What Happened to the Arizona Diamondbacks?

The past three weeks have not been kind to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Since David Peralta and Chris Herrmann’s late game heroics defeated the St. Louis Cardinals on June 27, the club had gone 3–11 and had dropped five games in a row through July 17. Tuesday’s 11–2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds has been one of the lone bright spots in the worst stretch of baseball for the 2017 D’Backs. What makes this skid especially painful is that prior to this stretch, Arizona was just 1.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League West lead. The team was off to the best start in franchise history. Suddenly, it all fell apart. Now, they sit 10.5 games behind Los Angeles and seem to have lost all hope of winning the division. So, what happened to the Arizona Diamondbacks?
If this were last year’s D’Backs, it may be easy to pin team struggles on the pitching staff. In 2016, the snakes put up 5.49 runs per game, good for eleventh in the majors and fifth in the National League. Meanwhile, the pitching staff ranked last in the majors in both runs allowed (5.49 runs per game) and team ERA (5.09). Those embarrassing stats are a far cry from what the pitching staff has accomplished this year. Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray are having exemplary campaigns, posting ERAs of 2.86 and 2.97 respectively. Off-season addition Taijuan Walker has posted an ERA of 3.61, and Zack Godley has shocked the league with a 3.07 ERA and a WHIP of .991. In fact, every Diamondbacks starter in the current rotation has an ERA+ over 100. Even the bullpen has been great. Converted starter Archie Bradley has quietly become one of the best relief pitchers in baseball with an ERA of 1.50, a WHIP of .952, and an incredible ERA+ of 314. However, over the past three weeks, the Diamondbacks’ offense has been failing their pitchers. This was especially evident when they were swept in a three game series by the Dodgers in Los Angeles by a combined three runs. In one of these games, Zack Godley had a dominant performance, and the Dodgers were held to just one run during the game. The D’backs lost 1–0.
Despite ranking in the top five in the NL for nearly every statistical category, Arizona’s offense has begun to sputter. One only needs to look at the offensive slash lines of the team’s biggest hitters to see why the offense is struggling:

Clearly, something has changed for these five players, and it is vital for Arizona that these hitters return to form if they wish to earn a postseason berth, host a wild card game, or even make a playoff run. With AJ Pollock and Yasmany Tomas having missed most of the year, it is up to this group to carry the load offensively. With that being said, it is hard to put all of the blame on just five players. During this stretch, the snakes are 0–6 in one-run games, and have been held to three runs or less in eight of the fourteen games they’ve played in from June 28 to July 17. Perhaps the grind of a 162 game season has caught up to the team. Maybe opposing pitchers have figured out the hitters. It may be that multiple players are simply slumping. Whatever the reason, something must change for the Diamondbacks if they wish to return to their winning ways. Hopefully, Tuesday’s blowout of the Cincinnati Reds is a sign that something has changed and that Arizona is ready to break out of this slump. Paul Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb, Chris Owings, Brandon Drury, and David Peralata combined to go 8 for 19, and it was no coincidence that the D’Backs cruised to an easy victory in a game that was all but over by the fifth inning.
Additionally, more help is on the way. The D’Backs acquired right-handed slugger J.D. Martinez from the Tigers on Tuesday. Perhaps he can provide an additional jolt to an offense that desperately needs it. In 56 games this year, Martinez is slashing .305/.388/.630 to go along with 16 HR and 39 RBI. A potential defensive alignment of Goldschmidt, Drury, Lamb, Owings, Martinez, Pollock, and Peralta may not be ideal, but those seven bats in a lineup together could be among the best in baseball.
While the team’s recent struggles may be frustrating for fans to watch, it is important to remember that this team is having one of the better seasons in the franchise’s young history. Their current winning percentage of .581 is an incredible improvement from a disappointing 2016 campaign that saw the club win a meager 69 games. And despite this abysmal stretch of games, the snakes are still half a game up on the Rockies for the first wild card spot, and are 6.5 games above the Chicago Cubs for a playoff bid. Don’t be shocked if this club returns to form and starts to rack up wins again, and that this streak of poor play is just a road bump in an otherwise spectacular season.

