Second-Year Diamondbacks Not Rattled Yet

Returning from almost three weeks in Europe and Africa on Wednesday, it was not news to Jerry Colangelo, managing general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, that his second-year team led the National League West by two games over the San Francisco Giants.

It’s a small world, after all, and getting smaller.

“I had my world cell phone, and I used it to listen to most of our closes,” he said, referring to the final innings, the one area that has most often tested Manager Buck Showalter’s patience and Colangelo’s batteries.

On Tuesday night, for instance, Gregg Olson blew his sixth save in 14 chances, and it was Showalter who dialed internationally for help.

He indicated that Olson is out and either Byung-Hyun Kim or Vladimir Nunez are in, maybe both.

Barring trade, Arizona is trusting the fragile assignment of closing games to two rookies--both tested internationally but comparative novices in the major leagues.

“I’m confident they can handle it,” Showalter said, devoid of options for now and unable to say anything less.

“Whoever warrants the situation will get it.”

Kim and Nunez both appeared in an unusual situation Wednesday night, with Nunez, 24, a Cuban defector who received a $1.8-million signing bonus in 1995, three years before the Diamondbacks played their first game, saving an 8-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs after Kim, the major league’s youngest player at 20, was ejected for having a foreign substance on his body in the eighth inning.

No one would have known about it if the adhesive pad containing the heat balm had not come loose from behind his shoulder and flew out of his right sleeve when he delivered a pitch. Cub first baseman Mark Grace picked up the pad and handed it to umpire Ed Montague after the inning, pointing out the substance. Kim was ejected, prompting Showalter to protest the game, a moot point when his team won.

“You have to give him credit,” Grace said of Kim in a bit of gamesmanship. “He’s only 20 years old. Most guys don’t start cheating until later in their careers.”

“What?” exclaimed Kim, when Grace’s comment was translated. “He’s crazy.”

Kim, of course, would have needed to be a contortionist to make use of a foreign substance behind his shoulder, but the big league rule book says the pitcher can’t have on himself or be in possession of a foreign substance. The penalty is immediate ejection.

“The intent of the rule is to keep a pitcher from using the substance to gain an advantage,” Showalter said. “That isn’t what this was about.”

Scouts who have seen Kim say he does not need to cheat.

The young right-hander was a hit at last winter’s Asian Games, where he joined Chan Ho Park in pitching South Korea to a gold medal, both receiving a military exemption in the process. He was subsequently pursued by more than half a dozen clubs, received a $2.25-million bonus from the Diamondbacks in February, blew through double A and triple A, and registered his first save against the New York Mets two weeks ago by retiring John Olerud, Edgar Alfonzo and Mike Piazza in order, striking out Piazza to finish with a flourish.

“This guy has been in some tough situations,” said Joe Garagiola Jr., the Diamondback general manager.

“Don’t think for a moment he didn’t know who Mike Piazza was when he came into that game in New York. His whole attitude is, ‘What took you idiots so long to figure out I belong here?’ ”

The Diamondbacks have a lot at stake--financially and otherwise.

In a division they can win, it remains to be seen if Showalter, who generally likes to put his trust in veterans, resurrects Olson, presses for a trade--the Diamondbacks acquired Toronto left-hander Dan Plesac on Saturday--or stays with the inexperienced Kim and Nunez, who entered the weekend series against the Angels with a total of two saves and 20 major league appearances.

In the meantime, the jet-lagged Colangelo said he is trying to be “practical and realistic”--pleased to have the Diamondbacks on top while cognizant that it’s early.

Encouraged above all, perhaps, by an offensive productivity that is “better than we anticipated.”

The Diamondbacks lead the National League in average, runs and home runs, and have had four hitters named player of the week.

There has been surprising power from Jay Bell, resurgent productivity from Matt Williams and Steve Finley, and remarkable consistency from Luis Gonzalez. In addition, Andy Benes and Omar Daal have begun to pick up the slack for Todd Stottlemyre, who may be out until August because of a partial rotator cuff tear, and Randy Johnson has been everything the club expected.

Colangelo created industry consternation by spending about $119 million on free agents in the off-season, quickly lifting the Diamondbacks out of the expansion category. Nevertheless, it would be an embarrassment to their established division rivals if a second-year team won the West.

“I changed the philosophy and made the commitment to try and be competitive in our second year when I saw the attrition in our season-ticket base,” Colangelo said. “Of course, it’s one thing to spend money and another to realize a return, and we’ve been fortunate to be getting that. I can’t argue the point that we’re in our second season, but I don’t think there’s any script.

“We paid a tremendous amount of money initially for the privilege of having a team. It’s not written anywhere that we have to have our heads kicked in for a certain number of years before we can win. I mean, it’s a competitive business. Everyone is trying to win, and our goal is to be the first expansion team to win in its second year.”

The Diamondbacks are a third of the way there. The question is, can two rookies help close it out?