7:05, WPGB
Micah Owings (2-1, 3.30) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (5-2, 2.36). Not to be confused with Nationals pitcher Micah Bowie, Owings is probably a pretty good prospect. I say "probably" because he's flew through the minors too quickly to get a clear read and because the wacky hitting environments where the D'Backs have/had minor league ballparks (Tucson, El Paso, Lancaster) make it hard to know what to make of Diamondbacks pitching prospects in general. Brandon Webb was completely off some prospect radars, mostly for that reason. Anyway, Owings doesn't have great stuff - his slider is probably his best pitch, and it's not supposed to be a great one - but his command is very good.
Here's the box. Chris Duffy sits after his miserable performance yesterday; Nate McLouth starts in center and leads off, which doesn't seem like much of an improvement. I hope this doesn't become like my sixth grade soccer team. I was the starter at left halfback, but I wasn't any good; there just weren't a whole lot of options. So the coach would leave me out there until I inevitably did something stupid, at which point he'd throw up his hands and replace me with my friend Sean, who at the time was similarly tall, gangly, well-intentioned, and not very good. (Unlike me, Sean became a pretty good athlete later, once he grew into his body.) And then Sean would do something stupid, and the coach would put me back in. Wash, rinse, repeat. The coach rarely subbed anyone else.
Anyway, Ryan Doumit catches and bats seventh. Don Kelly starts at short and bats eighth. Gorzelanny, remember, just got his first big league hit against Dontrelle Willis this week. I'm not going to do any research on this one, but if Xavier Nady happens to make a third out from the seven spot, Kelly-Gorzelanny-McLouth may be the easiest half-inning any pitcher has all year.