The Arizona Diamondbacks were not off to a terrible start to the season, but nothing to write home about. However, after a long month of June, the DBacks are now looking up the standings from the bottom, holding the worst record in baseball.
History (Not The Good Kind)
Wow. That is all that comes to mind when looking at the Arizona Diamondbacks results in the month of June.
3-24 in the month of June, and they broke the MLB record with 24 straight road losses. The streak was broken by a 10-1 victory over, ironically, one of the best teams in baseball right now, the San Diego Padres.
The Diamondbacks now have the worst record in baseball at 23-60 and sit 26 games out of the wild card spot. The Diamondbacks preseason win total was set at 75.5 games, and with the season approaching the midway point, that looks like a longshot.
The Arizona Diamondbacks were not off to a terrible start to the season, but nothing to write home about. However, after a long month of June, the DBacks are now looking up the standings from the bottom, holding the worst record in baseball.What Went Wrong?
What didn’t go wrong for Arizona would be the better question.
The Diamondbacks pitching staff let the team down dramatically. In 230 innings pitched, Diamondback pitchers allowed 258 hits and 104 walks. The Diamondbacks also surrendered 40 home runs in June.
The Diamondbacks pitchers had nowhere to hide. The Diamondbacks only got 4 quality starts in 27 starts, and they could not turn to their bullpen because they had no success either.
If you can’t stop teams from scoring, your offense is going to have to score lots of runs to make up for it. The offense was not much of a help for Arizona either. The Diamondbacks were outscored 167-103 in June. Only three teams in the league have a worse run differential on the entire season.
Arizona batted .226 in June. Compared to teams full-season batting averages, that would rank them 28th in the majors. The one bright spot in the Diamondback lineup was young star Ketel Marte who batted .412 in 68 at-bats in the month.
Diamondback hitters struck out in 26% of their at-bats which is among the worst in the league. It is safe to say the Dbacks had one of the worst months of all time for any MLB franchise.
What Do The Diamondbacks Do Next?
I would say Arizona should call up their best prospect, but oh wait. It was just announced he needs surgery. Terrible luck for a team that cannot seem to catch a break.
On a more serious note, I think the Diamondbacks should give some of their best prospects some time in the majors and work on development because the playoffs seem to be out of the picture.
Arizona also needs to acquire a star who will make an impact. If you look at this team’s everyday lineup, it is no wonder they are losing so many games. Besides Ketel Marte, who has had an amazing season despite injury trouble, this team has a lineup of struggling batters. Arizona also has one of the oldest lineups in the entire league. This team needs to secure a big-name player in free agency or trade for a young hitter who can help the franchise down the line.
They should look to trade a guy like Eduardo Escobar to a team in contention in return for prospects or even a young player with upside. This team is no longer worried about this season. They should focus on building a franchise around Ketel Marte. I would be disappointed to see them trade him away.
