Sat, Jul 04, 2009
 Conor Jackson congratulates Mark Reynolds after his three-run homer in the fourth inning.
John Miller / The Associated Press
RANCHO RESORT MAINTANANCE POSITION Health Care Sierra Tucson Eating Disorders Program Coordinator General A1 Communications Cable Techs BaseballWHITE SOX 7, Diamondbacks 5
'Nasty' Qualls key to Valverde tradeDiamondbacks impressed by new setup man
East Valley Tribune
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.01.2008
For the sake of team unity, Chad Qualls takes it easy in batting practice. He keeps his fastball on the outside part of the plate, and that keeps his teammates happy.
Games bring out his sinister, sinking side.
"He is nasty," Conor Jackson said. "I had my most trouble with him. His sinker is one of the filthiest I have ever seen. I hated facing him."
Qualls smiles when he hears that.
"That's why I love it," Qualls said.
Qualls has heard similar thoughts since perfecting his sinking fastball after being converted to the bullpen at Class AAA New Orleans in the middle of the 2004 season.
"Any time you have movement on your pitch, I'm sure a hitter doesn't like that," Qualls said. "They expect it to be somewhere, and it ends up being somewhere else. Basically I just try to miss bats and get them to hit the ball on the ground, to get outs as fast as I can. Get in and get out."
Qualls is the D-backs' newest setup man, obtained in the offseason trade with Houston that sent Jose Valverde to Houston and resulted in a re-stacking of the bullpen, with Tony Peña and Brandon Lyon being pushed back an inning.
If some are worried about the loss of Valverde, however, one baseball official told the Diamondbacks that the trade with the Astros was their most one-sided of the offseason, mainly because of Qualls.
The D-backs insisted that Qualls be included in the deal and would not have made it without him.
Qualls, 6 feet 5 inches tall and 220 pounds, has been one of the most durable and effective setup men since his first full major-league season, 2005.
His 66 holds are fourth in the majors the last three seasons. He has averaged 79 appearances a year during that same span.
Qualls was 6-5 with a 3.05 ERA last season and had the best stretch of his career after July 2, when he was scored upon only four times in his final 39 games.
"He likes to come in with guys on base, and he typically gets starters out of a jam," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said.
"When you come in with a starter's runs on base and get out of it, it's similar to closing. He takes a lot of pride in that."
There is nothing quite like closing, however, and that is the role Qualls, 29, would like to occupy at some point.
"That's why I play this game," Qualls said. "If I'm in the bullpen, then I want to become the closer. I understand that Brandon has been around a lot longer, and there's Peña, who is also a prospect, and I'm coming to a new team. That's fine with me. I'll just have to prove myself again and just wait in the weeds for an opportunity, and when I do get that opportunity go ahead and succeed and do my best."
Qualls had the first five saves of his career last year, when Houston started with Brad Lidge as its closer and later turned to Dan Wheeler.
"I didn't get too many opportunities, but I love it," he said.
At the same time, "to throw the seventh or eighth … to me, sometimes those innings are bigger than the ninth."
Friday's game
Brandon Webb and Mark Buehrle looked ready for opening day in their spring training debuts.
Despite battling a respiratory ailment, Arizona's Webb gave up one hit and struck out two in two shutout innings, and the White Sox defeated the Diamondbacks 7-5 on Friday afternoon at Tucson Electric Park.
"His off-speed stuff seems to just get better and better," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said.
Buehrle also threw two scoreless innings.
● The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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