlanta who will end up seeing the long term benefits.

Resident press box trouble maker Mike Austin left one final thought with Upton in the Braves clubhouse. “Overall it seemed like a pretty gritty performance…” he said, referencing a term that has been used to define, debatably, Arizona’s character this season. Upton smiled and simply replied that he wasn’t getting into it.

That’s all for now from the press box…

-Pistol
http://azpressbox.com

As we close out the month of April, let’s take a look back at the first full month of regular season play. At the conclusion of the month, the Diamondbacks had won five of their last eight games, taking three of four from a surprisingly tough Colorado Rockies team. In fact, Arizona won 15 of 27 games in April, a record that kept them on top, or close to the top, in their division all month. Often struggling in early games of a series, the team would return to the clubhouse to thoroughly analyze what worked and what didn’t, and would return the next day with a better solution. In fact, the D-backs are 8-0 in series finales, which includes four that were sent into extra innings.

Hitting

Arizona’s lumber has been hot in April, and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is head lumberjack. Goldschmidt is the only player to play in all 27 games in April and has amassed 18 RBIs in the process. He leads the club with five home runs, and has taken a team leading 16 walks from fearful opposing pitchers. Unfortunately, he also leads the team in strikeouts, more than 34% higher than anyone else. In fact, he ended the month 4-for-25.

Outfielder Gerardo Parra has repeatedly made contributions in many areas. He’s found a home at the leadoff spot of the lineup, and kept his average just over .300 as he left the month of April. In that time he’s had 18 runs, 33 hits, 9 doubles, 2 triples, and a home run. Parra had a career-high hitting streak of 13 games in April. If he’s at bat, something’s bound to happen.

Eric Chavez also stepped up consistently, hitting four home runs in only 19 games. The veteran hit 16 home runs with the Yankees last year in 113 games. If he can get some more time in the infield this year, it could be a 20 homer season for him. To do that, he’ll need to wrestle some playing time away from top prospect Martin Prado, who slid a bit as April came to an end. He watched his average slip from .304 on April 12 to .208 on April 27, going 10-for-62 during that time.

And how about second year player A.J. Pollock? He hit three home runs in April and is tied for second among fellow D-backs in RBI at ten. Pollock and Parra are in a 5-way tie for second in the National League for doubles with nine.

Pitching

The shining star among Arizona starters has been Patrick Corbin. Unsure of his fate towards the end of Spring Training, Corbin ended up getting the fifth spot in the rotation and has not let anyone down since. He leads the D-backs in wins with three after starting in five games in April. He is also the only starter with an ERA less than 2.00 (1.91) and leads the group with a WHIP of 1.06. This could be a 20 win season for the second year player.Wade Miley, coming off a phenomenal All-Star season in 2012, has also met with success, remaining lossless in April with a 2.37 ERA. He’s only allowed eight runs in five games. Miley held lefties to three hits in 17 at-bats and limited batters to a .222 average with runners in scoring position. With nine career April games, he is 5-0 and remains one of 10 pitchers in the Majors to be undefeated in April between 2012 and 2013.

Ian Kennedy and Trevor Cahill have both come up a bit short in April. Both had six starts yet Kennedy is 1-2 on the month with an unpleasant 4.78 ERA and Cahill is 1-3. The pair combine for seven hit batters, while the other three starters have only one each. If they can both regain their command in May, it could keep the D-backs on top of the West.

Brandon McCarthy had a tough month and remained winless in April, but has shown marked improvement. He continues to aggressively throw strikes. In fact, he’s ranked third in the NL with a 68.63 strike percentage, but too often he gets solved early. He’s offered up eight hits or more in all five of his starts. Going into May, he has not issued a walk to the last 64 batters he faced, and has walked three batters or less in 64 straight starts. If he can work on placement and mixing up his arsenal, he’ll pull out of this.

