The Arizona Diamondbacks appear to be a team without too many holes. Their rotation looks solid from top to bottom, the painfully underrated Conor Jackson is turning into a player that could be a cornerstone for a franchise, and Brandon Lyon has done a capable job finishing games although he never did profile as your stereotypical closer. But this is not exactly a perfect team and the stats show that there may be some rockier times ahead.

It’s not really a revelation to state that Chase Field is a hitter’s park. In 2007, the home of the Diamondbacks had 11% more runs scored within its confines than in the average stadium. In 2008, that figure’s even higher at nearly 27%, which is second highest in MLB. So I find it curious that so far this season, only 9% of fly balls given up by D-Backs pitching have left the yard, which is tied for the lowest percentage in the National League. Even with perhaps the best ground ball pitcher in the game today, Brandon Webb, the Arizona staff have generated only a 43% ground ball percentage, meaning that 57% of batted balls were airborne, a figure that’s higher than the league average (44%). This is a pitching staff that should be giving up more home runs than they have. And I think they eventually will. But the problem is that finding better arms than Webb, Danny Haren, Randy Johnson, Micah Owings, and Doug Davis is a difficult task. They even have Max Scherzer as insurance. But upgrading their lineup to help compensate for the increase in runs allowed isn’t a bad way to go either, and this should be easier to do.

Led by Conor Jackson and Orlando Hudson, the Diamondbacks lineup is sound, but can be improved. Sure, Mark Reynolds has been jacking up dingers like nobody’s business, but as of this writing, 21.5% of his batted fly balls are leaving the park, which is potentially sustainable, but do know that in 2007 there were only seven hitters who maintained that or better. Long story short, I don’t think he’s at those guys’ level just yet. And despite Chris B. Young’s inability to raise his paltry BABiP no matter how hard he tries, he appears to have a ton of talent. And with young Stephen Drew and Justin Upton performing admirably, there’s really only one major hole in their offense – left field (Eric Byrnes).

It might seem blasphemous to suggest that Eric Byrnes, a man who finished 11th in NL MVP voting last season, can be replaced, but it’s true. Simply put, the man never has been as good a player as the general populace thinks. Personally, I blame fantasy baseball. You see that he hit 20+ HRs for the past two seasons and that he swiped 50 bags and think he’s a superstar. But for his career, his line is a pretty pedestrian .264/.326/.447. Despite “breaking out” in 2006 with 26 home runs, he still ended up with a 96 OPS-Plus, which made him a below average offensive player. Last season, he broke the 100 barrier by posting a barely above average 104 OPS-Plus, but this was in large part due to the fact that he also had a .309 BABiP, which for Eric Byrnes, is pretty dang high as he’s usually in the .270 area. To boot, he’s had a terrible 2008 thus far, with a line of .219/.285/.388 and is on the DL with a strained right hamstring, due to return very soon.

The man does, to his credit, play a pretty good left field, leading the position in revised zone rating. But if it weren’t for the ill-advised 3-year/$30 million extension he signed last year, he may have already been benched, grit and spunk be damned.

-What They Need Index-

They say laws are like sausages: you never want to see them being made.

Allow me to add a third item to that list: mustaches.

Granted, there is no facial hairstyle that rivals the mustache for pure machismo or sex appeal (see: Selleck, Brimley, Daulerio). But while a fully-formed mustache is a thing of beauty, a mustache in the works is a scary and unnerving phenomenon.

Take Eric Byrnes new ’stache, for example. It is truly Unfortunate Facial Hair.

As you can see, the mustache is still in development and is rather awkward. Simply put, this fruit is not yet ripe.

Why would anybody do this to his face?

“I have not shaved since we started peeling off those wins,” Byrnes said. “And, coincidentally, I started hitting, so put the two of them together and the mustache isn’t going anywhere. As long as we keep winning or I keep getting hits, this mustache is staying.”

Ok, that’s legit. As Crash Davis would say, “you have to respect the streak.” But let me submit that the proper way to grow a mustache is to first grow a beard and then shave off all of one’s facial hair, excepting the hair above the upper lip. Ladies love the five o’clock shadow. And the full beard is a look that says, “I’m ready for the playoffs, even in April.”

What Byrnes has done – growing only the mustache and shaving the rest of his face hair – is just wrong. Fans shouldn’t have to endure this in-between period. We’ll be ready to embrace the ’stache when it is really and truly ready for prime time, but we shouldn’t have to see how the sausage is made.

Eric Byrnes is a wild man. He crashes into walls with a wreckless abandon. He pours half a bottle of baby powder down his pants before games (evidently). But he’s so much more than just a ball player. Recently, he did an interview with mlb.com that showed just a few ways he’s more complicated than you may have expected.

