AZ Snake Pit

Diamondbacks Report Card: Bryan Shaw

2012-02-14T00:19:00Z

Name: Bryan Shaw
Age on Opening Day: 23
Salary: $414,000 (pro-rated portion)
2011 stats (MLB): 33 games, 28.1 IP, 2.54 ERA, 24:8 K:BB
2010 stats (Double-A Mobile): 33 games (13 GS), 101.1 IP, 4.26 ERA, 75:43 K:BB

In 2010, the Arizona bullpen was a disaster. What's that? Tell you something that's new? If you insist...

Much of the credit for Arizona's bullpen renaissance in 2011 has been given to GM Kevin Towers and three of his key acquisitions - J.J. Putz, David Hernandez, and Joe Paterson - and rightfully so. However, I'd like to take a brief moment from handing out the deserved praise to the current regime and take a look back, giving some appreciation to former D-backs scouting director Tom Allison. Thankfully, Allison hasn't been completely forgotten - I'm sure some remember Nick Piecoro's article on Allison from last October.

Still, one could argue that the impact of a great scouting director is nearly as significant for a franchise as the value of a great GM. After all, a GM can only make decisions in a free-market system, hoping to squeeze small margins of extra value out of any given move. A scouting director and his staff are given the luxury of working in a highly-controlled system in which costs are deflated by the league, and thus have the potential for values to vastly exceed costs on a regular basis. Allison drafted and signed several key pieces of Arizona's 2011 campaign and future, including seven players who debuted in the majors in 2011: Paul Goldschmidt, Wade Miley, Collin Cowgill, Josh Collmenter, Jarrod Parker, Ryan Cook, and, of course, Bryan Shaw.

Where am I going with this? Well, as incredible of an addition as Putz was, he turns 25 years old later this month and is only under team control for two more years. As incredible of an addition as Hernandez was, he cost the team a third baseman that, despite a plethora of flaws, just hit 37 home runs in the AL East last year. Shaw? The young power right-hander cost the team a signing bonus of $533,000 as a second-round pick (73rd overall) in 2008, according to Baseball Prospectus' Cot's Baseball Contracts. With 28.1 big-league innings under his belt and a 2.54 ERA - worth half of a win above replacement level according to rWAR - and at least two years of minimum salary control remaining, Shaw is likely to provide the most value over his salary of the three of them. When reflecting on what promises to be a phenomenal relief corps in 2012, don't leave Allison's name out of the credits.

Going into 2011, though, Shaw was relatively unheralded as a prospect. He's always had plenty of arm strength, hitting as high as 95 miles per hour in the minors, but was completely left off John Sickels' 2011 D-backs top-20 list, and that isn't at all a knock on Sickels. After all, Shaw's 2010 season in the minors was relatively underwhelming, with the right-hander posting just a 4.26 ERA in 101.1 innings with Double-A Mobile, starting 13 games and working another 20 games of relief. The fact that he allowed just four home runs all season with the BayBears in 2010 was certainly impressive, but his 75:43 K:BB ratio was not. In spite of his arm strength and ability to keep the ball in the park, Shaw didn't seem to possess much in the ways of command or secondary offerings.

Seeing these weaknesses, Arizona moved him full-time to relief in 2011, and something clicked. Working mostly with a cutter that toned down his max velocity in favor of wicked movement in on left-handed hitters, Shaw utterly abused Double-A, with a 0.87 ERA in 20.2 innings back with the BayBears before moving up to Triple-A Reno. Things didn't go as well at Triple-A, but he nonetheless got the call to the big leagues in June, debuting with Arizona against Florida, walking two but working a scoreless inning. Shaw was roughed up for two earned runs and no batters retired three days later against the Marlins, but allowed just those two earned runs in his first big-league stint - spanning five appearances and 4.1 innings - before being sent back to Reno near the end of June.

Less than one month later, though, Shaw was back in Arizona and there to stay, dominating down the stretch for the D-backs. From his return to the majors on July 20 through the end of the regular season, Shaw made 28 appearances for Arizona, working 24 innings and surrendering just six earned runs, good for a 2.25 ERA. Shaw struck out 20 in that span, walking just five and allowing a pair of home runs. Opposing hitters managed to reach base reasonably-well against Shaw in this span, with a .275 batting average and .340 on-base percentage. However, where Shaw shined was his ability to keep the ball on the ground - he had a 60.0% GB-Rate in the big-leagues in 2011 - and limiting opposing hitters' power numbers: in that 28-game span, opposing hitters had a mere .099 ISO against Shaw, meaning that Shaw limited the average hitter he faced to just two points of ISO over the power capacity of 2011 Emilio Bonifacio (.097 ISO).