Bullpen

Due to the number of close games, the tension in the bullpen has been intense. Even so, D-backs relievers rose to the challenge. Brad Ziegler has been the workhorse of the bullpen in April, pitching in 17 games with a modest 2.81 ERA. He keeps his pitches low, which has resulted in 29 ground balls hit against him which, as a percentage, is the highest of anyone from the bullpen. That translates into more double play balls and quicker ends to innings.

JJ Putz continues to dominate even in spite of four blown saves on the month. He exits April with two wins, a loss and five saves in 13 games. If he can work on his location, we should see him end the year with over 30 saves, just as he did in each of the last two seasons. By the end of June, he should surpass Jose Valverde for all-time saves as a D-back.

Matt Reynolds and Tony Sipp have both stepped up and kept games from getting away from Arizona. Reynolds is just behind Ziegler in innings pitched at 13.0, but has only allowed six hits in that time. He remains the only D-backs pitcher not to give up a run in April. He has a team leading WHIP of a minuscule 0.54 and has been victorious in both save opportunities. Sipp allowed only a single run in his last six outings.

Defense

The D-backs have only committed six errors in the entire month of April, which is the least number of errors in the NL. In fact, they played 23 games without an error, leading to a .994 fielding percentage which is tied for the Major League lead. In 27 games, a whopping 20 of them were decided by two runs or less. If you do hit a ball on these guys, you won’t get much out of it.

I can say with great humility that I did not expect an April as exciting as this one has been. My hope is that May continues to build on lessons learned and will yield even more thrills and chills. I have no reason not to believe that. Oh, and has anyone checked Justin Upton’s stats in Atlanta lately? 12 homeruns leads the National League in April, with 19 RBIs. Sigh.

That’s all for now from the Press Box…

-Pistol

When I hear the word Pirates today, the first image that my mind summons is that of a comical Disney franchise that has permeated our lives for nearly a decade now. Unfortunately, the Pirates franchise that rolled into Chase Field did not provide a whimsical journey for the Diamondbacks.

When the Pirates arrived in Phoenix last week, it appeared to be easy work. The D-backs entered the week after sweeping the Brewers on the road and forging a 5-1 record. They were set to play a Pittsburgh team with a paltry 1-5 record who didn’t appear to be much of a threat. Arizona had been dominating the diamond on both sides of the plate. They set a club record with 71 hits in their first six games, were ranked third in the Major Leagues in team batting average at .293, and were in the top five of numerous other offensive categories. The pitching corps had been strong from start to finish. Arizona had struck out at least ten batters in all but one of its first six games and was tied with Cincinnati for the most strikeouts in the National League. Defensively, everyone on the field was contributing to the highlight reel. But then the train got derailed.

Whether it was a surplus of confidence or a deficit of discipline, Arizona dropped the first two games of the series to the Pirates. Pitchers Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy both struggled with locating their pitches early in the game and while they were both able to salvage later innings, it would prove too late. Cahill continues to struggle in the first inning of his starts, while McCarthy allowed five runs in the 4^th inning of his outing.

“We can’t score five runs every night,” Manager Kirk Gibson said in reference to falling behind in the first game of the series. “You can’t put it on Trevor. We had opportunities. They outplayed us. They beat us.” Gibson cited missed opportunities as the basis of their demise in the following game.

“The way I throw strikes, there are so many guys running 0-2, 1-2 counts and if those turn into hits and they’re not guaranteed outs or at least a high percentage of strikeouts, it invalidates any pitches I’ve thrown before,” McCarthy said. “They just become wasted time.”

After being dealt a pair of humbling losses, Arizona returned to win big on their final meeting thanks in large part to a break-out day for outfielder A.J. Pollack who broke his 0-14 hitless streak by hitting two homers and getting a double.

Pollack commented on his season by saying, “You do everything right and you don’t get any hits. And then next, you’re changing something and you’re doing everything wrong and not getting any hits.” His goal was to not change anything and just wait for his time to come. He knew the fundamentals where there.

