Swamigp’s Weblog

Arizona Diamondbacks ace pitcher Brandon Webb improved his record to 9-0 over his first 9 starts with a win over the Colorado Rockies. His nine consecutive wins is the second longest consecutive streak to start a season in history, behind San Diego Padre pitcher Andy Hawkins’ 10 straight in 1985. Webb has continued his dominance with ease, this time throwing 7 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out eight in a 8-5 win. His repertoire of pitches all have late movement, especially his sinkerball (which has been his out pitch throughout his career ), has made him nearly un-hittable, resulting in a 2.56 ERA. The late movement force batters into taking defensive swings, therefore not making the contact that they would like. This alone has made him one of the best pitchers over the past few years to induce ground-balls.

He has had a lot of help this year, not only from other starting pitchers, but from a revitalized offense. Last year, they got outscored on the season by their opponents but this year has been a totally different story with the likes of Stephen Drew, who had a career high 4 hits in their most recent win, and phenom Justin Upton are leading their potent offense.

Justin Upton, only 20 years old, is hitting .322 with 6 homers and 21 rbi’s while Stephen Drew, 25, has 5 homers with 18 driven in. These two hitters have upgraded drastically from their 2007 season, as they both hit below .250. Other players like Conor Jackson and Mark Reynolds are also having great years for the D-Backs offense, contributing to thier hot 25-16 start.

Like their hitting early this season, their pitching has been on fire. The rotation isn’t just about Webb anymore with the acquisition of Dan Haren. His hot start, 4-2 3.04 ERA, gives Arizona a great one-two punch at the top of their rotation. Randy Johnson is healthy, and though his ERA is over 5, the teams’ offense has given him more than enough support to help him to a 3-1 record. Max Sherzer, their 23 year old fireballer, has done pretty well for himself at the back end of the rotation even though he doesn’t have a major league win (boasts a 3.14 ERA and 18 K’s in 14 innings). His future should be bright not only becasue of his nasty stuff, but the tutoring that he will get from the veterans, especially Randy Johnson. Sherzer reminds me of the young Mariner that Johnson was. He throws as hard as the Big Unit did, but has acquired multiple other pitches during his quick upbringing, including a wicked splitter.

If all keeps going well for the Diamondbacks, good hitting and good pitching, they could build on their National League Champioship appearance in last year’s playoffs. If the 2007 D’Backs made it as far as they did with mediocre hitting, and no Dan Haren to back up Webb, just think how far they could go this year if they keep doing what they are doing presently.