Less K in DiamondbacKs?

I felt like the Arizona Diamondbacks struck out a lot last season, but I had no idea that their 1,287 whiffs were ninth most in MLB history! They're putting in work this spring to bring that number down.

Behind a back field at the Diamondbacks' facility here, hitters stand inside a cage as pitching machines spin breaking balls at them. They stand and they watch them dip and dive. They track the pitches as they rotate past them.

The Diamondbacks last season set a franchise record for strikeouts, and the idea of these first-week drills is that the more breaking balls the hitters see, the more acclimated they will be to hitting them.

"I think it can definitely help," center fielder Chris Young said. "Those were the type of pitches that were getting us when things were going bad."

Certainly, Arizona can use some work with regard to putting the ball in play. A lot of improvement should come with a young lineup maturing each year, but with a strong pitching staff, an extra run or two with situational hitting late in games could be the difference between becoming a dominant force in the National League and missing the postseason altogether.