Merrill, Steep

 

Last week I talked about the odd fact that the Padres managed to land in fourth despite having a very similar record to the top three teams. And while San Diego is still in fourth...that's as low as they're probably going to get in this. That's also as low as a lot of the conflict might go in the NL West. The Dodgers and Giants are fighting for first, the Rockies and Padres are fighting below them...

and like 4 or 5 games back, the Diamondbacks are fighting themselves.

Yeah, things aren't going well for Phoenix at all right now. Only one starting batter has an average over .200, and that's thankfully Ketel Marte. The rest of the lineup, including highly-touted youngsters like Pavin Smith and Daulton Varsho, plus trusted veterans like David Peralta and Carson Kelly, is currently being outhit by a guy named after an alcoholic beverage. Kelly has a .045 batting average now. This means that Carson Kelly has gotten exactly 1 hit in 22 at-bats. That's...appallingly bad, especially for a guy who was off to an amazing start last season. It's really just Marte and Seth Beer doing a lot of the work in the lineup, and that's not good at all.

However, and this might be the shocking part given what I just told you...the pitching isn't too bad at all!

Merrill Kelly, through 2 starts and 9.1 innings, hasn't allowed a run and has 13 strikeouts. Madison Bumgarner has a 2.25 ERA and, like Noah Syndergaard, is focusing less on strikeouts and more on craftsmanship. Humberto Castellanos had a very strong start the other day, and could be an excellent fifth option if Caleb Smith really is cooked. None of them have amassed any wins, though. Neither have Zac Gallen or Zach Davies. 

And that's what separates this D-Backs team from a lot of other bad teams. A rotation of Bumgarner-Davies-Kelly-Gallen-Castellanos is a lot better than most bad teams. It remains to be seen whether Castellanos is for real, or whether Davies is anything more than an adequate innings-eater, but there is genuine skill in these five guys. Same with the closing option, perennial All-Star Mark Melancon, who has saved 1 of the D-Backs' 3 victories. And so far J.B. Wendelken, Joe Mantiply, Sean Poppen, Kyle Nelson and Corbin Martin have all been solid relief options; additionally, I'm just so happy that Oliver Perez is still on a major league roster.

So...the pitching for this team is actually quite good, and can withstand a lot of the pressure of this division. If the hitting were in any way positive right now I'd be impressed. But I do think this team's inefficiency in its lineup will hold it back big time, and will grate on these pitchers. A few of them might be gone by August. Take your bets on which ones.

Coming Tonight: A guy who has hit 3 home runs so far for my team.