Diamondbacks weathered impactful injuries to stay in postseason hunt

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks are in the thick of the postseason hunt despite a plethora of impactful injuries that hampered manager Torey Lovullo’s roster throughout the first half of the 2018 season.

With key players like All-Star and Gold Glove winner A.J. Pollock and slugger Steven Souza Jr. missing significant time before the All-Star break, others needed to fill in to weather the setbacks.

“I think that’s a good way to put it, we’ve weathered a few storms,” Lovullo said. “I ask a lot of these guys to stay together and fight together, which they did.”

Jarrod Dyson and Chris Owings filled the outfield spots usually reserved for Pollock and Souza. They played outstanding defense while hitting below the Mendoza line, but the malleability of the roster proved invaluable for Lovullo in the first half.

Infielder Daniel Descalso, who spent time at four different positions (not including DH and pitcher), has shown impressive versatility in the field while notching a career-best .859 OPS through 92 games played.

“They say it takes more than 25 guys to get through the whole season,” Descalso said. “We were hit with some pretty significant injuries, but we had guys step up and contribute and allow us to continue to play good baseball.”

Although the Diamondbacks tied for 22nd in the league for total players who’ve been injured (14), according to Spotrac data through games played on July 24, the average length of time those players have spent on the DL puts Arizona 12th in the league. At various points throughout the season’s first half, Arizona ranked No. 1 by the average length of time players spent on the disabled list before Pollock and Souza returned.

Going further, the Diamondbacks rank eighth in Major League Baseball in terms of on-field value lost from injuries, according to Roster Resource’s “Roster Effect Rating.” Only seven teams have been impacted more than Arizona by their injuries, and all of them have seen more total stints on the DL by comparison, according to Roster Resource.

Essentially, while the Diamondbacks didn’t see the same volume of injuries compared to other teams, their injuries were arguably more difficult to compensate for in the lineup card.

Lovullo noted that in addition to missing Pollock to injuries, fellow All-Stars Jake Lamb and Robbie Ray missed time due to various ailments. Still, Arizona’s roster depth and versatility — enhanced by the trade in early June to bring in veteran outfielder Jon Jay and the signing of pitcher Clay Buchholz to a minor-league deal in May — proved itself throughout the first half.

“Everybody here has been able to step up and come in and do their job,” outfielder David Peralta said. “That’s the good thing about our team — it’s not about one player.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ acquisition of star shortstop Manny Machado could complicate things for the Diamondbacks. They may ultimately need to rely on attaining a wild card spot in the postseason if LA runs away with the NL West Division lead.

Nevertheless, Lovullo maintains a positive outlook with more than two months of baseball left to play.

“To say that we’re (in the playoff hunt) and playing the type of baseball that we have, I’m very proud of these guys,” Lovullo said.