With 9 strikeouts in 6 innings on Thursday night, Trevor Bauer now leads all Minor League pitchers in strikeouts with 37, passing AA Mobile teammate Tyler Skaggs. Close behind in the strikeout race is Visalia (High Class A) pitcher Andrew Chafin, who has 33 strikeouts in just 20.2 IP. 

(Through games of Thursday, April 26)

Just missing the Top 10 are several more Diamondback pitchers - David Holmberg and Michael Bolsinger of Visalia have 27 strikeouts each, Archie Bradley has 26 for South Bend, Patrick Corbin of Mobile has 25, and Anthony Meo of Visalia has 24.

The Diamondbacks have added to their organizational depth by acquiring 3B Josh Bell (assigned to AAA Reno) and OF Brent Clevlen (to AA Mobile). The recent injury to OF Chris Young and the slow start by 3B Ryan Roberts have highlighted the organization's lack of position player depth in the upper minors, and both newcomers could find themselves with opportunities at the Major League level if things break right for them.

Josh Bell
Bell, age 25, was originally a 4th Round draft pick of the Dodgers in the 2005 draft. He went to the Orioles in 2009 as part of a trade for LHP George Sherrill, and then was traded to the Diamondbacks on April 21 after being designated for assignment by the Orioles. Bell had played parts of the 2010 and 2011 seasons in Baltimore, compiling a career .200/.221/.264 batting line over 220 AB. Even worse, Bell has a career strikeout-to-walk ratio of 78 to 6, which is the poorest of any Major Leaguer with over 200 plate appearances over the last two years.  

Bell's Minor League numbers are a little better, as he actually posted decent walk and OBP numbers in 2008 and 2009 to go with some good power. But at the AAA level, the K/BB ratio deteriorated and the OBP dropped to an unacceptable level.

The Orioles Designated Bell For Assignment after Spring Training, giving the 3B position to a combination of Mark Reynolds, Wilson Betemit, and Rule 5 pick Ryan Flaherty, and the Diamondbacks acquired him for a player to be named later. He was assigned to AAA Reno, and has gotten off to a hot start, with 2 HR and 6 RBI in his first 10 ABs, plus one walk. With Ryan Roberts off to a slow start in the Majors (.170/.254/.264), Bell is battling with fellow AAA 3B Ryan Wheeler for an opportunity to play in the Majors.  But even with Bell's hot start, he needs to show much better plate discipline before getting another shot at the Major League level.

Brett Clevlen
Clevlen (age 28) has spent parts of four seasons in the Majors, with the Tigers and the Braves. Over 77 career Major League ABs, he has a line of .234/.280/.429, with 3 HR, 7 RBI, and an ugly 31/5 K/BB ratio. He's a good athlete who has power, can run, and can play decent outfield defense, but he's always had trouble with too many strikeouts and too low of a batting average.

Clevlen may still find a role as a 4th or 5th outfielder in the Majors. He has a strong arm, and has played plenty of CF (243 games) and RF (636 games) in the Minors. And Clevlen's power is always a good asset to have on the bench. If the Diamondbacks decide that they don't want a young player like A.J. Pollock sitting on the bench in the Majors, they may turn to a veteran like Clevlen for the reserve outfielder role.

The week of April 16-22 was a rough one for the Diamondbacks, as the team dropped five out of seven games to the Pirates and the Braves, including five losses in a row from Tuesday through Saturday. Even worse, the Diamondbacks lost hot-hitting CF Chris Young and #2 Starter Daniel Hudson to the 15-Day Disabled List, and were also without RF Justin Upton for several games due to a thumb injury. Not surprisingly, the team struggled to score runs all week, scoring just 21 runs over 7 games, while giving up 34. Here is a recap of Week 2 for the Diamondbacks, focusing on the team's injuries, offensive struggles, and some important minor league promotions.
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Although several players have started off slowly for the Diamondbacks, the team still has a solid 7-3 record through the first ten games. The offense has scored 48 Runs through the 10 games, good for the third best rate in the NL, while the pitchers have allowed 37 Runs, which ranks 7th in the NL. Let's take a closer look at the individual performances so far this season.

In one year, things have really changed for the Diamondbacks' pitching staff. One year ago, the team was trying to pick between Zach Duke, Armando Galarraga, Barry Enright, and Aaron Heilman for the back end of the rotation. The bullpen was coming off a historically bad season in 2010, and was hoping for improvement from newcomers J.J. Putz and David Hernandez. As we head into the 2012 season, the Diamondbacks now have five reliable starters (Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, Trevor Cahill, Joe Saunders, Josh Collmenter), plus several exciting backup options in Trevor Bauer, Tyler Skaggs, Patrick Corbin, and Wade Miley. Similarly, the bullpen has become an asset for the team, and has a quality pitcher in every slot.

Following up the projections for the hitters, here are my predictions for the Diamondbacks' pitchers for 2012.

The Diamondbacks' Minor League season begins on Thursday, and the rosters for all of the full-season clubs have been announced. From a prospect point of view, the team to watch will again be the Mobile BayBears, which will have 10 of the organization's Top 25 prospects, including #1 Trevor Bauer, #3 Tyler Skaggs, #4 Matt Davidson, and #8 Patrick Corbin. Each club in the system, however, will have at least one highly rated prospect to follow: #2 Archie Bradley at Class A South Bend, #5 David Holmberg at High A Visalia, and #6 A.J. Pollock at AAA Reno.  Three of the the top five pitchers, Bauer, Holmberg, and ABradley, are scheduled to start on Opening Night tonight.

Here are the assignments for the organization's Top 25 Prospects:

The Arizona Diamondbacks have released the roster for the Reno Aces, their AAA affililiate in the Pacific Coast League. The most exciting prospects on the club are outfielder A.J. Pollock (our #6 prospect) and infielder Ryan Wheeler (#15), both moving up after a season in AA Mobile.  Most of the rest of the roster includes veteran minor leaguers, who are ready to be called up if needed in the Majors. The starting rotation will be led by two pitchers with some Major League experience, Barry Enright and Joe Martinez, while the bullpen will be led by closer Mike DeMark. Here is the full roster for the AAA Reno Aces:

SP: Barry Enright, Chris Jakubauskas, Zach Kroenke, Tom Layne, Joe Martinez
RP: Jonathan Albaladejo, Sam Demel, Jason Lane, Jensen Lewis, Daniel Stange, Mike Zagurski, Mike DeMark, Bryan Woodall
C: Konrad Schmidt, Mark Reed, Ryan Budde (DL)
IF: Jake Elmore, Taylor Harbin, Mike Jacobs (Suspended), Tommy Manzella, Cody Ransom, Randy Ruiz, Rusty Ryal (DL), Ryan Wheeler
OF: Evan Frey, Cole Gillespie, Ryan LaPensee, A.J. Pollock 

Two players are starting the season on the Disabled List, catcher Ryan Budde and infielder Rusty Ryal, while 1B Mike Jacobs is serving a 50 game suspension for a positive HGH test.