We’re on the way to Opening Day..." TeamsGameday ThreadsDiamondbacks NewsDiamondbacks Game ReportsFang FoodSnake ESTShareTweetShareShareSnake line. His 2015 Royals famously road talent Brian McCann Jersey , guts and guile all the way to a world championship. “They try and put numbers on all different stuff in sports these days,” said Holland. “But you can’t put a quantified number on a clubhouse meshing and getting along. In Kansas City, if you stacked the numbers up, maybe we weren’t the best team but we played like it. We knew our roles and took care of each other. If you have a clubhouse that fits together, that translates into a lot of wins.[dbacks.com] Marte confident transition to CF will be smooth - “We feel like he’s capable of going out there and taking on that challenge,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “I know that we would be asking a lot of him, but we’ve done a lot of work and we’ve done a lot of preparation as far as conversation and just making sure that he understands the reason for us considering this. I feel like he’s going to get a lot of looks in Spring Training and we’re going to see how that plays out, and he’s assured us that he’s comfortable and ready for that challenge.”[AZ Central] Ketel Marte says he’s good to go in center field - Ketel Marte says he’s confident he can be the Diamondbacks’ answer in center field this season, and he sounded comfortable with the idea of bouncing between the outfield and the infield, a reversal from comments he made during the offseason. “I feel that I can be good out there,” said Marte, who was the club’s primary second baseman last season. “I know I’m going to be good. I’ve played center field before. I’m athletic with the talent to play anywhere.”[Arizona Sports] D-backs aim for stability with faith behind Lovullo, Hall says- “The greatest thing about Torey Lovullo and the biggest reason why we extended him is because of humility. In the dugout http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , out of the dugout, in the clubhouse, out of the clubhouse, every player that plays for him believes in him and loves him,” Hall said, adding the D-backs extended Lovullo “to show the stability. I think one of the worst things you can have — in particular with a manager who you really like and you believe in his future and you hope he’s going to be here a long time — is he looks like a lame duck.”[dbacks.com] Carson Kelly is familiar with spring facility - Right-hander Braden Shipley, who had surgery last September to remove bone spurs in his elbow, said he felt good after throwing his bullpen session Thursday. “It wasn’t allowing me to have my arm in a consistent slot on a day-to-day basis,” Shipley said of the injury. “So every day was just kind of feeling what I had that day. Command was inconsistent, breaking pitch was inconsistent and now I feel like everything is coming out of the same slot, and I’m able to really feel the ball out front.”[Arizona Sports] D-backs must decide if Rule 5 pick Nick Green is worthy of roster spot- “You have roughly 45 days to look at somebody and see what they’re very good at and what they’re working on for the future,” Lovullo said. Lovullo said he creates comfortable environments early to get to know Rule 5 players before placing them in high-leverage situations. “You’re looking at somebody that will have to be at the big league level,” he said. “There’s really no margin for error. I think accepting that responsibility as a player and knowing that you’re having to execute right now tells me a lot.”And elsewhere...[USA Today] Trevor Bauer: Indians pitcher says he faced 'character assassination' - The spin used against him in the arbitration hearing? “Basically Tyler Clippard Jersey , that I’m a terrible human being," Bauer said, “which was interesting on their part. I thought that giving to charity, especially because they didn’t mention it was a charitable campaign, just mentioned the name. They don’t mention that I gave to 68 charities or that I donated over $100,000. Or that the whole point of the campaign was to bring awareness to all those charities. Nothing about that. They tried to tell me I was running my campaign because of those numbers."Finally, in case you’d ever wondered what would be the next state it’d hit, if a home-run at Chase Field kept going...[via /r/baseball] The Pittsburgh Pirates won’t play in October this season, but they think they’ve found a staff ace who can get them there in the future.Or perhaps they’ve discovered two aces, or maybe even three.Right-hander Jameson Taillon (14-9) makes his 32nd and final start of the season Saturday by opposing Cincinnati Reds right-hander Michael Lorenzen (3-2) in the second game of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park. The Pirates are 13-4 with seven consecutive wins against the Reds this season.Article continues below ...The Pirates assured themselves of only their seventh winning record in 34 years by beating the Reds 8-4 Friday night as Colin Moran homered and drove in three runs and Elias Diaz also homered among 13 Pittsburgh hits. The Reds lost their sixth in a row and 11th in 14 games. It’s the first time since 1988 the Pirates (81-78) will own a winning record in a season in which they didn’t make the playoffs. They won the NL East in 1990, 1991 and 1992 before enduring a record 20-year span without a winning record, then reached the NL wild card game in 2013, 2014 and 2015.Taillon isn’t being mentioned in any NL Cy Young Award discussion http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , but he’s developing into one of the league’s top starting pitchers. Taillon will be looking to make his 22nd consecutive start with three earned runs or fewer allowed, a streak surpassed this season only by New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who’s made 29 consecutive such starts.Taillon out-pitched left-hander Cole Hamels of the Chicago Cubs his last time out, allowing one run and five hits over seven innings of a 5-1 Pirates victory Monday night at Wrigley Field. The start before that, Taillon threw seven shutout innings and struck out a career-high 11 against the Kansas City Royals.“He’s a tremendous pitcher and he has a lot of upside to look forward to,” Hamels told reporters after the game. “He’s going to be a challenge from here on out.”Taillon has a 2.26 ERA in his last 14 starts, and is 8-2 with a 2.16 ERA in 12 starts since the All-Star break. He’ll be looking for his fourth win of the season against the Reds.The 26-year-old Taillon and right-hander Trevor Williams (14-10) give the Pirates an outstanding one-two combo heading into next season. The Pirates also have former AL All-Star right-hander Chris Archer, who is 3-3 with a 4.30 ERA since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays but was outstanding in his final start of the season. He shut out the Cubs for six innings, striking out nine, in a 6-0 Pirates win on Tuesday.Williams, also 26, took the loss as the Cubs beat the Pirates 3-0 on Thursday, when he gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings. Williams had a 1.29 ERA in his last 13 starts Yuli Gurriel Jersey , and his 1.38 ERA over the second half of the season is one of the lowest in franchise history.“Finishing above .500 is going to be good for us moving forward with everybody coming back,” Williams told the team website.The last-place Reds have a number of young pitchers – including Lorenzen – but none has made a breakthrough like that of Taillon or Williams.Lorenzen will be making his third start since shifting into the rotation following 42 consecutive appearances out of the bullpen this season. He hadn’t started since 2015 before starting Sept. 18 against the Milwaukee Brewers. He lasted four innings in each of his two starts to date, giving up five runs and 10 hits, and was roughed up for four runs and nine hits against the Miami Marlins on Sunday. He is 3-1 with a 3.21 ERA in relief this season.Whether he’s a starter or a reliever in the future is to be determined, based on what other starters we have in the rotation and where he best fits,” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. “He’s been an integral part of the pitching staff.”Lorenzen is 4-2 with a 2.18 ERA in 23 career games against Pittsburgh. Taillon is 4-3 with a 4.28 ERA in 11 career starts against Cincinnati, including a 3-1 record and 2.84 ERA this season. He pitched a one-hit shutout against the Reds on April 8 in Pittsburgh, winning 5-0.