El Paso Diablos fans interested in knowing what the last 10 games have been
like for their team need only memorize these six numbers: 5, 11, 22, 50, 1,500
and 9.5 million.
Five represents the Diablos’ 5-5 record since August 17 which kept them 11
games behind the Round Rock Express in the Texas League’s Western Division.
Twenty-two represents the amount of runs they put up against the Arkansas
Travelers on August 18th. The offensive explosion was seen by about 50 people
even though the official number was closer to 1,500 because of the no-show
season ticket holders who seemed to end their season a long time ago. The lack
of fan support, which has led to a third consecutive year of record low
attendance, helped persuade management to take the $ 9.5 million offer from a
Springfield, Mo. organization and leave town.
As bad as the last two weeks have been for the Diablos, Diamondback fans can
take comfort in the fact that many of the top D’back prospects playing in El
Paso continued their progression towards the show.
Topping that list of top prospects was Carlos Quentin. The Diablos right
fielder did some major league raking at the plate batting .481 with 1 home run
and 8 RBIs. He’s also earned himself a spot in the minor league record books
when Travelers pitcher Cam Esslinger hit Quentin with a pitch in the 8th inning
of Thursday’s game. The beaming marked the 40th time Quentin was hit by a
pitch this season, tying the minor league record.
Quentin, who was one of the Diamondbacks two first round draft picks in 2003
is batting .372 with 5 home runs and 37 RBIs this season.
The D’backs other first round pick in 2003, Conor. Jackson, continues to
swing well, knocking in a team high 12 runs during the 10 game span. He also led
the team with 14 hits which helped him bat .378 during the stretch. The man from
California is batting .314 on the season with 6 home runs and 36 RBIs.
A few other players of note for manager Scott Coolbaugh’s team are Vic Hall, Jesus Cota and Keoni DeRenne. Hall, who just had his 16-game hitting
streak snapped Thursday in the Diablos 6-0 victory over the Travelers, batted
.321 with 7 RBIs over the last 10 games. The speedy outfielder made up for the
hitless performance by swiping two bases which gave him 11 steals on the season.
Cota drove in 9 runs and batted .317 over the last 10 games to push his
season average to .298. The big first baseman from Tucson, Az., was a 14th round
draft pick by the Diamondbacks in 2001 and is currently leading the Diablos with
10 home runs and 57 RBIs.
DeRenne has responded to being sent down to the Diablos by batting .387 with
12 hits and 11 runs scored for El Paso. The shortstop who was the Atlanta Braves
12th round pick in 2000 has also driven in four runs since joining the team.
As usual, pitching continues to be hit and miss with El Paso. By that I mean
they’ve been giving up a lot of hits and the strike zone is what they are
missing. The most consistent Diablo pitcher during this 10-game stretch has been
Matt Chico. The left-hander who was the Diamondbacks third round pick in 2003
was 1-0 in two starts for El Paso. He gave up five runs off of 12 hits and
struck out 10 while only walking three in 11 1/3 innings pitched. Chico is now 3
- 5 on the season with a 5.30 ERA in 12 games.
Clint Goocher also showed some flashes of brilliance during the last 10
games. Especially on Friday night when he pitched eight shutout innings against
the Travelers to improve his season record to 6-8. During the last 10 games
Goocher was 1-1 and gave up seven runs and 13 hits in 13 innings of work.