Several new D-backs are no strangers to this area, and when it comes to their new teammates, it's a small world.
Infielder Bobby Crosby and pitchers Daniel Hudson and Joe Saunders came to the Phoenix area for spring training every year with their respective former teams. And pitcher D.J. Carrasco is a native of Safford in southeastern Arizona and once played for Class AAA Tucson.
Nevertheless, there are adjustments to a new team, new clubhouse and new city and state to be made. Ryan Church, another recent acquistion via the club's four trades, hasn't even reported to the team yet. He's expected Tuesday, manager Kirk Gibson said.
Crosby, who still had a Pittsburrgh Pirates gear bag in his Chase Field clubhouse stall, already knew a new teammate well when he arrived. D-backs pitcher Ian Kennedy played with Crosby's younger brother Blake at La Quinta High School in Orange County, Southern California.
Crosby (below, in my blurry photo) is a pretty good-sized infielder (6-3, 205), and was the 2004 AL Rookie of the Year with Oakland. But he has only a .237 career batting average.
Crosby, 30, is excited about the new opportunity in a new place. He had been with the A's for seven seasons until signing as a free agent with the Pirates before this season.
"I've been here a lot. I played here (in Phoenix) this year, I played here in interleague two years ago, so I'm familiar with the field a little bit. It's a little weird coming into a new environment. I've never been traded before...but I'm already starting to feel a little bit more comfortable today than yesterday and I'll feel a little bit better as time goes on."
Crosby added that he was glad to get into Sunday's game, just so he could overcome some nerves he felt.
Hudson was already into his old Chicago White Sox routine, getting in some weightllifting Monday after his solid start Sunday in New York. Then he took batting practice.
"I asked him when was the last time he hit," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said about Hudson, 23. "He said high school."