With a young team loaded with talent on offense, and some key off-season moves like picking up Brandon Arroyo, I thought the Arizona Diamondbacks were going to have a solid year. If their pitching held together, I felt they could have even been contenders.
Things have gone disastrous on both sides of the ball for the Diamondbacks, however. It may be only June, but it’s hard to envision Arizona climbing back into the race in the National League West, especially after they opened the season with one of the franchise’s worst starts ever going 9-22 through April. Despite their awful start, the Diamondbacks improved in May. Even when they won 14 games in May, they still wound up in last place, 15 games behind the first place San Francisco Giants.
This failure may start with the pitching staff, but the whole team is at fault. Wade Miley was expected to be their ace, but he has only three wins with a 4.85 ERA. The newly acquired Bronson Arroyo did not pitch like the team expected; though he has improved, his ERA is still well above 4. Brandon McCarthy and Trevor Cahill have been less than solid much of this season. Relievers like J.J. Putz, Randall Delgado and Ryan Rowland-Smith have all been knocked around this season.
Having Patrick Corbin (14-8 3.41 ERA in 2013), and David Hernandez out for the entire season doesn‘t help matters. (Team SIA Profile) Daniel Hudson and Matt Reynolds are also having big question marks on their return to the team. This left a potentially good rotation in disarray, which is never a good thing for a team, particularly in a tough division.
The injuries haven’t only hit the pitching staff. Cody Ross suffered an awful injury in 2013. He returned earlier this season, but has struggled to even hit .200 so far this season. They lost Mark Trumbo, a key offensive bat in their lineup to injury, A.J. Pollock who was having a great season has now landed on the DL and so has Cliff Pennington.
Even healthy players like Alfredo Marte, Aaron Hill, and Martin Prado are struggling with weak to very mediocre averages. The combination of poor performances out of the gate and a series of serious injuries have diminished a lot of hope for the Diamondbacks to be contenders or even being competitive.
The other reason the Diamondbacks are struggling so much this season is because of their division being very tough this season. Record wise, the San Francisco Giants are the best team in baseball right now. The Los Angeles Dodgers are another great team that just got their ace, Clayton Kershaw, back recently from injury (Clayton Kershaw SIA Profile) and the Colorado Rockies have a solid offense that make them difficult to beat at home. Add in three contenders to the fact that you have lost a lot of key players to injury and others just being lackluster, and it’s no wonder they lost so many games to start this season.
Is there any hope in the desert? Yes, there is, and it starts with their young core of players. Paul Goldschmidt is a well-rounded star and is having another solid season for Arizona. Young players like Chris Owings and Gerardo Parra are starting to hit more consistenly.
Their pitching has improved–Bronson Arroyo has been pitching better of late. Wade Miley has the potential to be a solid ace one day, and Josh Collmentor has pitched well also. The recent call-up, Chase Anderson, has pitched well with a 4-0 record a 3.32 ERA in four starts. Another call-up in Evan Marshall has been lights out in the bullpen. This complements Brad Ziegler, Joe Thatcher, and even the journeyman Oliver Perez, who are all proving to be solid relievers this season.
In the minors, the Diamondbacks have a few impact players that we will likely see soon. Watch for shortstop Nick Ahmed and starting pitcher Andrew Chafin to make appearances this season. Tony LaRussa is now overseeing the front office; he may bring unknown value to the organization from his decades of MLB experience.
The Diamondbacks are likely to be sellers around the trade deadline. Players that could be traded like J.J. Putz or Cliff Pennington are injured and uncertain when they will return. Martin Prado and Aaron Hill aren’t wowing anyone at the plate right now. I don’t think the Diamondbacks should give up their best prospects either.
This 2014 may wind up a lost endeavor for the Arizona Diamondbacks. However, their core of young talent is there and with more on the way. The Diamondbacks will get healthy and there stars like Wade Miley will step up. The present may be a little unclear, but the future looks bright for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
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