2014 Season Report (140 Games)

It's been a wild month leading up to September, and it might not get much better. The loss of Paul Goldschmidt left fans feeling hopeless, but the team has yet to fall off a cliff. At one point they suffered a losing streak that left them well behind the Braves for the final Wild Card spot, but they managed to jump a little ahead only to fall a little behind. The Diamondbacks are still running on fumes but continue to be 9th in the majors (76-64) and a solid 2nd in the NL West which is faint praise considering that the Dodgers (20th), Rockies (23rd), and Padres (27th) are all rebuilding and some of the worst teams in baseball.

The loss of Goldschmidt seemed fatal, but it just happened to coincide with a little boost from some of Arizona's lesser known players. David Peralta continues to be a good OF option, and Ender Inciarte has exploded recently to give the team a real boost of speed. Inciarte, who rarely got the nod over Dom Brown for most of the season, now has 14SB and a respectable BA (.268) after starting the season very slowly. The return of Chris Owings has also helped boost the offense, knocking Didi Gregorious back to the bench, and Carlos Santana continues to mash (24HR) and do little else (.228BA).

Is Lamb the future at 3B?

Fans are getting to see a glimpse of the future with 3B Jake Lamb rushing through AAA Reno and getting some at-bats when Lonnie Chisenhall sits. Lamb isn't doing much to impress at the moment (.185, 2HR, 9RBI, and a brutal 26:6 SO:BB ratio), but the fact he is playing at all is a testament to his ability. Lamb, a University of Washington product, is still just 23 so he has time to improve.


The pitching staff, surprisingly, has really come around and the starting rotation is doing quite well. Most expected the staff to be a serious weak spot, but some trades and call ups have really filled out this rotation that is on pace to finish with the 6th most strikeouts in the majors. September roster expansion has brought up David Holmberg and Kyle Lobstein, once dangled as trade bait, but neither has done much so far. The starters are rolling, but injuries are devastating a once promising bullpen. Jim Johnson has practically been run out of Phoenix, and Joakim Soria is just now starting to throw again, while Henderson Alvarez is constantly bothered by an oblique injury. Pat Neshek has taken over closing duties for now while future-closer-in-waiting Matt Stites looks more like Jim Johnson than a future closer.