What of the future, though? Personally, from watching how much absurd movement he's been able to get on that low-90's cutter, I think Shaw is destined for greatness in relief. I'm not alone, either, as Shaw was included in Sickels' 2012 D-backs top-20 list (despite surpassing the rookie minimum for days on a 25-man roster) with the following synopsis:

8) Bryan Shaw, RHP, Grade B-: That's a pretty nasty cutter he's developed, and he always had the arm strength to succeed if the control was there. I think he could close eventually.

Sadly, MLB.com doesn't have any video highlights of Shaw's cutter, but there are a pair of Shaw clips, so let's take a glimpse at his stuff. First, a look at a rare four-seam fastball, showing off his peak velocity:

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Eventually, Shaw will probably need to eventually choose one between his curveball and slider for further refinement to become a truly elite reliever. My money is on whichever one he used (looks like the slider to me) to collect three straight strikeouts in the NLDS Game 5 video below:

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Heading into 2012, though, it appears that Shaw's role in the Arizona bullpen is likely to be reduced to the fifth right-hander out of the 'pen, given the acquisition of Takashi Saito and the returns of Putz, Hernandez, and Brad Ziegler. However, given the age and health concerns of Saito and Putz, the heavy workload of Hernandez in 2011, and Ziegler's massive platoon splits, there should be plenty of full-inning work for Shaw in a loaded Arizona bullpen, and a larger role on the horizon in 2013 if he continues to perform the way he did in 2011.

Given that fans basically had no expectations for Shaw going into 2011 - heck, most fans couldn't be faulted for not having heard of him - Shaw's impressive performance down the stretch and in the post-season is all the more impressive. Final grade from me is a solid B+.

A Graphic Look at the Window to Win: Arizona Diamondbacks

2012-02-13T14:54:31Z

A Graphic Look at the Window to Win: Arizona Diamondbacks

David Fung of BtbS takes at look at where about Arizona sits in the cycle of baseball life, somewhat similar to how we did in December. Except with a much nicer graphic. They also conclude, "We're looking at a possible 2.5 win upgrade with this squad," which works for me...

Snakebytes, 3/12: Special Sunday SnakeBytes Edition

2012-02-12T20:00:35Z

With the Fanfest yesterday, there wasn't any time to do a Snakebytes, so let's get caught up as we gallop towards pitchers and catchers reporting for the Diamondbacks, in about a week. It feels like the winter has flown by, but it still can't come quickly enough...

Top headlines

[AZCentral] FanFest sets record with 25,000 attendance this year - "Anything you can do with the fans is good," Roberts said. "We don't want them to not know who they're cheering for." Probably not much chance of that with the Dread Pirate!
[Fox Sports Arizona] Will Drew be ready for season? Nobody knows - "I'm not going to sit here and lie to your face and say, 'OK I'm going to be ready for opening day.' I can't tell you that right now. Nobody wants me out there hobbling," Drew said Saturday at the D-backs' Fan Fest at Chase Field.
[dbacks.com] Justin Upton starts off hot in desert - "Bold imprints at a young age are one of the most thrilling aspects of baseball... Upton has certainly shown sustained flashes of this potential; and if we're all very lucky, his 2011 season might one day be viewed as the year that started it all. " Upton's early numbers are compared against some of the greats.

Other team news

[dbacks.com] 2012 Promotional Schedule - I am particularly intrigued by June 23, which is both "Ian Kennedy Bobblehead" and "Martial Arts Night". I also note that a number of the Saturday games appear to be back to a 7:10pm start, instead of all being 5:10pm as last year. Interesting.
[dbacks.com] 2012 Broadcast Schedule - 150 games plus three from spring training (3/13, 3/27 and 4/4). Six "D-backs Snapshot" programs, to feature Ryan Roberts, Daniel Hudson, Trevor Cahill, Jason Kubel, Willie Bloomquist and Paul Goldschmidt.
[AZ Front Row] Should D’backs Fans Have High Expectations in 2012? - Why, yes. Yes, we should...
[dbacks.com] Diamondbacks hurlers serve up Subway sandwiches - "As a precursor to this Saturday's Subway FanFest at Chase Field, three-fifths of the D-backs' starting rotation traded in their usual leather ball gloves for hygienic plastic ones for food handling as they took customer orders and made and bagged up sandwiches." Joe Saunders showed off his cutter, hohoho...

