Weekend Buzz: Diamondbacks, Webb rising behind sinker

[dirty]

June 4, 2006 By Scott Miller CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer Tell Scott your opinion!

The Weekend Buzz while you were catching Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston in The Breakup and trying to recall whether you were supposed to bring three or 12 lemons home from the grocery store ... 1. Riddle us this, Bat Men: How in the wide world of manager Bob Melvin can the Diamondbacks have won 15 of their past 20 games -- including that nifty four-game weekend sweep in Atlanta -- and still have a sinking feeling? Brandon Webb has been almost unbeatable since last September. (Getty Images) Easy. Up next on the mound is right-hander Brandon Webb, whose sensational sinker is the talk of the majors. When the Diamondbacks begin a 10-game homestand Monday against Philadelphia, they'll hand the ball to Webb, who is 8-0 with a major league leading 2.01 ERA. But even those numbers tell only a small part of the story. Webb has worked three consecutive scoreless outings, during which he has strung together 25 scoreless innings heading into Monday's start. (The Phillies and the New York Yankees, by the way, are the only clubs in the majors that haven't been shut out yet in 2006.) During this streak, his heavy, bottom-falling-out sinker has produced 47 of 75 ground-ball outs. Add 17 strikeouts and Arizona's outfielders pretty much are free to pick daisies in the grass on the nights Webb pitches. As for Webb, he's one of only six major league pitchers to have worked at least 180 innings and post an ERA below 4.00 in each of the past three seasons, joining Roger Clemens, Livan Hernandez, Tim Hudson, Pedro Martinez and Carlos Zambrano. Furthermore, according to Stats, Inc., he has now become only the fifth pitcher in the expansion era (beginning in 1961) to win his first six decisions in consecutive seasons, following Moe Drabowsky (1966-1967), Tommy John (1979-1980), Dave Stewart (1988-1990) and Pedro Martinez (2001-2002). Of those, only Drabowsky, an injured Martinez and Webb fell short of 20 wins. That may change this summer for Webb, who has compiled quality starts (six or more innings pitched, three or fewer earned runs) in 11 of 12 outings, because the Diamondbacks are better than they were a year ago. Center fielder Eric Byrnes has been a big boost. His 92-point increase in batting average from last season -- to .318 from .226 -- represents the biggest such improvement in the NL, according to Stats, Inc. Byrnes' May slugging percentage was .717. Second baseman Orlando Hudson adds stability to the infield and, together with shortstop Craig Counsell, provides a middle-infield steadiness that was lacking last season. The Diamondbacks are deeper, too -- especially if utilityman Damion Easley continues flexing his muscles. He arrived in Atlanta on Friday with just two homers in 70 at-bats -- and left with six in 79. He smashed three homers in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader and another Sunday, and the Diamondbacks headed back to the desert in first place in an improved NL West -- and believing they can remain there. With Webb having developed into a true ace -- for those counting, he's now 11-1 since last Sept. 7 -- it would be risky to doubt them. 2. Hack Wilson rests easy: Life just got a whole lot more difficult in St. Louis now that NL MVP Albert Pujols is on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his right side. It's not just the fact that Pujols leads the majors in homers (25) and RBI (65), it's in the way he's been doing it. A total of 11 of his homers have staked St. Louis to a lead, 16 of his 65 RBI have been the go-ahead run and 13 have been game-winning RBIs. He's punched the game-winning RBI in 11 of St. Louis' past 24 victories, and go find a ready-made substitute for that.

