Signs of relief for Diamondbacks fans

In February, I found myself slowly jogging on the side of
the road in Wickenburg, intermittently stopping to bend
over and throw up while other runners passed me left and
right. I was less than a mile into a nine-mile leg in a
relay race and I was already stumbling and staggering and
ready to quit, thanks to enchilada-induced food poisoning.

As you can probably imagine, my throat was burning from
the vomit and I felt like I was going to pass out. I was
certain that I wasn’t going to be able to complete the leg
and that my relay team would finish the race in horrible
position.

Then, I got relief. My team, packed into a large 15-
passenger van, appeared on the horizon and I signaled for
their help. Our driver, who happened to be in much better
shape than me, jumped out of the van, threw on my race
singlet and race number, and cruised to the leg’s finish
while our relay team outdid its expectations.

We’ve been talking about the Diamondbacks’ struggles since
mid-April. Fans are more than familiar with the
shortcomings of the rotation, the bullpen, Justin Upton,
Ryan Roberts and, now, Chris Young. And the first part of
the season has been almost as miserable as the first part
of my agonizing run in Wickenburg. But relief may be on
the horizon.

For the sake of giving you something new to read and,
perhaps, brightening your day, here are some signs of
relief for the Diamondbacks fan:

Rotation

The Diamondbacks front four starters (Ian Kennedy, Wade
Miley, Daniel Hudson, and Trevor Cahill) have a combined
2.43 ERA in the last nine games they’ve started. Seven of
those nine games have resulted in Diamondbacks wins, while
five of those starts lasted more than seven innings and
only one lasted less than six. Granted, all but two of
those starts came against teams with losing records (the
Brewers, Padres, and Rockies) but, nonetheless, there’s
finally reason for optimism with the Diamondbacks’
starting rotation.

Paul Goldschmidt

The Diamondbacks first baseman has a 14-game hitting
streak. In that stretch, he’s hitting .451 with a .492 on-
base percentage. Fourteen of his 23 hits in the stretch
have been for extra bases — five of which were home runs.
During the tear, Goldschmidt’s OPS is an astounding 1.405.

He has raised his average to .288 on the season and his
on-base percentage is a solid .352. Goldschmidt’s recent
production rivals what Chris Young did in the 11 games
prior to his injury. Here’s a numbers comparison:

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