News: Against the Rockies and RHPAaron Cook on Monday, the Diamondbacks plan to start Chad Tracy at third base, not Mark Reynolds. Tracy will shift over from first base, allowing Tony Clark to enter the lineup. "I talked early on this spring about getting some left-handed bats in against some of the tougher right-handed pitchers in the league," manager Bob Melvin said, "and this guy profiles out as that." Melvin expects Reynolds and Upton to be back in the lineup Tuesday night against Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez (12-12, 3.99). He said the lineup changes are an example of the team's versatility.
What Aaron Cook is Melvin referring to? The one with a K/9 of 4.02 in 2008, which was a career high? We are talking about a pitcher who relies on an extreme groundball rate to get outs and keep the ball in the park. Maybe he has a better K/9 against righties? Nope his lefty K/9 actually was higher in 2008 although it has always been close.
So what to do with Reynolds and Upton? You have to imagine once they get hot they will eliminate the need to ever play Tony Clark again.
My favorite part to this whole thing is how Cook and Jiminez have very similar groundball rates and K/BB, but Melvin decides to play these guys against they pitcher who is actually a "tougher righty".
