SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. —
The Chicago Cubs are the darlings of many to win the National League pennant. I get that. Win or lose, the Cubs are always a national story.
But the team that fascinates me most is the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-backs are in it to win it, right here and right now.
They signed right-hander Zack Greinke to a mind-boggling, six-year, $205.6 million contract. To obtain right-hander Shelby Miller (and a minor-league pitcher) from the Atlanta Braves, the D-backs traded shortstop Dansby Swanson — the top overall pick in the 2015 draft — along with outfielder Ender Inciarte and minor-league pitcher Aaron Blair.
In first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and center fielder A.J. Pollock, the D-backs have two of the best players in the NL. In chief baseball officer Tony La Russa and general manager Dave Stewart, they have bold leadership.
Stewart, who once won 20 games in four consecutive seasons as a glowering right-hander, remains intense as a front-office type. At last week’s Cactus League media day, Stewart was asked about Baseball Prospectus’ Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm (PECOTA) projections, a formula which predicts how the season will go player by player and, therefore, team by team. PECOTA’s projection puts the D-backs’ win total for 2016 at 78 — one victory less than in 2015. FanGraphs, the well-respected, analytics-based website, projects the D-backs to again win 79 games.
Stewart was dumbfounded: “To think we will only win 78 games? That’s a joke.”
Rockies manager Walt Weiss, who saw his team lose 13-of-19 games to Arizona last season, knows how good the D-backs can be.
“Offensively, they are very athletic, and they played hard,” Weiss said. “To a degree, they were underrated offensively, until people started to catch on at some point last year. They have bat handlers, they have speed and they have power. I don’t know if it’s a complete lineup, but it’s very close to it.”
Tulo adjustments. I’ve been keeping tabs on Troy Tulowitzki, who’s now spending spring training in Florida with the Toronto Blue Jays. By all reports, he’s starting to adjust to his new baseball life.
It was not an easy adjustment after the Rockies shipped him to Toronto last July. Tulowitzki slumped at the plate, batting .239 with a .317 on-base percentage and a .380 slugging percentage in 41 games. It was a considerable decline from the .300/.348/.471 he delivered in 87 games with the Rockies.
Now Tulo is experimenting with his approach at the plate. He has moved from a toe tap to a leg kick as the trigger for his swing — a suggestion that came from talks about hitting with teammates Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista.
“Every offseason, I try to get myself better as a player,” “I know I can be a way better offensive player than I was (in Toronto). I went through a few things and changed some things up to try to better myself. There’s a little bit of a leg kick in there, but some of the stuff I do up top is real similar.”
Wise words. Leave it to legendary Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully to sum up the Pete Rose Hall of Fame debate. In an interview for the released Friday to The Associated Press, Scully was asked whether he would vote to induct Rose into the Hall of Fame.
“I wouldn’t,” Scully said. “Should he be in? He should be. But by his own hand, he locked the door and kept himself outside.”
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@ denverpost.com or @psaundersdp
