Despite a league-leading offense, a subpar September when it comes to pitching could be what costs the Arizona Diamondbacks the National League West.
Diamondbacks Pitching Troubles Could Cost Them NL West
How Did We Get Here?
The Diamondbacks have had a whirlwind of a season, to say it one way. What started as a shadow of last year’s postseason success story turned into a team that, once they hit the All-Star break, put on one of the best runs in all of MLB. Despite the fact that the pitching has struggled to keep runs down, the Diamondbacks seemed to pull it off most nights, erasing deficits and opening up the game with incredible run-scoring potential. But as this last series against the Los Angeles Dodgers showed us, a great offense can’t save the team every time, and it’s a dismal pitching situation that ultimately may relegate the Snakes to a wild card spot.
Offense Propels DBacks to Success
To say that the Arizona Diamondbacks have done well since the All-Star break is an understatement: racking up a 28-13 record and dropping just three series is an impressive feat for any team to pull off, but it starts to get strange when you realize that team with the most runs in the majors (749) and the highest run average (5.43) also has the 4th worst team ERA in the majors (4.52), with no other teams even hoping to make the playoffs anywhere near that figure. Yet somehow, the Diamondbacks have found success, but not as often as they would have liked.
Laying Out the Pitching Troubles
This past weekend’s series against the Dodgers provides a perfect example of where the trouble lies: the Diamondbacks consistently put up runs, but only after falling behind thanks to some truly brutal starts from ace pitchers Zac Gallen, who has a team-leading ERA of 3.87, and Merrill Kelly, who has struggled to find his form. Both put up dismal numbers early on in the first two games of the series that the Diamondbacks just couldn’t recover from. Brandon Pfaadt managed to have a quality outing while the Diamondbacks offense ran away with the third game. Eduardo Rodriguez‘s four-inning, three-run outing set the Snakes up for another struggle, with Jordan Montgomery, who lost his starting rotation spot to Ryne Nelson, and Slade Cecconi each coming in from the bullpen with an ERA over 6.00.
Zac Gallen on his outing tonight:
“I feel like I pitched two different games honestly.” pic.twitter.com/cNr6xF7Fmo
— PHNX Diamondbacks (@PHNX_Dbacks) August 31, 2024
This is to say that game four didn’t go so well, even in the eyes of skipper Torey Lovullo, who took some blame for mismanaging the Diamondbacks’ pitching. Add Paul Sewald‘s consistent woes as of late, and it becomes evident that both the starting pitching rotation and relievers are struggling, each needing to tighten up their work in these end-of-season series if the Diamondbacks are to replicate, if not exceed, last year’s postseason run.
A September to Remember?
At a time when the Diamondbacks’ pitching should be the anchor of every victory, the pitching staff is putting up worse numbers than a month ago, when fans were still pining for their “complete” rotation to supplement the exploding offense. This is a serious issue that might start costing Arizona some of the few remaining series of the season, and with playoff races tightening up and the Diamondbacks six games behind in the division, they are running out of time if they want to claim the NL West from the recently reinforced Dodgers and avoid a play-in series, which itself could be at risk if the pitching falls any further off the rails.
With just 24 games left in the season, the pitching staff needs to reign it in and button it up, with even average outings preferable to some of the lopsided defensive flops we have had to witness as of late. If this isn’t something that can be corrected, expect Diamondbacks fans to be holding their breath for the entire month of September.
Photo Credit: © Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
