MLB analyst: D-backs’ front office is fixable, but pitching needs more work
Apr 25, 2014, 9:50 PM | Updated: 9:53 pm
Twenty-five games into the season, the Arizona Diamondbacks are seven games back in the NL West and only have one win at Chase Field.
Some would say the team’s 7-18 record is a cause for panic, and possibly time for change in the front office.
MLB Network analyst Mitch Williams thinks if the D-backs were to turn around their worst start to a season in franchise history, it would have to start with their players.
“I think the front office, as far as the manager and GM go, is fixable,” Williams told Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “They’re fine. The last time I checked, they don’t take a swing or throw a pitch. It’s all hingent on what these guys on the field do. Losing Trumbo was a huge blow, but it’s not as big of a blow as not having starting pitching that can go deep in games.”
Trumbo, who is tied for the most homers in the National League with seven, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday after suffering a stress fracture in his left foot.
The D-backs have a league-worst -57 run differential, with a big portion of that coming from the 5.39 ERA as a team — also a league-worst.
One of the main culprits is pitcher Trevor Cahill.
In his first four starts of the season, he gave up 19 runs in 17.2 innings while falling to 0-4. Cahill has since been moved to the bullpen, where he has not given up a run in six innings of relief work.
While Cahill’s struggles may be a surprise to the D-backs, it isn’t so much of a shock to the MLB analyst.
“I’ve been concerned about Trevor Cahill for years,” Williams said. “To me, his delivery screams the next Brandon Webb. The way he gets under the ball and the way he throws his sinker, all of that screams arm injury to me. As you get older, things start to break.”
With the loss of Patrick Corbin due to Tommy John surgery, and the recent success of pitchers that the team dealt to other franchises, such as Tyler Skaggs and Ian Kennedy, Williams was asked what the organization needs to do to turn around their pitching woes.
“It’s all the message being put out there. It’s the pitching coach and the time that’s taken to get to know everyone of your pitchers and where they have to be in their balance point to deliver the ball the correct way. It’s a lot of work, it really is, but it is something a pitching coach has to do.”
