{"id":35587,"date":"2020-07-28T22:53:29","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T02:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=35587"},"modified":"2020-07-28T22:53:29","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T02:53:29","slug":"diamondbacks-walks-haunt-pitchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/07\/28\/diamondbacks-walks-haunt-pitchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Diamondbacks Pitchers Haunted by Walks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arizona Diamondbacks Pitchers Haunted by Walks<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It goes without saying that the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> did not like their Opening Weekend performance against the San Diego Padres<\/a>. They were outscored 21-9 while batting .195. Their ERA of 5.73 is dead last in the National League. Only one starting pitcher \u2013 Madison Bumgarner<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 pitched more than four innings, and he did not make it through the sixth. One concern supersedes all of these, though \u2013 walks. In 33 innings, they walked 27 Padres.<\/p>\n

The Padres had 28 hits in the series. This is higher than the Diamondbacks would have liked, of course, but 28 hits allowed in a season-opening four-game series is something they could live with. The walks were a different story. Walking 27 in 33 innings translates to 7.4 walks per nine. Manager Torey Lovullo<\/a><\/strong> said that an acceptable number is two or three.<\/p>\n

Some may claim that the Diamondbacks pitchers gave up too many hits, but that isn\u2019t the case. Had the walks been on the high end of what Lovullo said is acceptable, that would have translated to 11 walks in the series. Combining that with the 28 hits would have made the WHIP 1.182. The league average WHIP over the past decade has hovered around 1.300 every season. A WHIP in the 1.200s will get a pitcher onto an All-Star team; a career WHIP in the 1.100s or lower will get him into the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

The Dangers of So Many Walks<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The easy answer to why a high number of walks is bad is that it gives free baserunners to the opponent. But there\u2019s more to it. For one, it runs up pitch counts, getting starting pitchers out of the game faster. When looking at a team\u2019s pitching staff, their best seven pitchers tend to be their starting five, their set-up man, and their closer. When the starter leaves in the fourth, fifth, or sixth inning, opponents often end up facing the eighth-, ninth-, or 10th-best pitcher on the staff. This is not a formula for success if done repeatedly.<\/p>\n

Secondly, a high amount of walks often gets hitters into more favorable counts. Take 2019, for example. According to the league-wide splits<\/a> on Baseball Reference, the collective batting average for all of Major League Baseball was .252 with a .323 on-base percentage (OBP). On a 3-0 count, that jumped to a batting average of .410 and an OBP of .937. Hitters weren\u2019t quite as successful on 3-1 counts, but they still did plenty of damage, batting .363 with a .711 OBP. On full counts, the batting average plummeted to .202, but the OBP was still quite high at .453.<\/p>\n

Diamondbacks Walks in San Diego<\/strong><\/h3>\n

During the four-game set in San Diego, Diamondbacks pitchers faced 149 hitters. They reached three-ball counts (3-0, 3-1, or 3-2) 55 times, meaning they did so over a third of the time. Bumgarner faced 23 hitters; six saw a three-ball count. Robbie Ray<\/a><\/strong> faced 18; 10 reached a three-ball count. Zac Gallen<\/a><\/strong> faced 19 and reached a three-ball count with nine of them. Luke Weaver<\/a><\/strong> fared best of the four starters in this regard \u2013 only four of the 20 hitters he faced saw a three-ball count.<\/p>\n

To say that the Diamondbacks pitchers were displeased with their performances is an understatement. Pitching coach Matt Herges<\/a><\/strong> told the press Tuesday afternoon via Zoom, \u201cNo one in that clubhouse is happy with how they\u2019ve pitched except Taylor Clarke<\/a><\/strong>,\u201d who threw 3 2\/3 innings of no-hit, shutout ball in relief during Monday\u2019s game. Herges told the press that the main reason for all the walks and three-ball counts is that the pitchers \u201caren\u2019t attacking (the zone) enough.\u201d As for why, there could be one or two factors at play. The pitchers possibly are \u201ctrying to be too fine.\u201d They also possibly \u201caren\u2019t giving enough credit to the hitter,\u201d in reference to plate discipline. It could be both.<\/p>\n

How to Turn It Around<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Herges is reminding the staff that the \u201cbest pitchers in the league throw a high percentage of strikes.\u201d The pitchers need to have the mindset of \u201cattack (the zone) and not worry about swings.\u201d He is encouraging them to throw strikes because they \u201chave good stuff.\u201d Their pitches \u2013 even when facing professionals \u2013 are tough to hit when they\u2019re in the zone. Lovullo said later that he\u2019s encouraging the pitchers to throw it in the zone and \u201ctrust the eight guys playing behind (them).\u201d Herges said he\u2019s put it another way when talking to the pitchers, \u201cGuys, your stuff plays (in the zone). It\u2019s legit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>