Prospects? Don't mind if we do...

[dbacks.com] D-backs organization preview, Top 20 Prospects - "The Arizona Diamondbacks have reason to be excited about their farm system because they have future No. 1 starter Trevor Bauer making a quick path to the big leagues. Or maybe it's because they have future No. 1 starter Archie Bradley just starting out his pro career."
[FanGraphs] D-Backs’ Ray Montgomery on Bauer and Bradley - "To say that scouting director Ray Montgomery is excited about those players is an understatement. You can’t blame him."
[BALedger.com] Bradley gears for first true spring training - "Oh, those 14-hour bus rides," Bradley said, smiling. "Then, there was some of the ‘rookie hazing, too.’... There was a 7 a.m. mandatory breakfast, which you couldn’t miss. There were workouts and throwing everyday. Every game started at 7 in the evening. When that was done, you’d go to bed and start it all over the next day."

Former D-backs and other stuff

[NJ.com] Yankees' Russell Branyan excited for the chance to bring bop to lineup - "My whole career has been a challenge," Branyan said. "No one said it was going to be easy, so you have to embrace it all. I’ve enjoyed the ups and I’ve enjoyed the downs."
[Sacramento Bee] Rangers give Conor Jackson, Beimel minor league deals - Good luck, CoJack.
[OpposingViews] Spring Training Changed Forever in 1992 - "When Hurricane Andrew did a number on Homestead, Florida, the youngest players training in Arizona this spring weren’t even born. Had that event not happened, a lot of them might be working out today in Florida."
[Diary of a Diehard] Baseball and the Passage of Time - "Now we are starting to see the first a changing of the guard. Not just with the players but also with the fans. My own family is a prime example."

The Fest Wing: Diamondbacks FanFest 2012

2012-02-12T02:30:04Z

Let's get this party started. It's a whole different vibe to an off-season when you come off a division title. Sure, every winter, you look forward to spring, but the feeling for Arizona fans this winter is definitely skewed more towards expectation than hope. That was apparent in the massive turnout for the FanFest at Chase Field this morning: estimates were that anywhere up to 25,000 fans were present, which would be double the number from last season. S'funny what winning does for fan interest!

Needless to say, the SnakePit was there, representing like a....representing thing. Whatever that means. Pics and commentary after the jump.

We arrived a little after 10am, splashing out the five bucks for parking nearby. A kind SnakePitter, unable to use their season ticket early entry ("not morning people" - to which we can relate!) had passed us their early entry passes, and so we were able to get in immediately at Gate A, rather than the very long regular line. Matters were also speeded up by our disinterest in the autograph tickets, and we headed more or less immediately down to the field - which was already significantly populated with other early birds.

As is traditional, we made a bee-line for the Diamondbacks Yard Sale, and it seemed we weren't alone in this thought, as was obvious from the concourse - it was easily the most populated corner of the field at this point. The main theme this year seemed to be "leftover All-Star stuff," with a whole host of T-shirts, caps, programs, and other items from the festivities. Twenty bucks would even have got you an ASG voting booth. I momentarily thought about getting one - it'd look great in the corner of a den or office... - but wiser counsel [Mrs. SnakePit] prevailed. Speaking of historical memorabilia, I was intrigued by one blast from the past. What's wrong with this picture?

The answer is, of course, that the D-backs were not the 2002 NL Wild Card, they won the NL West. However, they might have been, with only a two-game lead over the Giants in the final week. Generally, I thought this "phantom memorabilia" was destroyed, so interesting to see some of it apparently resurface a decade later. We also picked up a trio of the Mark Reynolds batting practice jerseys for a dollar. Not each: three, for a dollar. This was mostly a gesture of pity by Mrs. SnakePit, so we may end up giving some of these away to (more or less) deserving applicants. Otherwise, I was pretty restrained: after all these years, I think I have enough stuff. Well, almost...

