Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson searching for offensive answers
Jul 23, 2013, 8:44 PM | Updated: 11:04 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson is trying.
Leading the now second place team, he is doing what he can to get an offense that has produced nine runs in its last five games back on track.
Does he want to add a hitter via a trade? How about give a prospect a chance?
“I don’t know, you’d have to talk to K.T. about that,” Gibson told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo Tuesday.
“K.T.” is Kevin Towers, the team’s general manager, and if a deal is to be swung he will be the one leading the charge. However, Gibson said he doesn’t think the roster needs to change much.
“I think we have the guys in place to have enough offense,” he said, adding the team ranks near the top of baseball — or in the upper half — in most offensive categories.
The D-backs rank 14th in the baseball with 407 runs scored, are 15th in batting average (.254), 19th in OPS (.702) and 27th in home runs (80).
Down years from some of his outfielders has led to the skipper shuffling his lineup to try and find the right combination between Cody Ross, Jason Kubel, A.J. Pollock, Gerardo Parra and Adam Eaton. Gibson understands how it can be a challenge because it’s possible each would perform better if in the lineup on a regular basis.
“I think it works against you a little bit when you’re a player because they all expect and want to play every day, yet at the same time they have to be a good teammate and they want to be a good teammate,” he said. “There’s intriguing things that go on within our lineup and those are things we’ve got to figure out.”
So Gibson and his coaching staff will continue to mix and match, at least until he decides the best course of action is to produce a set lineup and hope that is the panacea for the team’s offensive ills.
