Free Falling

by Jason Franz

KA-ploosh.

That semi-murky explosion you heard was the tinderbox that has become the Arizona Diamondbacks and their complete implosion. Team Uncertainty has made their return to the Diamondbacks’ dugout.

At least they gave us six weeks of interesting baseball.

These snakes didn’t just return to winter hibernation, they went full Thelma and Louise and drove their team bus off the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It’s a shame, too, because no other team in the NL West seems to have any interest in winning. Just as the Diamondbacks lose five straight and 11 of their last 13, only the last place San Diego Padres have played over .500 baseball over the past ten games. Ugh.

The Arizona Diamondbacks were riding the crest of a virtual tsunami, setting historical marks by not dropping a series to start the season until their 13th frame began back on May 10. 13. Bad luck.

Since then, the Diamondbacks have been swept twice and not scored more than four runs in 11 games. In fact, they only scored more than 4 runs once in all of May. This is no longer a Paul Goldschmidt problem – this is an organizational disembowelment.

The team batting average is dead last in all of baseball. At .219, their team average is nearly ten points behind the next worst team, the woefully pitiful Miami Something-or-others. Their on base percentage is also dead last, meaning they can’t even walk their way on or lean into a pitch every now and then. Offensively, this team flat sucks.

Despite this utter collapse at the plate, the team remains relevant because their pitching remains resilient. Even though two starters have been lost, the team has the third lowest ERA in The Bigs and have held opponents to a batting average (.224) that’s just a smidge above their own measly output.

And yet, there’s a feeling that none of that matters because the Arizona Diamondbacks have become The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight at the plate. And there doesn’t seem to be any hope on the horizon. Goldschmidt cannot break from his funk, AJ Pollock is out for a couple of months with a broken hand, Steven Souza Jr. couldn’t hit a ball into play for his couple of games between injuries, Ketel Marte is playing like an A-ball rookie, Jake Lamb just isn’t that good to carry a team on his own and everybody with the exception of Daniel Descalso seems to be playing the lava game and avoiding the base paths because they are molten and they will die. It’s just all really, really sad.

At this point, the D-Backs can only hold onto the notion that there’s still a whole lot of baseball to be played. On second thought, that may not be such a good thing.

When is the NBA Draft?