Inside the 'Zona
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ESPN SweetSpot blog offering Arizona Diamondbacks analysis and sabermetric research. Our goal: providing knowable answers to questions of interest to fans.
Inside the 'Zona
3y ago
It’s here! The Diamondbacks top-10 prospect list is ready. After a ton of debate, checking my own thinking, re-reviewing the stats, checking my notes on guys I’ve seen, and talking to scouts and evaluators, the final ten are set. And let me say for the record: this top-10 was harder than any other. There’s legitimate argument for who should be ..read more
Inside the 'Zona
3y ago
As the Hot Stove seasons truly gets underway, the Diamondbacks are firmly at a crossroads. Over at The Athletic, I’ve written about a few of these topics, such as A.J. Pollock’s QO decision and the team’s long term payroll outlook. Both are ripe for concern. But the minor league side of the ledger remains a concern, too. The D-backs ..read more
Inside the 'Zona
3y ago
The first installment of this series began with a conversation about how hard it is to rank prospects. This process was further complicated with the Diamondbacks’ recent signing of Japanese right-handed pitcher Shumpei Yoshikawa. My list of the D-backs’ top 30 prospects has now been adjusted to 31. Bonus for you, dear reader, but a minor complication for me, your ..read more
Inside the 'Zona
3y ago
It’s always prospect season, but now it’s really prospect season. The Diamondbacks’ farm system has grown by leaps and bounds over the last two years. Notable international signings and draft picks have helped bolster the farm, and they’ve even scooped up some talent on trades while shedding plenty. It’s not a marquee system yet, but it’s trending in a ..read more
Inside the 'Zona
3y ago
The first ten rounds of the MLB first-year player draft is in the books. There are more guys that will get drafted, but the focus is at the top of the draft and that’s for good reason. The value of picks drops off dramatically after round three and even more significantly after round ten. That’s not to say that guys ..read more
Inside the 'Zona
3y ago
Baseball is on Facebook. It’s warm and sunny in Portland while cool Phoenix. The Diamondbacks are better than we ever dreamed and the Dodgers are riding the struggle bus. The world is all out of whack and no one’s complaining.
In fact, there are even reasons to be excited!
Our friends from Baseball Prospectus are hosting what is shaping up ..read more
Inside the 'Zona
3y ago
The Diamondbacks finally committed to at least one piece of their middle infield. After a rotation of middle infielders over the last several years, Ketel Marte figures to be a fixture for the next five. In his first season for the Diamondbacks, Marte got back to the form that had him pegged as one of the league’s good, young bright ..read more
Inside the 'Zona
3y ago
Like many, I started blogging as a hobby. My first blog was called The Outfield Grass and contains some less than stellar writing. I didn’t know what I was doing. I started another called Hardball West where I started to really hone in on a smaller portion of baseball in covering West Coast teams. I was teaching high school in ..read more
Inside the 'Zona
3y ago
The dust has finally settled in the Diamondbacks’ outfield. J.D. Martinez is now officially in Boston. Steven Souza will presumably play in right and David Peralta will man left. A.J. Pollock will patrol his usual center field. Jarrod Dyson will spell all three D-backs outfield regulars, and maybe Chris Owings will get a few starts out there (which, in full ..read more
Inside the 'Zona
3y ago
The Yasmany Tomás saga has been a blight for Diamondbacks fans. His maladroit play in the field coupled with some pretty frustrating at-bats has only proven to make the bad feel worse. Such obvious displays of subpar play stick in the minds of fans. Understandably so.
Things didn’t always seem so hopeless around Yasmany Tomás. As Nick Piecoro reminds us ..read more