Expected to miss a month or more, you can immediately forget any individual records Pujols was threatening this summer -- including not only Barry Bonds' single-season record of 73 homers, but Hack Wilson's incredible 191 RBI for the 1930 Chicago Cubs. Before hearing the muscle pop heard 'round the Gateway Arch while chasing a foul pop from the Cubs' Aramis Ramirez on Saturday, Pujols was on pace for 195 RBI.
With center fielder Jim Edmonds a candidate for the DL with an abdominal strain, the Cardinals are even more challenged now than they were in 2005, when they played most of the season without third baseman Scott Rolen. Tough days for Tony La Russa's troops, indeed.
As for NL Central rivals Cincinnati and Houston, that's not just the humid summer air you can cut with a knife these days -- it's the sudden burst of optimism.
3. Roger Clemens breathes deeply: His latest un-retirement begins this week with a minor league start for Class A Lexington on Tuesday, a road that is expected to culminate with his return to the Astros to face Minnesota on June 22.
Houston is thrilled. Not only are the Astros paying him $12.8 million -- the pro-rated portion of last year's $22 million deal -- and allowing him to come and go as he pleases to watch his kids, they've also promised to bake him fresh pecan pies and make homemade ice cream (cookies n' cream, his favorite!) after each start.
4. Now Wang is the Sandman? This whole Enter Sandman thing is getting very confusing. First it was the theme song for both New York closers, the Yankees' Mariano Rivera and the Mets' Billy Wagner. Then Rivera threw out his back while tying his spikes last Thursday -- OK, I'll give you the Clemens ice cream thing, but I am most definitely not making this up -- sending the Yankees into panic mode over their eminently flammable bullpen (Scott Erickson? You can't be serious ...).
Next thing anybody knows, Chien-Ming Wang closes Sunday's win over Baltimore. And Erickson was pitching in relief.
Anybody for Boston? Toronto? Anyone?
5. The amateur draft: Baseball's annual draft takes place Tuesday and Wednesday, and here's what you need to know: Kansas City has the first overall pick, but the Royals will screw it up. Colorado is next and will seek to avoid not only any client of Scott Boras, but anybody who has ever even heard of Boras. Tampa Bay is third but is more concerned with changing its nickname -- Devil Rays is so last-century-Goth. Pittsburgh is fourth and probably will pass on all the talented players it can't afford. And so on.
Meanwhile, every scouting director you talk to knocks this year's crop of amateur players harder than a 5-year-old blasts a candy-filled piñata.
The breakdown: It's weak, stocked with small pitchers who are big gambles. North Carolina lefty Andrew Miller, Washington right-hander Tim Lincecum, Houston righty Brad Lincoln, Cal State Long Beach third baseman Evan Longoria (sadly, no relation to Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria) and Texas high school right-hander Kyle Drabek -- son of former major leaguer Doug -- are expected to be among the top picks.
6. Ladies and gentlemen ... the Pittsburgh ground crew! Forget Easley's four homers, Travis Hafner's birthday grand slam in Cleveland and anything else you may have heard over the weekend. The Pirates' ground crew members were the unsung heroes of the weekend. The Pirates and San Diego played through three days of rain, including squeezing in an official game (six innings) Friday during conditions unsuited for even a duck.
Not that things were swampy, but there was more water inside PNC Park than in the Allegheny River on Friday.
"It was unbelievable, really," Padres catcher Mike Piazza said. "The infield looked like the Everglades. I didn't want to hit a grounder for fear that I'd ruin the habitat of some endangered species."
Yet by Saturday, the crew had scraped away mud, replaced it, engaged in some other hocus-pocus and, voila, the Pirates and Padres played on.
7. One Pitch Wonder: Washington reliever Bill Bray made his major league debut on Saturday. Threw one pitch -- fastball, outside -- and Nationals catcher Brian Schneider pegged out Milwaukee's Corey Koskie attempting to steal second for the third out of the game.
And Bray got the win.
8. Your turn to bring the juice boxes: Preparing for an AL Central showdown with the Detroit this week and not a happy camper with the way his guys are missing on fundamentals, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen hauled six players to the park for early hitting and bunting practice the other day.
"I also told them if we play like Little Leaguers, we'll be treated like Little Leaguers," Guillen said.
So the guess here is that outfielder Brian Anderson will be up first to bring the postgame snacks and Kool-Aid.
9. Showdown city: For those of you looking to get out of mowing the yard after work this week, here's your excuse: It's Boston at the Yankees for four games this week, starting with Monday's potential Josh Beckett vs. Mike Mussina classic. And it's Detroit at the Chicago White Sox for three games, beginning Tuesday -- with Jose Contreras vs. Justin Verlander set for Wednesday's middle game.
10. ESPN junks Bonds: The network cancels Bonds on Bonds for good. Now will you please take the man with you?