1st Half Analysis and Grades

[nogicat]

Here are my grades for the team overall and players individually.

Feel free to discuss your opinions as well

 

[nogicat]

Starting Pitchers:

Ian Kennedy: D-
Lets face it, Ian has not been what we expected since his 2011 season. Its clear that the league has figured him out and even worse, the division (1-8 record against the West). Hes got to improve quickly or his days in AZ may be numbered.

Wade Miley: C+
He has been quite the roller coaster this year. Many ups and downs but the regression was expected. Hopefully he can fix things up after the break.

Patrick Corbin: A+
what can we say he has been truly amazing. 11-1 record heading to the all star game and when hes on the mound we win most of the time. Plain and simple.

Trevor Cahill: C
Like Miley he has been very inconsistent for us this year. His ERA is 4.66 and he is hurt but he was solid for a very long prt of the early season. If he comes back healthy he could hopefully get thing together and become the true #2 behind Corbin.

Brandon McCarthy: D+
When you get given the nickname mccrusty early on you know things are just not going well. Obviously not what we expected when we picked him up from the A's.

Randall Delgado: B-
He has looked pretty good in most of his appearances this year, but unfortunately like most of the dbacks starting rotation gets bitten by the big inning. Hes a solid piece moving forward for us maybe not this year. But I like what I see.

Tyler Skaggs: B-
Similar to delgado he was pretty good in most of his performances and will obviously be good for us in the years to come.

OVERALL ROTATION GRADE: C+

 

[nogicat]

BULLPEN PITCHERS:

Heath Bell: D

10 Million dollars... Let that sink in. Obviously we gambled when we went out for Bell and its failing thus far. Only reason a D and not an F is he did get some saves in Putz's absence. Got to give him minuscule credit for that.

Josh Collmenter: A

What an absolute warrior. Every situation he has been put in this year he has flourished. Just does what he needs to do and nothing but a positive to this team.

Will Harris: A-

Had a really shaky start but since then has been one of the most reliable arms in the pen. Very nice addition to it.

David Hernandez: D-

Of all the falls from grace, this has to be the worst. He was solid the past two years and no one saw this coming. he was the closer in waiting after all.. Seems like he gives up a HR every game.

J.J. Putz: D+

Not the same as last year. Whether it was the injury buggin him before and it cot us some games we will see as we get more appearances. Has improved a bit since his return.

Tony Sipp: C-

He hasnt been that good and has only had a few good moments. It hurts really bad right now to have him out there as the only lefty in the pen.

Brad Ziegler: A

Solid.. Just very solid, every time he goes out there he seems to work out of a jam or get that seemingly automatic DP.

Matt Reynolds: A-

He was very solid this year before he got hurt. I think that is one of the more underrated injuries we have had this year and it has hurt as much as any other. His absence as that strong lefty in the pen hurt. Maybe this whole time he could have been the closer?

OVERALL BULLPEN GRADE: C-

 

[nogicat]

INFIELDERS AND CATCHERS:

Miguel Montero: D+

Overall, just not what we need so far and its just been a trainwreck at the plate for him. Btting .224 with 34 RBI 95 games in is just pathetic. Especially someone we re paying so much and relying on so much to produce.

Wil Nieves: A-

Hes been a very solid backup. I mean how can we complain he hits around .400 and his defense back there is good enough.

Eric Chavez: B+

Initially I thought he would only be in on scrub days with cliff cause I had such high confidence in Prado but man has he produced. Hes protected goldy well at times too.

Paul Goldschmidt: A+

.313, 21 HR, 77 RBI, and amazing defense. great clubhouse guy and just a straight up leader. He makes me moist. That is all.

Didi Gregorius: B

He started off on a tear and has slumped a bit since then but his defense overall has been as good as advertised.

Martin Prado: C-

Definitely not producing what we expected since we did trade him for upton. His defense has been ok and he has gotten much hotter as of late. Hope that continues into the second half.

Cliff Pennington: C-

Cliff wasnt expected to do great and he is average just like his grade. Overall, consistently mediocre, but his defense and occasional big hits have great for us.

Aaron Hill: B

In his small sample size he has done a good job for us. I expect him to heat up after the break, and we are going to need him for sure. Glad he is back

Willie Bllomquist: C

Hes been hurt all year, had a little streak when he came back but was also pretty dismal for a portion of it as well.

(Hinske and Wilson werent included, they held little value to me)

OVERALL INFIELDERS AND CATCHERS GRADE: B

 

[nogicat]

OUTFIELDERS GRADES:

Jason Kubel: C-

.242, 5 HR, 27 RBI not good for our "pop" coming from left field. His defense has decreased from last year and he needs to improve or he could see himself dealt at the deadline.

