The Diamondbacks have not had a true lefthanded specialist in the bullpen since they parted with Javier Lopez after the 2005 season, but that could change this year—and Lopez may have had something to do with it.
A.J. Pollock was putting up the kind of production he wanted when he got on the field this season. It just took him a little while to get there.
Jeremy Erben so impressed the Diamondbacks in his first two months in the organization that they promoted him to high Class A Visalia with two days remaining in the regular season to add an arm for the California League playoffs. That the Rawhide lost the final day of the regular season and did not advance was beside the point.
Kevin Towers wasted little time in fashioning the Diamondbacks' office of baseball operations to his specifications.
Before a Sept. 29 game in San Francisco, new Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers mentioned that he had not seen Sam Demel pitch. Three hours later, Towers saw Demel, briefly . . . but good, as scouts say.
Undrafted after a stellar college career, catcher Konrad Schmidt and his father, Skip, developed a mental approach with which to attack the rest of Schmidt's career.
Jack Magruder selects end-of-season award winners for the Diamondbacks system, selecting the Best Player, Best Pitcher and a player to keep an eye on.
Old friends and teammates shook hands and shared jokes afterward, but game faces were firmly in place when lefthander David Holmberg made his first two starts for Rookie-level Missoula in early August.
Paul Goldschmidt grew into his power. Literally. A smallish second baseman in youth leagues, Goldschmidt has "grown into a man," said one former major leaguer who witnessed the transformation firsthand in the Houston area.
Marc Krauss came to the Diamondbacks in the second round of the 2009 draft as a polished hitter, the first player from Ohio University to be selected as player of the year in the Mid-American Conference.
Barry Enright made a seamless transition to the Diamondbacks rotation after being promoted, and he credits much of it to lessons imparted by Double-A Mobile pitching coach Dan Carlson after an early season start against Tennessee.
Jack Magruder selects midseason award winners for the Diamondbacks system, designating prospects in the Best Player, Biggest Leap Forward and Biggest Disappointment categories.
Charles Brewer was expected to start in the Midwest League All-Star game on June 22, but he was scratched after coming down with food poisoning. That sound you heard was the sigh of relief from the rest of the league, echoed the next day when Brewer was promoted.
Sam Demel was just emerging as one of the Athletics' top prospects when he was traded to Arizona.
The Diamondbacks found a lot to like in Texas A&M righthander Barret Loux, making it easy for them to select him with the sixth overall pick in the draft. Much it had to do with Loux's aggressiveness . . . and organizational need.
It took about a year, but the Cesar Valdez the Diamondbacks saw in 2008 is back.
Diamondbacks outfielder Cole Gillespie reported for his first major league game in time to face 2005 National League Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter, he of the buckling breaking ball. Call Gillespie a quick study.
Sean Coughlin arrived in spring training with a surgically improved throwing arm and he left with improved prospects.
Top talent evaluator Junior Naboa arrived at Diamondbacks' spring training with two words: Jordan Norberto. Naboa knew what he had, and so, now, do the Diamondbacks.
Rusty Ryal could not have made a much better impression when he joined the Diamondbacks last August. He had a pinch-hit single in his first game, two doubles in his first start and a home run in his third start.
Baseball America
