Post by marstannum on Feb 16, 2024 17:02:13 GMT
Oh boy. Thank goodness for Spring Training.
On January 25th the Diamondbacks concluded a three-game sweep of the Expos to complete their second winning week this season and climb to 26-37 on the year. At .413, their winning percentage was closer to .500 than it had been all year and seemed likely to remain steady, as they had gone 23-25 since their disastrous 3-12 start over the first three weeks of the season.
Since that day the Diamondbacks:
-Won 2 games and lost 16
-Lost 8 of 9 games in which a pitcher gave them a quality start, including the last 7 in a row
-Scored more than 3 runs only three times (ONCE in February)
On January 25th the Diamondbacks concluded a three-game sweep of the Expos to complete their second winning week this season and climb to 26-37 on the year. At .413, their winning percentage was closer to .500 than it had been all year and seemed likely to remain steady, as they had gone 23-25 since their disastrous 3-12 start over the first three weeks of the season.
Since that day the Diamondbacks:
-Won 2 games and lost 16
-Lost 8 of 9 games in which a pitcher gave them a quality start, including the last 7 in a row
-Scored more than 3 runs only three times (ONCE in February)
Since 1/25 six of the nine regulars have seen their batting average go down, and there’s been a big drop in extra base hits as well. Most of the starting pitching has been good (not you, Curt Schilling), but in the few games where the Diamondbacks had a late lead the bullpen has coughed it up.
As for the changes we made last time, Dellucci is hitless in 4 ABs, Mantei has only pitched 1.2 innings but hasn't been good, and Collmenter has been extremely up-and-down. Three times he's come in and gotten destroyed, like 1 inning or less and 3+ runs allowed, but twice he's come in and saved the bullpen in long relief with more than 5 innings of 1-or-no-run ball. Go figure.
I'm at a loss at this point. The guys who helped right the ship in December and January have mostly faded. The one suggestion I can make is giving Damian Miller a shot at catching--he was Montero's backup to start the year and he had like one AB before Kelly came in and lit it up. But...
Carson Kelly on 1/25: 163 AB, 6 2B, 6 HR, .307 AVG, .860 OPS
Carson Kelly since: 62 AB, 0 2B, 2 HR, .226 AVG, .606 OPS
Carson Kelly since: 62 AB, 0 2B, 2 HR, .226 AVG, .606 OPS
And backing him up, Montero is hitless in 8 ABs since 1/25. Miller could at least swap with Montero and handle Kelly's rest days.
Peralta has been awful, too, but I don't know if we have any other outfielders who can swap in. I know Young and Finley are pretty much locked in at Center and Right. Can Pollock play Left? Or Upton could play Left and you could give another bench guy more DH opportunities.