Gerardo Parra: A

He has been as valuable to this team as goldy and corbin in my opinion. He has been slumping as of late but his defense and energy that he brings is unmatched and valuable to us.

A.J. Pollock: B

For the time pollock gets to play, he has done a pretty good job. Overall, a great outfielder and his bat will improve but it has shown some pop at times. Definitely want Kubel traded over pollock if we have to get rid of someone.

Cody Ross: C+

Has he been horrible? No. Has he been great? No. So he gets this average grade. He has gotten some big hits here and there and if we make the postseason has that experience and clutch gene it seems. Would get a B- if it wasnt for the contact situation. (Yes im serious about that).

Adam Eaton: B-

Eaton has had little time to prove himself here since he came back but he has speed, range, and gets on base. So far he gets this grade but it can easily improve with more time on the field.

OVERALL OUTFIELDERS GRADE: B

 

[nogicat]

MANAGER:

Kirk Gibson- B-
Overall, gibby hasnt done a terrible job this year. Better than last year in my opinion but not as good as the 2011 year. Yes we see the inconsistency in lineups and that is what angers me the most about him, and the weird bullpen choices early on in the year. But since then he has done the best with what he has had. He has sucky sucky and sucky to choose from in that pen, and the injuries have made it hard for him to make lineups at times. Overall, with the circumstances and where we stand he has done a good but not great job.

 

[nogicat]

OVERALL TEAM GRADE: B-

Its clear we have some stars and some weak links. People are under-performing and despite our main issues of inconsistency, injuries, and a horrible back end of our bullpen we remain in 1st at the break. I will certainly take that if you told me that to start the season. Got to make deals for the BP first at the deadline and maybe if the deal is right, without gutting the farm get one SP by chance. If we can make those deals and our under-performing players wake up I think we will remain atop the division

Heres to a great 2nd half

GO DBACKS!!

 

[nogicat]

oh and i think LA will finish 2nd, SF 3rd, COL 4th, and SD 5th

 

[SnakePhan]

Wow, I love your analysis and appreciate the time you put into putting this together. It is awesome to have a place to come to "geek out" on your team because we get minimal local coverage. Thank you for starting this post and now I will go back over it to see if I can add anything!

 

[SnakePhan]

At first glance I think I would give Gibson a C-
The reason for my grade is his inability to remove starters before the games are out of hand. This may be due to no viable options (Collmenter can't pitch every day obviously), but I just feel like he sticks with them for too long. I feel he could be more creative. I'm also not a fan of his line-ups. It seems like he sits guys who are going well - most recently with Pollock and Ross. I don't know why he continues to throw Kubel out there so often when the guy has obviously lost something. There have also been several times where we could have played more small ball and manufactured runs.

 

[Orange602]

Your grades are much nicer than mine. I give the team a C+ overall.

Pitching Wise:
Kennedy, Hernandez, Putz, and Bell all get F's
Corbin, Ziegler, Collmenter, Harris, and Reynolds all get A's

Offense Wise:
Montero and Kubel get F's
Goldy and Parrra get A's

I'll try to go more in-depth later

 

[nogicat]

Im a big time gibson hater and I can see where you are coming from snake phan
orange I just didnt really feel like giving out Fs hahahaha Ds will do for me

 

[Orange602]

I'd give Gibby a C based solely on his lineups this season. I think a team benefits from a consistent lineup, not one that is mixed around every damn game. Give the players a spot in the lineup and keep them there.

 

[Orange602]

I want to see smarter baserunning in the second half. This team would really benefit from some SMART base stealing. I think Eaton and Pollock can have high success rates if they are allowed to steal.

 

[FORKWDEVIL]

oh and i think LA will finish 2nd, SF 3rd, COL 4th, and SD 5th

Nogi,I agree on all of your grades but I would give Putz a little higher and Ross.Overall I think the Dbacks are a B+ working close to become A-Overall= LA, DB, SF, COL, SD

 

[Bueller_Bueller_Bueller]

I lost all my money on the Cubs!?!?!!??!?!?!?!?!

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Good work nog. I will post my grades and what not on here when I'm not in a lazy mood.

 

[Desert Glory]

Good shit Nogi.

 

[Bueller_Bueller_Bueller]

Well, it's official. ESPN banned me permanently about 2 minutes ago. The end of an era.

 

[AZHEAT122]

Great analysis/grades. Your effort is appreciated on my part