The offense has been the main story of the Diamondbacks’ last two series. In Los Angeles, their ability to score runs in key moments in the game allowed them to pull off an impressive series win on the road. In the following series, a slumping offense prevented them from winning despite allowing only eight total runs in a three-game series, and no more than three in a single game.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo describes the current state of the offense as “grinding” and believes they are capable of putting together better results on a nightly basis.
“It’s causing me a great deal of frustration, because our guys are good hitters. They are talented, they are able to walk up with a game plan, they are able to execute that game plan. When you’re walking up there and thinking little, big things happen. We got to get back to that mindset.”
It’s also worth noting that the Marlins pitching staff has been performing very well of late, with five shutout wins in a nine-game span. Braxton Garrett has a solid track record as a mid-rotation starter, with a 3.75 ERA since the start of the 2022 season. Ryan Weathers, a former top-10 draft selection, is enjoying a breakthrough season after being essentially discarded by the Padres at the last trade deadline.
It hasn’t helped that much of the lineup is slumping at the same time, in addition to two players that have fallen well short of expectations this season. The three key bats that have really struggled to find their footing for much of the season have been Corbin Carroll, Eugenio Suárez, and Gabriel Moreno.
Carroll, coming off a Rookie of the Year campaign in 2023, has been under the Mendoza line for much of the season with a .188 batting average and .558 OPS. Suárez, who the Diamondbacks acquired in a deal to be a key right-hand power bat, is off to a miserable start to the season with a .219 average and .605 OPS. Moreno, who had a very encouraging first year in Arizona with the bat, is hitting .228 with a .644 OPS. With a third of the everyday lineup struggling as they are, it puts more pressure on Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to make things happen offensively.
Carroll’s sophomore slump in particular has been perplexing, leading to the Diamondbacks and their fan base both searching for any potential answers behind it. A third of the way into the season, the results have only slowly begun to improve. He’s shown a hole against inside fastballs, especially up and in. Carroll has talked about trying to get the lift back in his swing, and there have been more instances of him squaring up the ball, with Jack Sommers from Inside the Diamondbacks pointing out a 11.8% barrel per batted ball rate from the Diamondbacks superstar outfielder for May 16-22.
In the series finale, shortstop Kevin Newman left an out on the field in a critical situation. That was the only opening the Marlins needed to score three runs on Kevin Ginkel, with all three runs unearned, and hold off any Diamondbacks rally late in the game. With the offense struggling as much as it did in the series, not having air-tight defense throughout the entire game came back to bite them.
“When the margins are that small and you’re grinding the way we are offensively, every little thing matters,” said Lovullo.
The Diamondbacks’ pitching has been up to the challenge of keeping the team in the game despite the lack of offensive support. In their last turn through the rotation, the starters have pitched to a 2.19 ERA in 28 2/3 innings with a 25/7 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.29 WHIP. The starting pitching allowed only five runs in 18 2/3 innings, which is typically a formula for success in most series. If the starting pitching continues to be this successful moving forward, the Diamondbacks should be in good shape for a potential turnaround if the lineup can create more consistent pressure.
Moving forward, the team needs to figure out how to get Corbin Carroll, Gabriel Moreno, and Eugenio Suárez’s bat going in order to get more consistent results from their lineup. Until that is the case, they may be a team that continues to hover around .500 but never in the thick of a postseason race.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
