2014 Season Report (120 Games)

A very very dark cloud has settled over Chase Field in the past week, and it will most likely remain there until the end of the season. While the team has not fallen off the map just yet, still sitting at 8th, it's starting to look like the fall will come soon. The Diamondbacks and Braves are basically neck and neck for the final Wild Card spot with Cincinnati firmly in 4th, this could come down to the performance of backups and the pitching staff.

Paul Goldschmidt, leading the team in just about every offensive stat, was diagnosed with a broken hand and will miss 8-10 weeks of the season. The injury occurred during a game against the Indians when Ernesto Frieri hit Goldschmidt on the hand. The length of recovery time essentially ends Goldschmidt's season. The Diamondbacks will move Matt Adams from DH to 1B and look to a number of players, mostly Didi Gregorious, to fill in at DH until Chris Owings comes back from injury. The loss of Goldschmidt is devastating, and no doubt prompted the Diamondbacks to start putting important pieced of their team on waivers.

The only good news is that stud 3B Jake Lamb has been called up to the majors. Lamb shot through AA and barely had time to play in AAA before management sent him up. The team isn't expecting him to replace Goldschmidt, but with Didi Gregorious hitting like... Didi Gregorious he might get a chance to play more often at DH or 3B.

The waiver period opened and closed with little action. The Diamondbacks did manage to win a claim on Oakland's Francisco Rodriguez, but the A's declined to negotiate a trade or pull him back. Everyone the Diamondbacks placed on waivers (Jim Johnson, Joakim Soria, and R.A. Dickey) cleared them, but no trades came about.

The pitching staff is starting to look like a mess, and Gio Gonzalez is right at the center of it. Gonzalez has gone 0-5 in his last 7 games and has failed to pitch 5 innings or more in three of them. Arrieta, the new ace of the staff, has been 1-3 in his last 7 games with all of them very good starts aside from a 5 inning 9R drubbing at Colorado. The bullpen isn't much better with Pat Neshek the only pitcher doing well, and Joakim Soria is now on the DL with Neshek assuming his role as closer.

MLB.com Updated Top 100 Features Four Diamondbacks

More good news from the farm as the MLB squad struggles to stay within reach of the playoffs. Four Diamondbacks, including the just drafted Touki Toussaint, have made their way on to MLB.com's updated Top 100 list.

Braden Shipley (47) - Not a shock as Shipley started the year in the Top 100, but he's moved up into the top half of the list and is now Arizona's #1 prospect. Numerous teams asked about the RHP with the trade deadline looming, but Arizona is very dedicated to their 2013 1st rounder.

Touki Toussiant (85) - The ink on his contract is still wet and he's making a Top 100 list already. Toussaint has only tossed 12 innings this year and scouts are already buzzing about his potential, but the organization isn't ready to anoint him their future ace just yet. Coaches need to see how he fares outside of the AZL Diamondbacks rookie level.

Aaron Blair (87) - Another subject of trade discussions that Arizona refused to part with, Blair has been on the edges of the rankings until this season. Blair has moved through three levels of the farm system (A, A-Advanced, and AA Mobile) this season, and along with Shipley looks to be the future of Arizona's rotation.

Jake Lamb (98) - This is also an expected ranking after Lamb made Baseball America's Midseason Top 50 list. He has managed to turn heads by hitting .318 with 14HR and 79RBI this year at AA Mobile, and if he keeps it up he could be in the majors before you know it. Lamb was also ranked as the #9 3B prospect by MLB.com.

2014 Season Report (100-110 Games)

The Trade Deadline has come and gone, but nothing happened in Arizona. The Diamondbacks, refusing to give up high-end prospects, found themselves stuck between trying to make the playoffs and building for the future. Some reports, hopefully false rumors, actually had the Diamondbacks discussing a trade to bring Jayson Werth back after trading him to the Cubs. It's starting to look like the failure to bolster the team has cost them a shot at the playoffs. The team is just outside the cutoff (6th in the NL, 58-52), but the offense has struggled just as their rotation appears to be improving.

The big news at the plate is Carlos Santana, who seems to have remembered that he has some power. Santana managed to hit 14HR in June and July after hitting 6HR in the two previous months, he has also spent the last two months hitting .300+ after hitting well under .200. His 20HR now knock Paul Goldschmidt off his statistical perch. Goldschmidt continues to power the team on offense, but the disappearance (injuries) of Aaron Hill and Chris Owings have left the Diamondbacks shuffling players around. Domonic Brown has found himself on Kirk Gibson's hate list and is now riding the pine in favor of Peter Bourjos at CF and David Peralta in LF. Arizona desperately needs Owings to come back and give the team more speed on the base paths.

On the mound it's become the Arrieta-Alvarez-Kennedy show with Gio Gonzalez looking like he isn't 100% yet, he might not even be 50% with the way he has been lit up recently. Gonzalez has sandwiched a decent ND start (7.0IP 8K ER) in between two losses where he couldn't even get out of the 4th inning. Pat Neshek continues to be excellent, but the rest of Arizona's bullpen has turned into BP machines. Nobody is getting it done, not even Joakim "The Mexicutioner" Soria, and rumor is that Jim Johnson and his horrible contract will be placed on waivers. The team is starting to circle the drain, and a rapid dismantling of this roster could start as soon as this next week.