Who were we most concerned about?
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Arizona Diamondbacks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Earlier in the week, we asked which member of the D-backs’ rotation you were most worried about. Obviously, it’s a question whose answers change on almost a daily process, with the ebb and flow of things. It’s not long ago, our starting pitchers were putting together a record-setting streak of quality starts. But those have been intermittent at best of late: in the past dozen games, Arizona has had five quality starts and seven that… [gestures vaguely off-screen] well, y’know. It has felt like each starter has been Cy Young caliber at least once this season. But there have also been games where that has not been the case. The only consistent thing about our rotation has been its inconsistency. But who concerns you most?
Here are the results:
Of course, it’s a bit unfair to ask you to pick one player. It would have been a bit more nuanced to ask you to put the pitchers in order of concern. For example, personally, while I certainly wouldn’t put Kelly top of my list, I am still worried about his strikeout-rate – which dropped lower after fanning just two across five innings yesterday. Among the 79 qualified pitchers, he now ranks 71st in K-rate. Now, he’s never exactly been a swing-and-miss guy, but his career average before this year was still 8.1 K per 9 IP. It’s down about twenty percent to 6.5 for this campaign. So, I would put my personal level of concern about Merrill at higher than the 3% he received here.
Burnes seems to have righted the ship after a wobbly beginning to his Diamondback career. While he is still looking for his first victory, he has given three quality starts in his past four outings, with a 2.70 ERA over that time. However, his K:BB ratio is still not great even there, at 17:10, and a BABIP of ,222 is certainly a potential factor. His FIP was 4.56 in those four starts, and is still over five for the season, so… yeah. I discussed Rodriguez in depth after having the misfortune to recap his last outing on Tuesday. He simply hasn’t been good since he signed his $80 million contract, below replacement level by bWAR (fWAR seems him better, at +0.8, due to his FIP being more respectable).
But the top spot is reserved for Gallen… though he then came out on Thursday to deliver his best pitching performance since… um, the last time he pitched in New York. Showcasing his talents for potential free-agent suitors at the end of the year? Who knows. But it’s interesting that responders seemed to take the shorter-term view. They rated Gallen of more concern than Rodriguez, even though the latter has a significantly higher ERA, and will also be on the club’s books for two years and at least $46 million more, after Zac’s likely departure at the end of this year. With the team apparently in “win now” mode, focusing on the present perhaps makes sense.