The Diamondbacks have released 39-year old righty swinging 3B Melvin Mora. Mora played in 42 games for the D-Backs this year and he was 29 for 127 (.228 avg, .520 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers and 16 RBIs. Mora was just a hacker for the Diamondbacks having whiffed 24 times while only walking 2 times so far this year. Ryan Roberts has taken over as the starting 3B for the Diamondbacks and that is the biggest reason for Mora’s release. Mora might be at the end of a pretty solid major league career. Mora has played in 1,556 games in his first 13 years in the majors and he is 1,503 of 5,422 (.277 avg, .781 OPS) with 794 runs scored, 171 homers, 754 RBIs and 93 stolen bases.

35-year old righty swinging infielder Cody Ransom isn’t ready to hang up the spikes quite yet. He has played in 74 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 89 for 276 (.322 avg, 1.032 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 20 homers, 70 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. If nothing else, I can see the D-Backs calling Ransom up on September 1st when rosters expand, if he’s not needed before then. Ransom has played in 219 games in parts of 8 years in the majors and he is 69 for 304 (.227 avg, .702 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 9 homers, 39 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.

30-year old 3B Ryan Roberts started the 2011 season like a ball of fire with the bat in his hands. But, he is starting to cool off at the plate as the pitchers have adjusted to him. Roberts has played in 23 games so far in June and he is 21 for 91 (.231 avg, .686 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 3 homers, 11 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Roberts’ overall numbers still look solid for the Diamondbacks. Roberts has played in 68 games for the Diamondbacks this year and he is 61 for 237 (.257 avg, .790 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 10 homers, 33 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Roberts is 3rd in runs scored (42), 4th in homers (10), 5th in RBIs (33) and he’s tied for second in stolen bases (9) for the Diamondbacks so far. This really came out of nowhere as the D-Backs were planning on platooning Geoff Blum and Melvin Mora at 3B in 2011. Injuries to both of those guys opened the door for Roberts and he has taken advantage of that chance so far this year. Roberts already has career highs in runs scored, homers, RBIs and stolen bases so he might just keep the starting job at 3B. But, he needs to start to turn things around a little bit with the bat going forward.

The Diamondbacks will be without 31-year old righty reliever Brandon Lyon for the rest of the year due to surgery on his right biceps muscle. Lyon pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Diamondbacks this year and he was 3-3 with 4 saves, a 11.48 ERA and a 2.40 WHIP. He was pitching hurt anyway, so he wasn’t helping the team at all. 26-year old righty reliever Mark Melancon will be the Astros’ closer going forward. He has pitched in 36 games (0 starts) for the Astros so far this year and he is 4-1 with 6 saves, a 1.83 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.

26-year old righty starting pitcher Ian Kennedy has been solid this year but he has really stepped up his game in May and June. In 9 starts in May and June, Kennedy is 4-1 with a 2.40 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He has only given up 49 hits in 63 2/3 innings in his last 9 starts as he is missing a lot of bats. Kennedy has now pitched in 15 games (all starts) for the D-Backs so far this year and he is 7-2 with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He has only given up 81 hits in 102 2/3 innings for the D-Backs this year, which is pretty darn impressive. Away from the pressure cooker with the New York Yankees, Kennedy is relaxed as is realizing his full talent in Arizona. The Diamondbacks hope that Kennedy keeps rolling along because he has been the ace of the pitching staff.