2006 Preview: Arizona Diamondbacks

Of the 205 pitchers who have hit Craig Biggio with a pitch, 4 will most likely be on the Arizona Diamondbacks opening day roster. And, Miguel Batista, Russ Ortiz, Brandon Webb and Jose Valverde all hit Craig Biggio with a pitch while playing for Arizona. It's nice to see that kind of consistency and patience in an organization, even if Ortiz and Valverde just logged their plunks in 2005 and Webb got his in 2004. Brad Halsey, Arizona's plunk leader in '05 with 9, is expected to join Webb, Ortiz and Batista in the Diamondbacks' starting rotation in 2006 along with newly acquired Orlando Hernandez who hit 12 batters last year for the White Sox.
Also of note, the Diamondbacks 40-man roster lists 3 Brandons, 2 Brads and a Brian which makes them the major league leader in pitchers whose first names start with B. 18 pitchers whose names start with the letter B have plunked Biggio, ranking 3rd behind J and M.
The Astros play Arizona 9 times this year, and if Craig Biggio gets up to 45 plate appearances, the probability of his being hit by the D-backs at least once is 80.3% (based on career plunks per plate appearance). They are 47.7% likely to match or exceed last year plunk total of 2, and have a 0.097% chance of becoming the single season record holders in hitting Craig Biggio with pitches.