Is Rain the Only Thing That Can Slow Down Arizona?

Looking across the harbor today at a brisk, breezy, cloudy downtown San Diego, I see the majestic stadium lights of Petco Park shining brightly for a day game. An unusual sight indeed. Rain has made it's way into the forecast and is likely the only thing that can stop the Arizona Diamondbacks from beating up on the San Diego Padres.

Yesterday, a sore thumb kept Justin Upton out of the line-up. No bother, Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Young picked up the slack. Young had the game winning 2-run home run in the top of the 11th to keep the D'Backs perfect season in tact.

Today, with arguably the D'Backs worst (yet most veteran) pitcher on the hill, there is a chance this game is postponed. And looking at the weather forecast for tomorrow, more rain is expected. So with 2 games to be played in the next two days and rain possible for both, what will the outcome be?

Part of me hopes for a double-header tomorrow as I already have tickets to the night game and have never attended a double-header. Another part of me says let's just get these games in because the D'Backs are Sedona-Red hot. I mean really, is Corey Luebke going to be able to shut down this Arizona line-up? Doubtful. Anthony Bass on Thursday? Who? And Thursday's game would be against Ian Kennedy. No chance there for the Friars. So rain, rain, go away, come back another day, when the D'Backs leave Padres. 6-0 baby.

As a side note, I've finally realized what my mind does when ever I hear and or see the name Corey Luebke. First let me preface this by saying, much like the grey skies of SD today, you are entering my brain, which can be a dark, mysterious place. So with that being said, Luebke. Whenever I see it, I think brakes, cars, struts, suspension, etc., and I just went to google a few keywords to try to answer why. See, it is a combination of Jiffy Lube and Meineke. Get it, Lube-ke?

I warned you.

Game 2: D'Backs v Cubs

"Welcome to the quietest stadium in America." - Salt River Fields, beer vendor

Today was my first visit to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. I arrived at the Stick around 12:30pm, just in time to see the players running and stretching along the side lines. Also, it turned out, just in time to watch them throw some game at all the pretty ladies along the foul lines.

I must admit, I was a little disappointed. On my drive over, I was so excited about seeing the new stadium, I could hardly contain myself. Hence, why I arrived early. I gotta say though, I just wasn't feeling it. It's nice, don't get me wrong. And it's big. It just doesn't have the character and feel of Scottsdale Stadium, Hohokam or Phoenix Muni. Also, note to the concessions stands, more jalapenos and cheese, less chips.

Sigh. The things I have to deal with.

Anyway, good game. Ian Kennedy dominated. J-Up, Justin Upton, tore the cover off the ball twice and had two doubles. Paul Goldschmidt hit a mammoth home run to straight away center field that I'm saying went at least 440 feet. Miguel Montero almost knocked the wall down in right field with the world's longest single and aside from Ian Stewart and his mac-central status, the Cubs looked pretty much uninspired.

Not that I expect much from the Cubs this year anyway. The D'Backs on the other hand, look like serious contenders.

Spring Training opens with Cactus flavor

Seattle and Oakland started off the Cactus League on Friday with some serious fireworks. Jesus Montero, the Mariners new toy took a ball deep to right for his first HR as an M. He also took a couple of foul balls of the jaw, so he missed Saturday's rematch. For the A's, Manny Ramirez is hitless and Jemile Weeks is ready to start the regular season. Weeks in two games is batting .500 with 1 HR, 1 SB, 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. Jarrod Parker, Arizona's former top prospect and current Oakland A, pitched 2 scoreless innings with 4 K's.

Elsewhere in the Cactus League, the San Francisco Giants took on the D'Backs in Scottsdale. Tim Lincecum got the start and went an inning longer than expected, totaling two, with two strikeouts. Brandon Belt, who I've been saying all along needs to be the Giants starting first baseman, went a ho-hum 3/4 with a HR. For the D'Backs, Justin "MVP" Upton and his BFF, Chris Young, are both ready to start the season. Upton was 3/3 with a run and Young went 2/3 with a HR.

Arizona also played a split-squad game which paired two of baseball's best young pitching prospects head to head. Trevor Bauer-outage went against opposing starter, Drew Pomeranz for the Colorado Rockies. Both pitchers went 2 innings each and recorded two strikeouts. Bauer did not give up a walk or a hit. Legit. I am so excited to watch this guy pitch for the D'Backs for seasons to come.

You can follow more WSC baseball coverage at our MLBlog.

WAR with Lightsabers

I am becoming increasing annoyed with each baseball article I read written by a so called expert. With the popularity of Moneyball and certain sports blogging sites like FanGraphs, I cannot read a single article without seeing WAR, wOBA, WHIP, pitch f/x and regression to the mean. Although regression to the mean does remind me of a statistics course I took in college. Ahh, coeds.

Let's do a random trial. Open up ESPN.com in a new browser window (you don't want to close WSC) and click on the first baseball article you see. I bet you a grilled Chicago dog there will be at least one sabermetric mention. If you want to take it a step further, scroll down to the comment threads and read a few of the comments. These nerds baseball fans all think they are the next Bill James. I got into an argument with a reader recently when I said Matt Kemp and Justin Upton were the two best hitters in the NL West. My observation was hit over the head with WAR reports and average OBS on Tuesdays, when playing in a night game and down three runs in your home ball park.

Can we all just stop and watch the game? This just in: Billy Beane and Theo Epstein are not going to read your 2011 Baseball Doctoral Dissertation and say, "We need to hire Jimmy from Spokane. He lives in his mother's basement and knows all about z-swing%."

This is coming from someone who loves baseball statistics, Moneyball, Jonah Keri's The Extra 2% and even attended a SABR Conference (Society of American Baseball Research... talk about a pocket protector convention). So please, for the good of baseball, shut up and watch the game. Use your eyes, not your WAR report.

Cactus League Spring Training Preview: Arizona Diamondbacks

Here at WestSide Culture, we like to save the best for last. So, our final Cactus League Spring Training Preview will be the Arizona Diamondbacks. Last year, the D'Backs came from nowhere, pulling the worst-to-first rabbit out of their 59FIFTY caps. This year Los Diamondbacks have el gigante target (yo no se the spanish word for "target") on their backs.

Arizona's pitching staff is stacked like the dishes in my sink. Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, Trevor Cahill, Josh Collmenter have all proven themselves at the big league level to be very, very good. Kennedy was in the running for the NL Cy Young a season ago. His record of 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA is downright disgusting. Others to watch on the AZ staff are prospects Tyler Skaggs and Trevor Bauer, who apparently has 9 big league pitches. Both feature top-notch, ace like stuff. Joe Saunders will eat up innings, probably some doughnuts, too. The bullpen is lights out with David Hernandez and closer J.J. Putz.

Any excuse I have to show Kate Upton playing baseball, I'll use.Expect the D'Backs offense, which finished 2011 ranked 9th overall in runs scored, to be even more powerful this year. Justin Upton (not to be mistaken for Kate 'meow' Upton) is an MVP candidate. J.D. Drew will be back from an injury which forced him to miss much of 2011. His bat, along with new D'Back Jason Kubel's stick, give the Snakes serious venom.  

NL Manager of the Year, Kirk Gibson, promises his team will remain hungry. I say, "If hungry is what they need, than let them fast." D'Backs win over 95 games and repeat as NL West Champs.

Bet on it. Just don't blame me if you roll Snake eyes. 

Get WestSide Culture's Unofficial Guide to Spring Training. Available now!