D-backs’ GM Kevin Towers: If improvement doesn’t happen, ‘heads are gonna roll’
Apr 23, 2014, 5:13 PM | Updated: 5:13 pm
The four-game series at Wrigley Field was supposed to be a chance for the Arizona Diamondbacks to regroup.
Let’s face it, the Chicago Cubs aren’t very good, and a visit to the “friendly confines” was a great chance for the D-backs, who came into the set with the league’s worst record, to get some confidence and more importantly, some wins.
It hasn’t unfolded that way just yet.
The Cubs have dominated the first two games of the series by a combined score of 14-3 and the Diamondbacks are undoubtedly questioning themselves even more.
General manager Kevin Towers is still searching for answers as to why the D-backs have started so poorly, and is forced to think about the ‘c-word’ — change.
“We talk about it every day, are there people here that don’t fit,” Towers told Doug and Wolf Wednesday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “For the most part, they are a good group of guys, but just because you’re a good group of guys doesn’t mean you’re going to win ball games.
“As I said last week, dig down deep, come on, you guys are better players than this, find a way to get it done because if not, heads are going to roll. Not just players’ heads, but front office, coaches — it’s just the game in which we play.”
While stewing in the worst start in franchise history, Towers has scratched his head over the reasons — none of which make sense right now.
“It’s not like a rookie ballclub, an unexperienced ballclub, an old ballclub, you know, graybeards,” Towers said. “It’s guys that are in the prime of their careers and all of them are having down years at the same time.
“I think a lot of it has to do with pressing. They’ll say they’re not, but you can tell they are. Now we’re not hitting. Our pitching is starting to get a little bit better but you can’t win ball games when you’re scoring one run — two runs (Tuesday).”
The Diamondbacks are not only 5-18, but already 8 games out of first place and sport a woeful run differential of -62 through 23 games. Towers believes it’s ultimately up to the guys who take the field to get the season turned around.
“First and foremost, they need to play for themselves,” he said. “It’s pride. It’s playing for yourself, playing for fan base, playing for the name on the front of the jersey, that’s what crushes me.
“I don’t take this as much personally as I do for the fan base and who we represent. When I pick up the sports page and I see Arizona at the bottom of the NL West and the bottom of the National League, that hurts. I hope (the players) feel that way, and I don’t know if they feel that way right now, and that’s what bothers me.”