Eric on his hobbies:

Karate was fun. My dad was a fourth degree black belt in karate and was a karate instructor. I loved it, I just think I got to the point of whatever my parents wanted me to do, I wanted to do the opposite. I eventually strayed away from karate and tennis. The other thing was that in karate I was always getting disqualified for head contact. I kept hitting the other kid in the head and you’re not supposed to. I loved playing tennis and I played it very competitively until I was about 16 years old, and then I gave up everything else for baseball and football. I made it all the way to brown belt in karate and probably, when I’m done playing ball, I’ll go back and get my black belt. I still play a good game of tennis. My serve is still there. My forehand is good and I used to have a two-handed backhand — you can now throw that out the window, that doesn’t exist anymore. I’ve gotten a little bigger and I use a one-handed, sliced backhand, I need to work on it. Tennis was probably the most competitive game I played when I was growing up. It was intense.

Eric on his dogs:

My two bulldogs are the pride and joy of my life. I love them. They are the cutest little things that you will ever see and even through all the drooling and slobbering and farting and snoring that they do, they are just a joy to be around. I just like to kick it with them and take them down to the beach, let them go crazy in the waves — they run and hit the waves and run back because they get scared. They love to go out on walks and because they’re big, they like to wrestle and get after it a bit. We’ve definitely gone a few rounds wrestling. My girlfriend takes care of them when I’m on the road. It’s a pretty good deal. Without her I wouldn’t be able to have them, it would just be too tough. The joke that I’ve always told her is that the dogs are what’s held our relationship together … uh, she obviously doesn’t find that very funny.

Eric on the media:

I watch Fox News. That’s all, no TV series, no CNN, just Fox News. I leave the TV on it all day.

Eric on what could have been:

If I hadn’t been a baseball player I would have been a bridge toll taker. I’m not kidding. I always wanted to be a bridge toll taker when I was a kid in the Bay area. I would see those people kicking it in the booth and I thought that would be a really cool job. Just sitting there with your music, reading, watching TV, do whatever, take the money. Looked like a good job to me.

Carlos Quentin, an old pal from my broadcasting days back at Stanford, has finally made it to the big leagues with the Diamondbacks this past week. I say finally, because despite the fact that he has long had nothing left to prove in the minors, he has been trapped behind the outfield logjam of “experienced veterans” Shawn Green, Eric Byrnes, and Luis Gonzalez, despite the fact that, frankly, he is probably already better than all of them at this stage in their careers.

Take a moment and check out Quentin’s career numbers in the minor leagues and college. As you can see, his lowest OPS at any level of the minors or college was .912 way back when he was only a sophomore at Stanford. In fact, Quentin’s numbers in the minors were considered to be so good, that Snakes manager Bob Melvin had to despell a rumor that Luis Gonzalez was going to be permanently benched when Quentin was called up.

Sure enough, Quentin has gotten off to a booming start, sluggin 3 homeruns in his first 6 games and compiling a 1.478 OPS.  And yet, the D-Backs are only fitting Quentin into the lineup every other day.  To be sure, Quentin is not going to maintain these numbers for a whole season, but surely he should be in the lineup every day, given the alternatives–a Shawn Green who is a pale, pale shadow of his once 40-homer self, an always entertaining but inadequate Eric Byrns, and a tired old Luis “could he possibly have hit 57 homers that year?” Gonzalez, who’s once prodigous power has almost completely evaporated now that he has gone off the juice.

In my last entry, I listed five guys who would be on the DL before the All-Star break. Since the article was posted, three players have already been stricken by the injury bug. Gary Sheffield and Kerry Wood have both been placed on the 15-day DL and Barry Bonds has missed five straight games with a sore left side. In this column, I have listed five more players that present intermediate injury risks to your fantasy team. Proceed at your own risk.

J.D. DREW

If you were to start a Fantasy Injury League, Drew would be a top-three pick. J.D. has missed 27 games or more in six of his seven full professional seasons. On average, Drew misses approximately a month per season and consistently breaks fantasy owners’ hearts with lingering hamstring pulls. It’s only a matter of time until Drew blows a gasket again this season and hampers your fantasy team’s stretch run. He’s been posting great numbers this season, so try to work a trade with another owner and get market value from a less-risky outfielder.

JAKE PEAVY

The damage may have already been done to Jake Peavy. By looking at his numbers this season, one could assume that Peavy is pitching hurt and just doesn’t want to admit it. At 4-7 with a 4.96 ERA, Peavy is nowhere near his form from the 2004 and 2005 campaigns in which he posted a combined record of 28-13 with an ERA hovering around 2.50. It’s possible that Peavy is pitching through pain to help his Padres stay in the NL West race – an unselfish but extremely dangerous notion. Be weary of Peavy’s progress and check-up on his health regularly.

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