The other main pleasure is seeing just about everyone - players, staff and coaches - interacting with fans. Whether it was Wade Miley running around the wiffleball fields, chasing down fly balls, with Matt Williams hanging out in the field next to him, all the way up to the panels, where the likes of President Derrick Hall and GM Kevin Towers took questions from the crowd. Good to see Derrick looking well - last time I saw him was the Tweet-up, the night before his prostate cancer diagnosis was announced - and I briefly got to chat to Kevin, and thank him for talking to us. Turns out his family was originally out of Ireland, so we compared Celtic bloodlines. He does have more of a tan. :)

Couple of new innovations this year. One that was particularly good, was getting some concession stands down on the field, including Streets of New York and Macayo's. That removed the need for the long trek back up to the main concourse. Though "removed" is probably less the case than "delayed", as eventually those carbonated beverages made their way through - and there was no escaping the stairs there. There was also the D-backs Digital Pavilion, showcasing the team's social media outlets, with a Hashtag Scavenger Hunt; we got as far as finding six of the eight, before my phone battery and the queues for the Clubhouse Tour combined to defeat me.

That was certainly an overall issue: the line for that stretched almost across the entire field, and the lines for autographs, pictures, etc. were similarly monstrous, and reports suggest our early arrival helped us miss the worst of the carnage at things like the yard sale. This is, to be honest, only to be expected given last year's success, to some extent. However, looking back at our report of the 2008 Fanfest - which also took place after we won the division - it doesn't seem to have been on anything like the same scale. That could seem a hopeful sign that the team is genuinely getting people enthusiastic, not just bandwagoning, which is great.

The only SnakePitter I bumped into was Kishi, who had just won a Joe Paterson autographed ball playing Kachingko - I was up there scavenging the hashtag there. I do know there were a good few others in attendance, but again, with so may people in attendance as a whole, the odds of bumping into selected individuals were sharply lower this year. Still, it was fun as always, and equally as always, sets the stage and whets the palate nicely for the coming season. Pitchers and catchers report in eight days, folks!

New Primary Logo in 2012

2012-02-12T01:09:35Z

According to ColorWerx and Chris Creamer's sportslogos, the Diamondbacks will be sporting a new primary logo in 2012. Let's see, shall we?

...The D-Backs made a minor change to their graphics for 2012 - the primary mark is now just the "A" mark - sans the wordmark. The "A" plus the wordmark is still part of their graphics package however.

Conspiracy time!!!

The Diamondbacks are now the only team in the National League with a primary logo that is free of any script. They join a small clan from the American League - the Red Sox, Tigers, Indians, and Angels - as the only teams in baseball that have a simplified logo.

Welp, looks like we're off to the AL.

Diamondbacks FanFest Open Thread

2012-02-11T15:17:42Z

It's here! Today is kinda like Groundhog Day for the baseball fan, marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring. We'll shortly be heading off to have breakfast somewhere downtown, then making our way over to Fan Fest at Chase Field for the annual celebration of D-backs baseball. We're a bit more tech savvy this year - I'm not saying my last mobile phone was old, but it had a rotary dial... [Kids, ask your grandparents for clarification if necessary] So I'll be adding comments here over the course of the day, live from Chase, and check out the SnakePit Twitter feed for pics from the event.

If you're there too, feel free to chip in with your take. Get anything cool at the yard sale? Chat to any players? Do the clubhouse tour? It will, I'm sure, be a lot of fun. There'll be a full report later in the day, naturally. See you there!

Diamondbacks Report Card: Joe Saunders

2012-02-11T05:34:19Z

Name: Joe Saunders
Known Aliases: Bazooka Joe, Colonel Saunders, Abrananaham Lincoln (aka The Great Potassiumancipator)
Age on opening day: 29
Salary: $5,500,000
2011 stats: 33 games, 212.0 IP, 3.69 ERA, 12-13, 108:67 K:BB
2010 stats (total: 33 games, 203.1 IP, 4.47 ERA, 9-17, 114:64 K:BB

Is there any player on the Diamondbacks roster who split the fans quite so much as Joe Saunders did? 2011 was Saunders's first full season in an Arizona uniform, and the reactions to his arrival- and the subsequent expectations- were probably heavily influenced by the memory of Dan Haren's dreamy blue eyes and crafty delivery, and echoing recollections of being told that Joe knew how to win. A rough situation for a pitcher, no doubt, especially given a fanbase that was looking forward to the season with a healthy dose of cynicism and just perhaps a tinge of fear.

But we all know how the 2011 season turned out for the Diamondbacks- would Joe be that lucky? He was a constant source of debate through the whole season, but Joe Saunders didn't seem to know it was going on. He just kept his head down, pitched his game, and did his part to help the team with the division.

2011 Expectations:
For the most part, Joe Saunders was looked at as our veteran presence in the rotation. Most people didn't expect huge numbers out of him, but we hoped for something decent in the middle of the rotation- or at least something that wouldn't leave us wanting to drunk dial Dan Haren and beg him to come back.

