Wasn’t it just a few years ago that the Arizona Diamondbacks were in trouble?
Supposedly the franchise owed tons of money, they had several veterans (Luis Gonzales, Craig Counsell, etc.) that didn’t belong on a rebuilding team and they had roughly 89 hat and jersey combinations to choose from — all of them hideous.
They may have beaten San Francisco 4-2 yesterday with three home runs, while the Giants celebrated their first homer from a leftfielder last night (Fred Lewis), but the way the NL West-leading D-Backs are playing should be cause for optimism in San Francisco.
Not that the Giants need to change their unis (although it’s not a bad thing that Arizona did — unless you’re a big fan of teal and eggplant), but as a squad the Giants are pretty close to where the D-Backs were a few years ago.
Now all the Giants have to do is copy Arizona’s formula for success, which should lead the Diamondbacks to the playoffs for a second consecutive season: first, get some amazing athletes in the draft like Chris Young, Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds. Then hope that Lincecum, Cain or somebody unexpected morphs into a pitcher as dominant as Brandon Webb. You know, piece of cake!
On days like yesterday in Arizona, the Giants have to cling to little victories like Lewis’s homer, the fact they were able to get John Bowker in the starting lineup (even though he went 0-for-4, it’s better than seeing Rich Aurilia in there) and that Kevin Correia didn’t get whiplash from watching his pitches sail over the outfield wall.
Because it’s easy to get depressed when you see the D-Backs running away with the NL West, and that a D-Backs/Giants matchup pit the teams with the most and the fewest runs in baseball. Not to mention Giants starting pitcher Noah Lowry complaining of arm soreness yesterday, which he attributes to increasing his rehab workload. The Giants say it’s no big deal, but that it will cause Lowry to rest for a few days. Uh oh. Maybe the Giants shouldn’t count six-man starting rotations before they pitch.