The Diamondbacks went to the Fightin’ Irish for their second 1st round pick on Tuesday, selecting outfielder/second baseman A.J. Pollock from Notre Dame. Pollock is listed at 6′1″ and 200 lbs, which is closer to “pro size” than most of the players in this draft. There isn’t a huge upside to Pollock, but he could be expected to hit 15-20 home runs a season with another 25-30 stolen bases and a respectable average around .280. He probably won’t be a superstar, but he certainly has the potential to be an every-day major leaguer.
The Diamondbacks had the #16 and #17 spots in the first round of this year’s draft. With their first pick, they chose Bobby Bochering, a third basemen from Bishop Verot High School in Florida. He’s got plenty of size for a third basemen — he’s listed at 6′4″ and 190 lbs, and I’m sure the DBacks are expecting him to gain some weight as he progresses through the minors. He’ll likely make the move to the other side of the diamond and play first base. He wasn’t drafted for his glove, but for his hitting ability. He’s a switch hitter who puts a lot of pop on the ball.
Mark Reynolds went to the plate in the 18th inning with an 0 for 6 on the day. He avoided a dreaded 0 for 7 by belting a 3-run homer off Padres infielder-turned-relief-pitcher Jack Wilson as the D-Backs won 9-6. The Diamondbacks entered the 9th inning with a comfortable 6-1 lead, but their bullpen blew it as the Padres tied the score. From that point on, both teams displayed some of the best relief pitching we’ve seen all season, pitching 8 scoreless innings apiece in a game that took nearly 6 hours to complete.
Every starting position player for both teams, with the exception of Brian Giles, had at least one hit. Giles 0 for 6 dropped his average on the season to .192.
The Diamondbacks ended the Padres 10 game winning streak last night, but there are more challenges ahead. Tonight they have to face Padres ace Jake Peavy, who has rebounded from a rough start this season and won his last 3 decisions. His eyesight is also so impaired that he couldn’t read the number on the back of the batter’s jersey without his contacts in. Heck, he’d have trouble identifying which batters box the batter was standing in. That’s got to be intimidating when he’s throwing hard baseballs in your general direction at 90 mph.
The DBacks have Billy Buckner starting for them. Buckner pitched on May 22 and gave up just 1 ER in 7 innings.