2011 Performance:

To put it in internet meme terms: Everything went better than expected.

Sure, Joe may not have been a Cy Young contender. He might not have been out there racking up insane strikeouts or pitching complete games every other week. But he was like the Y-Wing of the Diamondbacks starting rotation- no flashy numbers, but he gave us some solid work and certainly helped us defeat the Galactic Emp- er, rest of the NL West.

Okay, fine, maybe "the Doug Davis of the 2011 Diamondbacks" is a better simile. Baseball nerds.

The great debate of 2011- outside of Josh Collmenter's proper role on the team- was probably Joe Saunders: Can He Keep Doing It. For a large part of the season, Saunders was, quite honestly, pitching far better than we thought he would. You remember that point of the season, when the Diamondbacks turned things around in mid-May? Well, from the middle of May to the end of July, Saunders was pretty solid. In fourteen starts, Bazooka Joe went 8-3 with a 2.63 ERA. That's better numbers than I ever would have expected from Saunders over a stretch that long. On top of that, he showed his willingness to do what the team needed for the play:

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Saunders may have hit some trouble after that- his next few outings in August were not pretty- but he recovered well enough to put up good numbers in September.

Another advantage Joe gave us that he didn't get a lot of attention for was his durability. Our bullpen was obviously much improved this year, and Joe did his part to help there- Saunders pitched at least 6 innings in 28 of his 33 starts.

He may have outplayed his peripherals. He may have struggled against quality teams like the Phillies and the Giants. But, at the end of the day, he did what he could, he ate innings in the middle of the rotation, and helped the team out. Good season, Joe. We'll be glad to see you back in the spring.

Grade: B

Other Snakepit Grades:

Jim: B

Two surprising things about Saunders:

1) His career 3.76 ERA for AZ is now the second-best by a left-hander with 250 IP in franchise history.

2) He's only 30? Somehow, Joe feels older than that: is it the whole "crafty leftie" thing? Or maybe it's the gravitational pull of Jamie Moyer, yanking the ages of all southpaws up...

Saunders continues to get it done, despite frequently-expressed fears to the contrary, and in the final analysis, that’s all that matters. He seemed to be perpetually in trouble last season, but holding hitters to a .226 average with RISP will help cure many ills. Can he do that again in 2012? Who knows. But he did it in 2011, and that was good enough for Arizona.

Marc: B+

For a guy who some thought might be the opening day starter, to a guy that couldn’t pitch his way onto a softball team during spring training, to... “let’s just leave him out of the rotation”, I think he’d fared well enough. It almost pains me to say that I support having Bazooka Joe on the team next year, but I’d be insanely happy if he reproduced his results from 2011.

The Ultimate Sports Social Media Job Contest, Phase 2

2012-02-11T03:00:21Z

Back in the middle of last month, we promoted XFINITY's 'Ultimate Sports Social Media' contest, which promised to give one fan a chance to become a professional Tweeter. This first stage of that's now over, and the survivors from the first round are now available for your amusement through the XFINITY Facebook page. Details of that are after the jump: I look forward to reading aggrieved postings about how much better suited you would be for the position - to which I can only say: "Should have entered, then, shouldn't you?" :-) Still, you can go and vote against anyone wearing a Yankees cap. Or indeed, any cap that's not pointed squarely forward.

Wonder if jinnah lived up to her ~~threat~~ promise to enter?

Have you ever watched one of those TV shows where from thousands of hopefuls, one star is born? Well, AZ SnakePit readers, here's your chance to play "starmaker" and help pick the new voice of sports in social media!

XFINITY is looking for the next renowned sports social media star through its Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest. The winning candidate will serve as the new voice of XFINITY in the sports social media space and go behind-the-scenes at some of the biggest sporting events in 2012, sharing exclusive insights and updates with fans.

From February 9-19, you can review qualified entry videos and vote for the contestant you'd like to see advance to the finals of the XFINITY Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest. The five entrants with the most votes will advance to the final round of the contest where they will cover one of five premier sporting events the weekend of March 8-11. Fans can head today to Facebook.com/XFINITY and click on the Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest tab to vote for your favorite personality (once per day)!

Will you choose the brainiac with the encyclopedia of stats, the former jock who knows the game inside out, or the corporate type who gets the marketing side of the business? You decide. Vote today at Facebook.com/XFINITY!