There may be no bigger Rubik’s Cube in Major League Baseball than the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Lofty spring training expectations have turned into below average baseball for a team who can’t seem to win at Chase Field but are 14-8 on the road entering Tuesday’s series opener in Pittsburgh against the Pirates.
There is still plenty of baseball to play but the D-backs’ issues seem to be littered among many fronts.
The good news is it appears ace Zack Greinke is starting to pitch like the $200 million ace who dazzled with the Dodgers.
“You started to see it,” SIRIUS MLB and D-backs’ Pre/Post-Game Host Mike Ferrin told Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat Monday morning. “Back-to-back really good starts for Greinke. He was dynamite against the Cardinals [Sunday].”
The onus now falls on Arizona’s other key off-season rotation acquisition Shelby Miller to string together quality starts. Ferrin believes he could be the missing link to a pitching staff with a “better than anticipated” bullpen.”
Offensively it appears Paul Goldschmidt may be shaking off the All-Star rust which, like Greinke, has plagued his production early this summer. The club has been trying to cope without their other All-Star, center fielder A.J. Pollock but Ferrin believes the club’s latest casualty is a bigger loss than many realize.
“The [David] Peralta injury and his struggles ahead of that are as damning as anything so far,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest issue for me. You’re without two-thirds of your starting outfield right now.”
The question remains, will the D-backs have enough key, healthy pieces in place to make a run in a division that, as of now, remains fairly wide open.
Eric Sorenson
