PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks should win a game in which they take a 6-0 lead with their ace on the mound. Once Corbin Burnes gives them seven quality innings to keep a four-run lead intact going into the late innings, victory should be guaranteed.
Tuesday’s mess of a 9-6 loss to Pittsburgh shined another bright light on the struggling bullpen, which entered Wednesday ranked 26th with a 5.41 team ERA, and overall lack of late-game execution. The D-backs have 12 comeback wins this year, while their opponents have earned 19.
“This is my problem to fix and figure out a way to get this group in a spot where we are consistently locking down leads,” general manager Mike Hazen told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Wednesday. “We’ve dug into these problems multiple times. I mean, it’s not just the pitching. Our defense late in games hasn’t been playing very well, either.
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“The bullpen is gonna be an area that we’re gonna continue to work on, make changes to and get this right. This team is too good not to have a good bullpen.”
The bullpen has not been fully healthy all season with A.J. Puk still on the 60-day injured list (elbow), but that has not been used as an excuse. There has been a fair amount of under performance from a group the club expressed publicly was the deepest of Hazen’s tenure.
On Tuesday, trusted back-end relievers Kevin Ginkel and Jalen Beeks allowed seven runs in the eighth inning. Ginkel has allowed 14 runs in 10 innings since coming off the IL, as the D-backs need him and Ryan Thompson — heroes of the 2023 postseason run — in particular to get on track. Joe Mantiply has been optioned twice already, leaving Beeks as the sole lefty without Puk available.
The recent return of Justin Martinez should help, but one player doesn’t make a bullpen.
Every manager takes criticism when the bullpen continually blows the game. And D-backs general manager Mike Hazen points out it's not just the bullpen.
Hazen joined @WolfandLuke on the Front Office Focus, brought to you by Canvas. pic.twitter.com/2ly3yJIhZN
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What can the Diamondbacks do to improve the bullpen?
It is not the easiest time to go out and make trades.
The trade deadline is still two months away on July 31, there are 12 playoff spots and too many teams with a chance to earn one.
“The external options are gonna be on the waiver wire, they’re gonna be released players and that’s just the way it goes,” Hazen said. “Or, there’s guys in Reno, younger arms that need to come up here and have an opportunity.
“That’s what’s afforded to you probably for the next four weeks. There could be some teams willing. The challenge with pitching is not only do you have to have teams that would be fully out of it to trade off the back end of their bullpen … but traditionally pitching doesn’t go until the deadline. Teams wait because they know that’s when they’re gonna get their best price.
“The thought of waiting for Puk to get back, waiting for the deadline to come to fix everything, that’s not the way this is gonna work.”
Better execution from proven relievers going through a tough stretch is a must.
Manager Torey Lovullo meets with players
The bullpen may be the most glaring issue the team has to improve, but it’s far from the only culprit contributing to losses, as Tuesday and Wednesday illustrated.
Manager Torey Lovullo back on Monday listed several more nagging factors.
The defense has improved from the first couple weeks, but there continue to be periodic lapses, particularly late in games as was the case on Tuesday. The lineup has experienced difficulties with runners in scoring position, particularly with two outs, although it still ranks fifth in MLB in scoring.
Good starting pitching and a high-scoring offense typically lead to a lot of winning, and yet the D-backs have not won more than two games in a row all month.
“I think the starting pitching has taken another step forward,” Hazen said. “The offense, outside of a few games on that road trip, has consistently put up five to six runs a night. We should be getting on winning streaks when that happens and we just haven’t.
“Injuries are not an excuse. The performance just isn’t where it needs to be. This team is too good not to execute at those levels. So I do think some of these, if not all of these, issues are fixable … but we need to go out and execute in the moments that matter most, and that’s not what’s happening right now.”
Lovullo said on Wednesday he spoke with select individuals in his office to take the temperature of his team. He did not want to disclose whom he met with.
The D-backs entered Wednesday having lost six of seven games, all of which by three runs or fewer. Then they laid an egg with a 10-1 loss to Pittsburgh.
Lovullo finds these meetings as an effective way to seek information or deliver a message, saying he listens as much as he talks.
“Maybe a little loss of focus,” Lovullo sensed from his players. “More or less, taking care of what they can take care of and then playing good baseball and doing things right will be contagious.
“That’s what everybody feels. It’s where the space is that we’re living in. But do your job, individually, do your job.”
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