Four for Fourth

 

In case you haven't heard, Eugenio Suarez, Saturday night, hit four home runs against the Atlanta Braves. To hit four homers at home, that is very big. This put him at 10 homers overall, leading the league, and helped the Diamondbacks rise to, as I write this, 15-13.

Just two issues really. One, the Braves still ended up winning that game, as people who aren't Eugenio Suarez didn't show up at all that game. Two, even over .500, the Diamondbacks are still fourth in the NL West. The top 3 did it without any 4-homer games.

And look, Eugenio Suarez can keep the memory of Saturday night with him, in addition to all the home runs he's hit and all the big power moments he's had. But right now, there's not really a lot to him other than power. Defensively he's not great. Aside from the power numbers he's only hitting .206, and he's only got 5 singles so far. He also has 31 strikeouts, topped only by fellow power hero Corbin Carroll. Even in his most explosive moments, he's a pretty average power bat. At least Kyle Schwarber is hitting for average. At least Aaron Judge has multiple dimensions. There really isn't much to Suarez other than home runs anymore, and that's not a great sign.

The Diamondbacks just have a lot of aspects right now that really aren't as good as they should be. Brandon Pfaadt and his 5 wins are the only starter with an ERA lower than 3, meaning Corbin Burnes, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez and even Zac Gallen are all struggling. Gallen has a 5.57 ERA and a 1-4 record, after several years of being truly untouchable. Maybe whatever injury limited him last year is still acting up? Burnes, a year after a Cy Young caliber season in Baltimore, has yet to garner a win. You're also still waiting on Jake McCarthy and Lourdes Gurriel to do anything, you're without Ketel Marte for a bit and all the catching options are struggling to hit. The last two seasons did not prepare the Diamondbacks for such diminishing returns, solely because the breakout came on the promise of a bright future. This is not bright.

Josh Naylor, at the very least, is hitting as advertised. .318 with 19 RBIs and 4 homers, that's exactly what he was brought over to do. Pavin Smith has been incredible at DH, hitting .333 with 9 RBIs and 4 homers. The bullpen has the right idea for the most part, though there's a couple guys that just aren't getting it done. The pieces of a good team are definitely there, but the top 3 in this division didn't have time for the sort of learning curve the D-Backs are still on. There can still be room for them, but a lot needs to change, and a lot needs to be completely turned around.

Hitting 4 home runs is great and all, but it doesn't do much if the games aren't getting won.

Coming Tonight: The definition of a workhorse. Makes all his starts, goes deep, doesn't let you down.