Diamondbacks Bullpen

[shoewizard]

Well, Chad will be an interesting case, thats for sure.

He's from from .750 to .911 to .794, and his career OPS is .818

So where to from here for Chad?

[Guitar Salad]

I voted up.

He had a monster '05, but a good sized dip in '06. My guess is that he stops trying to have big power numbers via the homerun. If he stops trying to hit them so much, maybe he'll stop whiffing at them. Back to more doubles and incidental homers should have him back to being the Chad Tracy we want.
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Ha ha! Charade you are...

[foulpole]

I read somewhere that Tracy had a banged up left knee most of '06. That could explain some of his throwing difficulties as well as his problems at the plate.

I am going to contiue with my homerism ( have not voted for a poorer performance in the polls yet ) and guess that Tracy is much closer to '05 numbers than '06.

Up.

[McCray]

i vote up... mainly because the girl is making me.
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Hank, you're dead to me.

[EvilJuan]

[EvilJuan]

OK, since I've now posted on this thread, I must vote: Up.

There's no basis in fact for the vote -- really, it expresses a hope. To do well, we need Tracy to do well.
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Is It Next Season Yet?

[McCray]

even if she hadn't told me what i thought, i still probably would have voted up. tracy was terrible last season, and the team is saying it's his knee -- that could be 100% bullshit, but if it isn't, then that alone is ground for significant improvement from tracy next year.

also, the boy just had a "deer in the headlights" look from the very beginning of the season. he knew the Ks were a problem pretty early. it looked like he was freaked out, spooked, for quite some time. but after the ASB, he started to seem a touch more relaxed.

i haven't checked the number, but i'd bet he did significantly better later in the year than early. and i think he'll do significantly better in 07 than 06.
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Hank, you're dead to me.

[foulpole]

[foulpole]

[McCray]

uhh... guys... the gf wants to know who voted down.

don't fess up -- she'll kill you

she says you're gonna have to answer to her if we meet up next year.
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Hank, you're dead to me.

[TAP]

[moviegeekjn]

[Counsell]

All he needs to do is go back to using the entire field and stop trying to hit bombs all the time. That'll bring him back to at least close to .300, with 40 doubles and 15-20 homers. Also, fewer K's and a decent number of BBs.
To me, though, the key is his fielding at 3B. That will determine - long term - how valuable a player he is. The type of stats I just described make him one of the better guys at 3B. At 1B it makes him merely average. I'm one who thinks he can do it.

[Dangerfield]

300/360/530/890 30 hr's 80k's 60 bb 100 rbi's that's if he's in 5 hole behind CQ. I want Cq, in 4 hole, my belief Cq's going to continue his obp ways, and him and Cj at 3/4 will make Chad Tracy a superstar. Now I expect BoMel, to put him (Tracy)in the 3 hole, but that doesn't make him or the team better.

BoMel and I are going to have trouble this year.

Shoe's projection is fine if he's in the 3 hole.
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My wife is always trying to get rid of me. The other day she told me to put the garbage out. I said to her I already did. She told me to go and keep an eye on it

[shoewizard]

Saw this blurb on Chad today at Fox Fantasy Sports Updates

[dirtygary]

Good to see that Tracy realized he's a baseball player and not in the NFL.
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The pen is mightier than the sword, if that pen is shot out of a gun

[TAP]

Some snippets from Scout.com...

[Dangerfield]

Sing Chad Tracy backwards overlooping Stairway to Heaven and it comes out Triple Crown nl 07 backwards. CT=TC. Trace was ripped off by someone in the lineup.

How does he have 30 less opps than Fonz with risp in 06? and 10 more rbi's...

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=gonzalu01&year=2006

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=tracych01&year=2006

Too bad Bad gonz wasn't in the two hole all year....don't get me started
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My wife is always trying to get rid of me. The other day she told me to put the garbage out. I said to her I already did. She told me to go and keep an eye on it

[Projekt]

[levski]

LISA (looking at Abraham Lincoln's hat): America's greatest citizen summed up in one piece of clothing.
HOMER: Fonzie's jacket!
BART: Who's Fonzie?
HOMER: Who's Fonzie?! Don't they teach you anything in school? He freed the squares!

[diamondbacker]

link

TUCSON, Ariz. -- It was one of the first things third baseman Chad Tracy said to D-backs manager Bob Melvin when he saw him down here.
"I've got to get back to using the whole field," Tracy told his manager.

Amen.

"His game all throughout the Minor Leagues had been using the whole field, and I think that's why you saw the strikeouts you saw last year," Melvin said.

On the heels of a 2005 season that saw him hit a career-best 27 homers, Tracy still hit .281 with 41 doubles and 20 homers. But he struck out 129 times in 597 at-bats.

"I think I got caught up in trying to hit home runs and trying to do too much," Tracy said. "I had never been a guy that relied on the long ball. I was always a guy that stayed inside the ball and hit to all parts of the field.

"That's my main goal in Spring Training is to start using the whole field again. The home runs will come. I'm not going to worry about it. I'm not going to try to do it, I'm just going to let them take care of themselves."

Tracy tried to make the adjustment last year, but changing a hitting approach in midseason can be a real challenge. But he didn't need anyone else to tell him that by trying to hit home runs, his front shoulder was flying open and his head was coming off the ball. That's a combination that usually results in too many swings and misses.

Tracy's new mind-set dovetails nicely with that of first-year hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, who emphasizes players using the entire field.

"Tracy's on board," Seitzer said. "He's going to have a great year."

Attendance: All but two position players are expected to be in camp on time and on the field for the first full-squad workout on Thursday.

Infielder Alberto Callaspo missed his flight from Venezuela and will have his physical Thursday night in Phoenix before getting on the field for the first time on Friday.

Outfielder Alex Romero is having visa problems and is expected to miss at least a couple of days.

Meet and greet: Prior to Thursday's workout, Melvin will gather the players for their first team meeting of the spring.

It's also a time for various front office members to address the team about such things as marketing, media relations and community endeavors. This year's meeting could run a bit longer than in springs past because a lot of the younger players are hearing the information for the first time and there's been a significant turnover in the front office over the past two years.

"A lot of our meeting tomorrow is just going to be getting faces out there so everybody knows who everybody is," Melvin said.

RJ update: Randy Johnson played catch again and should be on the mound in the next few days. Melvin had said last weekend that Johnson would likely throw his first bullpen session "within the week."

"He threw the ball as well as I've seen him," Melvin said of Johnson's catch session. "He was throwing the ball 150 feet, [the] ball was on a line the whole way and shortened it up to a distance that was [comparable] to 60 feet and the ball was jumping out of his hand. We're making significant strides with him."

Keeping in touch: Melvin spoke by phone the other day with former outfielder Luis Gonzalez. The longtime "face of the franchise" is getting ready for his first Spring Training with the Dodgers after signing a one-year free-agent deal with them this winter.

Gonzalez's absence has been felt by Melvin.

"He has had such an effect on things here that you can't but the first day you walk in there and see his locker is not over there and he's not holding court ..." Melvin said. "But it's baseball, it's a tough game and you've got to move on."
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Free Scotty! Trade Byrnes!
Go D-backs
Go Dolphins
Go Penguins
Go Suns

[foulpole]

It's nice to hear that TC is concentrating on spraying the ball more like he did in '05. Sweet!

[Guitar Salad]

[foulpole]