Whatever lessons the D-backs learned from the Pittsburgh series, they took to heart. A completely different team showed up to play three games against the Dodgers. Arizona took two games and denied the Dodgers any runs in both of them.

Gibson summed up the series in a comment after their first win, speaking about going head-to-head with a dominating pitcher like Clayton Kershaw. “If you’re going to beat a guy like that and a team like this, you’re gonna have to play a perfect game. As we did.” And perfect was not far from the truth. The team played like a well-oiled machine from start to finish, up and down the order, and in every position.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good ballclub here,” said pitcher Patrick Corbin. “We may not have the big-time names like the Dodgers do, or the Giants, but we’ve got a great group of guys here that are going to go out there and fight every day.” That perseverance will make all the difference in an incredibly tough NL West division.

I may have to eat some crow if Arizona can continue to fire on all cylinders as they’ve done so far. How long they can sustain this is anyone’s guess, but I do have to give them credit for finding ways around the injury issue, pushing young players to play at their maximum capacity, coordinating the efforts of a highly fragmented team with many guys playing together for the first time and in various positions, and implementing their hit and run offense to dole out death by a thousand cuts to some very tough clubs. If they can keep this up, this is the kind of effort that wins 100 games in a season. As it stand now, only San Francisco, Atlanta and Oakland have a better record than Arizona. 

The D-backs have been plagued with injuries all season. While they’ve been able to mitigate those losses through solid performances by every single player on the roster, the other edge of that sword is eventually having to sit players who are producing in favor of ones you expect to produce. One question that’s been lingering on all of our minds is where to put everyone as players return from the DL. Who plays and where? Who sits? Who gets sent down? One intrepid reporter chose to ask what all of us where thinking and was promptly shut down by Gibson after his win against Pittsburgh. “Why are we talking about that?” he said. “ We’re talking about winning a game. Can we just cherish this for a second?”

Arizona fans got a chance to say goodbye to an old friend yesterday. Joe Garagiola, Sr. has been a staple of Diamondbacks baseball from the beginning. The 87-year old St. Louis native began his Major League career in 1946 as a catcher for the Cardinals. Childhood friends with Yogi Berra, Garagiola was signed at the tender age of 16 and would go on to play in his only World Series as a rookie.

After nine years as a player, Garagiola moved on to explore opportunities in broadcasting. He started with sports but shortly thereafter his amiable personality opened doors to a variety of other jobs. He found himself on the Today Show, hosting various game shows, and even guest hosting for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show from time to time.  He also went on to pen a few books. Be it print, radio or TV, he found his way into America’s homes and America’s hearts week after week in a broadcasting career that spanned nearly six decades.

In a pre-game ceremony, Garagiola became overcome with emotion as he watched a montage of his life flash across the big screen before being treated to a rousing standing ovation. He made his last broadcast from the booth at the bottom of the fourth inning. Garagiola’s legacy is so much more than a plaque in Cooperstown. His work has, and continues to, touch the lives of so many people. I don’t even think Forrest Gump wove himself into as much American history as Garagiola has. And in spite of it all, he remains one of the most humble, kind, self-deprecating people I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet. To say that baseball needs more people like Joe Garagiola, Sr. is an understatement. The world needs more people like Joe Garagiola, Sr.

This past week is why I love baseball. Even as a fan, you couldn’t help but become incredibly engaged in each game and find yourself emotionally invested in the outcome. There was a little something for everyone. The stalemate pitching felt as intense as the walk-off hits. Mix in a pinch of nostalgia and history and you’ve got a recipe for the perfect pastime.

Arizona has a day off today, while the rest of the league celebrates Jackie Robinson Day in the traditional manner. The D-backs will honor the event the following day as they start a three game series against the Yankees in New York. The club then plays three games in Colorado before heading to the west coast to finish their road trip in San Francisco. Fans waiting for Jackie Robinson Day at home will get their chance on Thursday the 25^th when the team returns to Chase Field to meet the Rockies again.

That’s all for now from the press box…

-Pistol