So who had the worse weekend - D'backs pen or the people behind Speed Racer (only $33m WORLDWIDE)?

I'd rather it all implode in one series than many over the course of the season.

than many over the course of the season.

Also known as a case of "Turnbownyosttogagneorama"

I'd rather it all implode in one series than many over the course of the season.

Well hopefully thats the case......just one bad weekend. Tough to tell.

Also, very decent of the Dodgers to get swept themselves. Wouldn't want to unnecessarily scare a competitor. (rolls eyes)

At least the DBacks are watchable, unlike a movie that one critic compared to having needles stuck in his eyes;)

The Diamondbacks are now 3-7 against in their last 10 games against the Mets, Phils, and Cubs. They had a pretty easy schedule in April and dominated but are struggling a bit now. I have a hard time grasping how good they are.

I haven't kept pace with the team this year, but their 1-2 punch of Webb and Haren has to be one of the best in baseball, if not the top. With their crop of young hitters, you couldn't expect the poor offense trends from 2007 to carry over into 2008. That said, I'm not sure it's one of the best offenses in baseball, as they've been to this point. The tandem of Young, Jackson, Drew, and Upton is an offensive core I think a lot of teams would love to have, but aren't they lacking elsewhere?

but aren't they lacking elsewhere?

left #### field. also known as the #### bastard making 10 #### million dollars. no, i'm not bitter

coming into today, az's hitters ops+ for starters at each position

c, snyder, 120
1b, jackson, 147
2b, hudson, 103
ss, drew, 115
3b, reynolds, 92
rf, upton, 137
cf, young, 106
lf, byrnes, 70

the team has also gotten decent contribution from their bench; ops+ for reserves

of, salarar, 154
mi, ojeda, 144 (mostly subbing for hudson)
c, montero, 112

and then there were the remaining black holes
of, romero, 48 (10 at bats)
c, hammock, 39 (21 at bats)
mi, burke, 2 (51 at bats)

burke's ops+ is not a spelling error; his line is .137/.246/.137

The Diamondbacks are now 3-7 against in their last 10 games against the Mets, Phils, and Cubs.

the dbacks bullpen deserted them miserably in 4 of those 7 losses (1 to mets, 1 to phillies, 2 to cubs). with better luck and/or less suckitude, the dbacks could've been at least 5-5

mark reynolds's contact % this year is at 59%. there's no way in hell he'll ever amount to anything useful, as a baseball player or as a bat boy, with such a low contact %. he makes russ freakin' branyan look gwynnian out there.

unfortunately, i haven't seen any proof that reynolds can make adjustments to the steady diet of sliders he's been getting, so i am not at all optimistic about his chances to do anything meaningful at the plate any time soon.

luckily for him, burke sucks and blows, and tracy isn't anywhere close to coming back off the dl, so reynolds is safe for now. but i hope he's not investing in some expensive real estate in the valley, unless ebyrnes is paying

I haven't kept pace with the team this year, but their 1-2 punch of Webb and Haren has to be one of the best in baseball, if not the top.

One of the best, perhaps, but both the Reds (Volquez/Harang) and Angels (Saunders/Santana) have been better so far.

Can't really argue much with Volquez/Harang....although Saunders/Santanas somewhat debatable.

So far.

They've all been very good.

EDIT: Taking a closer look, I guess I'd have to agree with you on Saunders/Santana too.
Talk about season savers for the Angels.

Good stuff.

So who had the worse weekend - D'backs pen or the people behind Speed Racer (only $33m WORLDWIDE)?

If you go in with low expectations like I did, you can definitely enjoy "Speed Racer". That may not work as well with the AZ bullpen, though, so I'm going to go with the pen having a worse weekend. (Than mine.)

One of the best, perhaps, but both the Reds (Volquez/Harang) and Angels (Saunders/Santana) have been better so far.

Not quite the innings totals as the other three, but Lee and Carmona probably edge them all rate-wise.

mark reynolds's contact % this year is at 59%. there's no way in hell he'll ever amount to anything useful, as a baseball player or as a bat boy, with such a low contact %.

Reynolds's problem, I think, is that he's *taking* too many pitches. I took a look at the pitch breakdown on Baseball-Reference and noted that (a) his called strike percentage this year is up significantly and (b) fully 1/3 of his strikeouts have been on called third strikes. It's counter-intuitive, I know, but perhaps Reynolds would benefit from attacking more often early in the count.

-- MWE

Dang, Larry Bowa Approves, the poor grammar gives me a headache! But you have a point when mentioning how bad their bullpen has been. I have to agree with Barry's Lazy Boy that it's better for Arizona fans to have a rotten series than have this spread over an entire month.