TEAM REPORTS: Diamondbacks

Arizona Diamondbacks

LOOKING BACK: At 14-13, Bob Melvin’s team is right in the thick of the NL West standings. Arizona has outscored its opponents by 15 runs, the 5^th best differential in the league, despite batting just .248 (with 42 extra-base hits) in 15 away games. Drawing a home crowd has been somewhat problematic for the one-time World Champions; apparently, there’s nothing exciting about watching Luis Gonzalez run laps around Jay Bell and Matt Williams as the all-time franchise leader in bases on balls (at least while the Suns hang on their livelihood by the thread of Raja Bell’s jersey).

THUMBS UP: The strikeouts are troubling – his 27 Ks are the sixth-most among non-rookies in the NL – but Chad Tracy is providing a nice encore to his breakout 2005 season, when he finished among the top 10 in the league in batting average (.308) and slugging percentage (.553). His ability to play third base enabled GM Josh Byrnes to pull the trigger on the Troy Glaus deal (more on that later), and the versatile Tracy is now the only legitimate muscle in Arizona’s lineup. As a bonus, Eric Byrnes is proving that you don’t need to be a polished baseball player to hold down a major-league job. When I watch Byrnes play, it’s like watching a Hall of Famer from the dead-ball era. Is there any doubt a player with Byrnes’ skills would have been supremely valued a hundred years ago?

THUMBS DOWN: The biggest of the Diamondbacks’ off-season trades brought a much-heralded defensive second baseman and a lifelong pitching project to the desert. Neither has lit the world on fire so far in 2006. Orlando Hudson has driven in four runs through his first 99 at bats, and Miguel Batista sports a nifty 7.65 ERA and 2.2 WHIP since his first start. It hasn’t helped that Troy Glaus is tearing it up for the Blue Jays, batting .265/.365/.602, or that his 24 runs, 22 RBIs and 16 walks place him among the top three AL third basemen.

LOOKING AHEAD: Though the Glaus/Hudson/Batista deal may appear lopsided on May 3, this was a solid trade for both teams, and come September 3, it may be much easier for D’backs fans to stomach. Nothing about the Snakes screams “Division Champs,” but the same can be said about every one of their rivals in the NL Worst. The arrival of Stephen Drew will be a reason to follow this team through the rest of the first half, assuming Craig Counsell doesn't become the .340 hitter he's been in video games for years.