Did everyone make it through the first series OK? Yes? Good.
Me, I seemed to come down with some reaction to a bug or overexertion from a workout that caused me to do a solo re-enactment of the pie scene from Stand By Me.
On the plus side, I was allowed some quality time to reflect on what went well, what’s different and what scares the crap out of me for the remaining 159(!?!) games of the 2018 campaign. So, let’s dig in, shall we?
2) Zack Greinke’s gonna be alright: After a scare that seemed to last the entirety of spring training, Snakes ace Greinke showed up in game three and hurled a gem of 5-plus innings in what ended up being a 2-1 loss.
3) The ascent of The Beard continues: Archie Bradley’s climb in popularity within Arizona continues at an astronomical pace. His entrance in the season opener, giving the much-publicized bullpen cart the finger, inducing a double play like it was no big deal and shutting down any whimper of a threat from the Rockies further solidified this ascension.
4) Team Longball is now Team Smallball: In 2017, the D-Backs were fifth in the NL in dingers with the trio of Paul Goldscmidt, JD Martinez and Jake Lamb a threat to go yard in every at-bat. In the three opening games in which the D-backs scored a combined 18 runs, only a single hit sailed over the wall. Arizona was getting dudes on base and moving then in text-book station-to-station baseball. Can this last? Well….@ArchieBradley7 explains why he didn’t use the bullpen cart, and says @BigCountry1739 might make some tweaks to the cart in the future: pic.twitter.com/dmBZ1Mmz7t— ABC15 Sports (@abc15sports) March 30, 2018
5) America’s Firstbaseman is hitting .000: That’s right, Paul Goldschmidt has not reached first after making contact once. This can’t possibly be a signal of his first ever bad season, can it? I mean, he did get four walks, but he also struck out 5 times – yeech!
7) Are the other starters this bad?: OK, Pat Corbin was fairly strong in his Opening Day debut, but last year’s All Star Robbie Ray was a train wreck. We still have yet to see Taijuan Walker, Zack Godley or Shelby Miller, but I don’t know that we can expect any better from Corbin and we have to expect better from Ray or else this season is doomed.
8) The grass is amazing: At least, that’s what Steve Berthiaume and Bob Brenly keep telling us. But what do I know. I have Bermuda (kind of) growing in my front and back yards and I barely like to play bocce with the missus on it so I can fully understand why a professional baseball club gave up on it for some high-tech lawn. I just don’t need to be reminded of it every game.
9) Does anyone care?: The Snakes played to a full house on Opening Day, but attendance was almost cut in half for Friday night, despite the promise of literal fireworks, with a modest spike and a sleepy crowd on Saturday. Seriously, the sound of silence bouncing around that giant warehouse can sometimes be deafening.
On the positive side, the anti-Puig Yasmany Tomas and his roster-choking contract were placed on outright waivers yesterday. No other team in their right mind will pick up his albatross of a contract, and there’s no way he’s opting out, but at least the team is no longer beholden to him on the 40-man.
OK, we’ve dipped a toe. Now it’s time to dive in with a set of three against the Doyers, who looked like a shell of last season’s team until yesterday’s drubbing of a not very good Giants squad. Sure hope Goldy and a starter or two show up.
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