Monday, May 04, 2009

Diamondbacks / Dodgers Series Preview

A quick two game series between these two teams headed in opposite directions. The Dodgers find themselves with the best record in baseball at 18-8, while the Diamondbacks come in struggling at 11-14. Let's take a trip down recent memory lane to see how these two teams got to where they are today.

Team Hitting Arm Range R Error R Overall Fielding SP RP Overall Pitching Team Total
Units RAR NL Rank NL Rank NL Rank UZR RAR RAR WAR WAR
Arizona 1.1       3.5 25.5 8.6 3.8 0.4
Los Angeles 52.8       -2.6 22.2 6.2 3.1 4.9
Arizona NL Rank 15th 6th 2nd 14th 6th 2nd 3rd 2nd 15th
Los Angeles NL Rank 1st 9th 10th 11th 9th 4th 4th 4th 1st


The DBacks come in as advertised an all pitching and no hitting team. Their defense has made some slight improvements but not enough to make up for their awful hitting to begin the 2009 season. The Dodgers also have been solid pitching wise, and enter the game with the 4th best pitching staff in the NL (2 spots behind the DBacks). These two teams would be mirror images of each other, and for the most part last year they were, except that this year the Dodgers have the number one ranked offense in the NL. The DBacks on the otherhand have the 15th ranked offense in the NL. Both bullpens are solid, though each has been through some turbulence of late. The DBacks find their closer Jose Valverde on the DL and the Dodgers recently placed 2008 Setup Man of the Year, HongZhi Guo on the DL.

Series Pitching Matchups
Date DBacks Dodgers Vegas Favorite
5/4 Doug Davis Eric Stults Dodgers 57.4%
5/5 Max Scherzer Jeff Weaver Dodgers 55.0%



Source for stats: Fangraphs

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