The D-backs sit at a perfectly even 41-41 record after 82 games. What is supposed to have been an easy section of the schedule has become an underwhelming 4-4 record with one game to play. To be clear, it’s not where the team wanted to be. There’s no doubt that injuries have played their part, especially on the pitching front. We lost ace Corbin Burnes and his 2.66 ERA for the season after 11 starts, with the two best relievers, A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez, pitching a total this year of only 23.1 innings. But we are also currently down Corbin Carroll, Gabriel Moreno and – going by today’s line-up – Josh Naylor. It’s not the way Mike Hazen and Torey Lovullo would have drawn it up.
Of course, every other team has injuries too. But I think this really demonstrates the issue Hazen faces as a mid-market team, with below-average revenue. We simply can’t afford the depth enjoyed by the likes of the Dodgers. Of the D-backs $182.3 million payroll (per Spotrac) about $66 million is going to players on the IL, and that doesn’t count pre-arb players like Moreno. In terms of active payroll, this team is no longer above average. They sit 16th… and the D-backs are =16th in the standings. Sure, the Dodgers have more money on the IL, but their active roster payroll still trails only the Mets. We, meanwhile, are rolling through relief pitchers, swapping Tayler Scott for John Curtiss and hoping it helps.
But it is worth pointing out that 41-41 is not, by any means, out of it. Indeed, if you look at the standings through 82 games last year, four of the eventual twelve playoff teams were at or below that mark. The Astros, Mets and Padres were all at the D-backs’ current record, while the Tigers wee down at 37-45. So, to be clear: it’s not “over”, or anything close to it. Yes, the pitching in particular needs to be figured out. And not just the bullpen, with three members of the rotation currently owning ERAs of 5.38 or worse. It’s a challenge. But it’s the eighty games remaining that will determine the fate of the D-backs’ season, not the eighty-two already in the books.