Reigning NL Player of the Week, Garrett Atkins and the rest of the Rockies travel to the Chafe for their next test against a Diamondbacks team that took two of three from us at Coors in week one. Aaron Cook expects to see all lefties, all the time tonight. Meanwhile, a quick look at the stats shows that despite such visionary lineup builds, the Diamondbacks' bats haven't woken up yet, but don't let their last place average (mentioned in this RMN scouting report) completely fool you. The OBP takes them up a few notches, as do their seventy six total bases (only seventeen extra base hits-oops). No, it turns out the worst hitting team in the National League is the one we just met. As far as the starting pitching, that should be a concern, the Diamondbacks' hurlers were pretty damn good last week.
Now for one last stat table: spectators in the front row at Chase will get some relief from the desert sun this week, as the Rockies have generously agreed to fan away.
Looking at some of the stories gracing our opponents' newspapers, the Diamondbacks' Conor Jackson has to be an early favorite for the NL Rookie of the Year award, and his first week hasn't been disappointing. The Chafe's roof remains an enigma wrapped in mystery, as apparently the Diamondbacks have some sort of secret guardian council which determines whether it will be opened, or closed.
The Council has spoken...