Notes: Valverde takes over as closer.

看板Diamondbacks作者Pulsars (嗯嗯嗯。)時間19年前 (2006/09/04 03:04)推噓0(0推 0噓 0→)

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http://0rz.net/5d1MC WASHINGTON -- Jorge Julio, who bombed as the Baltimore Orioles' bullpen stopper last year and was traded twice before assuming a similar role with the Diamondbacks, has been replaced as closer by right-hander Jose Valverde. "The closing job in the big leagues can be a very difficult job, and psychological at that," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said before the final game of a three-game series against Washington on Sunday. "It takes its toll on you. Julio was great early on for us, but he hasn't had the same success. We went with Valverde earlier, so it's time to make the change." Julio, the right-hander acquired from the New York Mets in exchange for Orlando Hernandez on May 24, piled up 15 saves upon arriving in Arizona and grabbing the closer's role from an ineffective Valverde in late May. But Julio faltered after a stellar June, during which he went 0-1 with six saves in seven chances over 13 appearances. Since then, Julio is 0-1 with a 6.09 ERA and nine saves in 12 chances over 22 games. In recent outings -- in particular, when he blew Saturday's day game by walking light-hitting leadoff hitter Bernie Castro and then serving up a game-tying two-run homer to Alfonso Soriano -- Julio had reverted to his routine of overthrowing , which has resulted in control issues. "The problem is, when you struggle for your team, that's a difficult role to struggle in too long," Melvin said. That led Melvin back to Valverde, who opened the season as the D-Backs' closer, then struggled and was sent to Triple-A Tucson to learn to mix his pitches more effectively. Valverde has 14 saves in 17 chances this year with Arizona, but is also 2-3 with a 6.64 ERA. "I'm excited to close games," said Valverde. "I worked for that. I went to Tucson and worked with the pitching coach there. And I threw better. I used to throw more fastballs." Melvin said Julio would get work in less pressure-filled situations. Julio succeeded as a setup man before he closed in Baltimore, and that was his job with the Mets, who had Billy Wagner at the back of their bullpen. "The tougher outs are often gotten in the eighth inning," Melvin said. "That's when you come in and you've got some traffic out there. You have to make a pitch and get your outs right away. Where in the closer's role, you come in with a clean slate and make your own mess." Julio accepted the demotion, though he left little doubt what role he preferred. "I want to close," he said after his Saturday struggles. Having gone through losing the closer's job with the Orioles, he's at least familiar with the territory. "I worked for my job," Julio said. "It's a tough job, you know. Sometimes you're pretty good one day, then the next day is bad." Problem solver? Right-hander Enrique Gonzalez went through another bullpen session with pitching coach Bryan Price on Saturday afternoon. Now, Price wants to see if his pupil can integrate lessons learned into game situations. Gonzalez will get the chance to demonstrate that he can do just that on Monday in Miami. Gonzalez has been winless in eight starts since July 17 and had a 6.32 ERA in August. Price has been working with him in hopes that Gonzalez would trust his sinker earlier in counts and utilize his fastball to set up his breaking ball as an out pitch. "The issues that we have haven't been about what's going on on the side," Price said. "He's got a really good approach to what he's thrown in the bullpen. ... It just hasn't translated to when he gets in there." Price thinks Gonzalez is trying to be too perfect with his pitches. Though the right-hander flourished early in the season, he's been scuffling while trying to duplicate that success. "He started out and was throwing the ball real well. It's easy to expect to be successful when you're throwing the ball well," Price said. "But sometimes you lose that expectation when you struggle. His command has depreciated in his recent outings, mostly because he wants to make too good of a pitch." Fashion sense: News that the Diamondbacks would employ a new color scheme next season -- replacing the purple hue that has been part of their uniform since the team's inception with a more desert-like red shade -- caught some of players off-guard. "We're going to red? They said that?" outfielder Eric Byrnes asked. "I'll let you know what I think as soon as I see the uniform. And then, out of respect to my employer, I still might keep my opinion to myself. I'll trust they're making a progressive move and [that] they know what they're doing." Most players seemed uninterested in the alteration. "It doesn't matter what color it is, as long as I'm wearing a Diamondbacks uniform," said outfielder Chris Young. "In high school, I wore red, so this will bring me back to the old days." Edgar's chance: Melvin said the Diamondbacks would recall right-hander Edgar Gonzalez from Triple-A Tucson to make a start Wednesday at Florida. Gonzalez is 1-2 with a 6.27 ERA in six appearances this season, including two starts. Either Miguel Batista or Livan Hernandez would then work Thursday's home game against St. Louis, which begins a 10-game homestand. Coming up: The Diamondbacks open a three-game series in Florida against the Marlins on Labor Day at 10:05 a.m. MST. Gonzalez (3-6) pitches against right-hander Brian Moehler (7-8), who was inserted into the Marlins' rotation when Ricky Nolasco came up with a sore hamstring. --- 反正就是Julio最近在爆爆樂， Melvin把肥弟變回closer，這可以算是D-backs' closer爭奪戰？把Julio抽掉之後，他會變成setup man，因為Melvin說他以前當setup當得不錯。另外就是要把purple抽掉的事，球員似乎都沒有意願也不是很喜歡，那球團會怎麼做呢？我們就等著新的uniform出來之後再評論吧！因為說是沙漠那種紅色，似乎就不會是正紅色了。想像之後覺得好像沒那麼差？ Enrique接受了Price的一些指導， Price覺得Enrique給自己太大的壓力了，他希望Enrique能回到剛上Major的那樣子。另外Marlins的第三場確定是Edgar，希望他能夠穩住，因為我想大家喜歡Edgar遠遠超過Vargas吧.... -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 61.230.11.221