Diamondbacks Begin Finalizing Positions
By Kody Acevedo
The Arizona Diamondbacks are getting ready to enter their third week of spring training Cactus League play Monday and first-year manager Chip Hale will begin rounding-out his starting defense for the regular season.
Coming into the Spring, the D-backs had questions marks at left Field, short stop, second base and third base.
The D-backs have options when it comes to Left Field. The battle for the starting spot utlimately comes down to Cody Ross and David Peralta. Ross and Peralta are both hitting .333 this spring, but due to Ross’ age, Peralta will likely get the starting job.
Ross’ career dates back to 2003, when he made his MLB debut with the Detroit Tigers. He is a career .263 hitter, but doesn’t possess the arm strength that Peralta has. Mark Trumbo will make the transition from Left to Right this season and A.J. Pollock will continue to man Center.
In the middle infield spots, the youngsters are making early impressions this spring.
After Didi Gregorius was traded to the Yankees during the off season, the D-backs will likely turn to Nick Ahmed at Short Stop, who’s hitting .381 this spring. Ahmed has been reported as a Gregorius-type player and owns a .300 career average dating back to 2013.
Second Base is a different story.
Aaron Hill seemed to be the most likely candidate to take the position. But, then there’s Chris Owings, who played a solid second base in the final months of 2014 and hit .261 with 26 RBIs in 91 games.
Another guy the D-backs are looking at is Brandon Drury, who leads the team this spring with a .400 average, two home runs and six RBIs. Drury is a natural third baseman, but reports say Drury saw a lot of time at second during the Arizona Fall League.
Drury will probably not be the opening day second baseman, but he is a solid guy to have in reserve incase of any injuries throughout the season. We’ll keep our eye on him as the spring progresses.
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Finally, the hopes for Third Base lie in the hands of Cuban player Yasmany Tomas, who signed a six year deal worth $68.5 million. The D-backs put a lot of faith into Tomas and were all in on him to be their everyday third baseman, however, that idea is now in question.
As report earlier this weekend, Tomas is struggling at third base. Manager Chip Hale said Tomas isn’t up to par at the hot corner and needs to focus more at third base.
If Tomas continues to struggle, it’s possible he could move to the outfield. At the plate, he’s hitting .226 with one home run and two RBIs in 31 at bats this spring.
It’s still early in spring though. After about 1/3 of the way through the Cactus League, Tomas has a good amount of time left to show what he can do. I expect, given a little more time, to see Tomas at third on opening night. The guy is just 24-years-old and Arizona has invested a lot in him. They’ll work with him and get him where he needs to be.
That’s the beauty of spring. Teams get to try new things and look at new guys in different positions. Who knows, next week we may have something different to say about all of this.
My only piece of advice is to stay tuned, as we all are.