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A rocky road ahead
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The fall from grace has been painful.
Just two years removed from challenging the Colorado Rockies for the National League pennant, the Arizona Diamondbacks' decline has been hard and swift.
The sad part for the Diamondbacks is the fall is far from complete. With not half the baseball season in the books, Arizona is facing a debacle of untold proportion. They appear on a collision course to lose at least 90 games and with continued bad play could threaten 100 defeats. Buried in last place in the National League West Division, their future fate in that position appears set in stone.
Their stopper Brandon Webb is no where in sight and could be lost for the rest of the season. Starters, save Dan Haren, are a collective sorry lot, the bullpen has failed in repeated attempts to save games.
In many cases, the numbers are not terribly transparent, but in the case of the Diamondbacks, numbers are frightful and foreshadow results in the standings.
Despite a favorable home slate in April, Arizona could not take advantage. Opening the season with 18 of their first 21 games at Chase Field, the DBacks managed eight wins in the 18 home games. When they took two of three from the Cubs in late April, that represented the last series win at home.
The combination of many players having collective off seasons, a steady injury factor and woeful bullpen have all interacted to create the current atmosphere of doom.
With the next to last worst home record in the National League, the Diamondbacks now embark on the road where their mark is a bit better. Beginning a six game road trip in Cincinnati June 30, their 30-46 mark at Chase Field is the second worst in the National League. Only the Washington Capitals have preformed with greater ineptitude at home. Coming into the Reds series, they lost five in a row and eight of 10 contests. Plus, the Diamondbacks have allowed 45 more runs than they have scored.
In the key categories of hitting and fielding, the Diamondbacks have no where to go but up. Their .245 batting average in last in the National League and behind the .258 put up the leading Phillies.
In the field, they have committed 71 errors, worst in the National League. Their fielding percentage of .976 is the National League's worst and behind the league-leading Phillies (.990).
Arizona has committed 27 errors in its last 18 games, and in four games, committed three or more errors. Mark Reynolds, who led the league in errors in 2008, has committed eight at third base and another five at first base. Second baseman Felipe Lopez has nine, and Orlando Hudson, the Diamondbacks' second baseman a year ago, committed nine the entire season.
In recent days, the Diamondbacks had a number of meetings which would make any bureaucrat happy. Still, no improvement, no resolution to a mounting list of maladies and after the Sunday June 28 loss the Angels at home, many players hid from the media and refused to make themselves available.
All of which adds up to a forgotten baseball season and a collective exercise in futility. Trades have been discussed, a managerial change has already taken place, and rumors abound that general manager Josh Byrnes' job remains in jeopardy.
As the All-Star break approaches, this is not a pretty scenario, and not much relief appearers on the horizon.
