ADAM VANKIRK: On the MLB big stage

Fri, May 16 2008

— Arizona has picked up this season right where it left off last year — atop the National League standings. And the fast start has once again propelled the Diamondbacks into the national spotlight.
On Monday morning, Arizona third baseman Mark Reynolds took the spotlight and talked with Sage Steele on ESPN’s First Take. The two discussed baseball, on and off the field, and about Reynolds’ hot start to the 2008 campaign.
However, the highlight of the interview, for me anyway, was when Reynolds poked fun at teammate and fellow eastern Kentucky product Brandon Webb. Reynolds, who grew up in Pikeville, said Webb is the player he most enjoys watching in the batting cage, saying “he can’t hit for anything.”
In a not-so-lighthearted answer, Reynolds said Webb, with his nasty sinkerball, is also the last guy on the team he would like to face as an opposing batter.
Reynolds talked about the Diamondbacks’ clubhouse atmosphere, which apparently includes some heated contests of Connect Four (a popular kids’ game that dates back to the 1970s) and touched on the topic of veteran pitcher Randy Johnson’s return to the Diamondbacks’ rotation.
Arizona, which had the National League’s best regular-season record in 2007 at 90-72, is atop the NL in the early goings of ’08. The Diamondbacks were 13-5 and already held a four-game lead in the West heading into Monday night’s games.
Reynolds leads Arizona in home runs (5) and RBIs (18). His RBI total ranks second in the league behind New York’s David Wright.
Webb, the 2006 Cy Young Award winner from Ashland, is 4-0 with an earned run average under 2.00 this season. Webb is scheduled to pitch tonight at home against the San Francisco Giants.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, relief pitcher Juan Cruz is the reigning Connect Four champion among the Diamondbacks.
Baseball’s insiders
In addition to Webb and Reynolds, there are a handful of other area products in, or working their way into, the big leagues.
—Caleb Stewart: The
outfielder from Boyd County has moved up to Triple-A from Double-A ball a season ago, where he put together a
16-game hit streak that earned him the Eastern League Player of the Month award in May. Stewart was also a Midseason All-Star, driving in 69 runs with 16 home runs in Binghamton in 2007.
Stewart, a Mets’ draft pick in 2004, is off to a bit of a slow start in 2008, batting just .186 with no home runs through 10 games.
—Josh Newman: From across the river in Wheelersburg, Newman is a left-handed pitcher who made his major league debut in limited action with the Colorado Rockies last season. He pitched all of the 2006 season at Double-A Tulsa, tallying a 9-5 record and 3.16 ERA in 62 relief appearances before splitting time between the majors and Triple-A last season.
Newman, who had a solid spring and made the Rockies’ 40-man roster, has a 2.16 ERA in seven relief appearance at Triple-A Colorado Springs this season.
—John Adkins: The Wayne County, W.Va., graduate is currently pitching for the Cincinnati Reds’ Triple-A team in Louisville. In six relief appearance, he has two saves and a 0.93 ERA.
Adkins made his major league debut last season with the Mets, pitching a scoreless inning against the Nationals at Shea Stadium before being optioned back to Triple-A.
Along with the Mets, Adkins has moved around the Athletics, White Sox and Padres organizations before getting a non-roster invite to Reds’ camp this spring.
Adkins had an outstanding high school career, leading Wayne to three state championships with a career 42-5 record. He pitched college ball at perennial power Oklahoma State, where he was 24-8 in three seasons.
—Charlie Reliford, Greg Gibson and Sam Holbrook: All three have ties to northeastern Kentucky and are back in the majors as umpires this season.
Reliford has 17 years of service as an ump, working two All-Star Games (1996 and 2007), a handful of league division and championship series and two World Series (2000, 2004). Gibson has eight years of service and has also worked his share of division and championship series. Reliford and Gibson, both of Ashland, are working on the same crew again in 2008.
Holbrook, from Morehead, has seven years experience in the majors and has worked an All-Star Game and division series.
—P.J. Archey: The Greenup County graduate is the senior vice president for Major League Baseball. The former Musketeers baseball and basketball standout is in charge of World Baseball Classic operations.
ADAM VANKIRK can be reached at avankirk@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2664.