Desperate Diamondbacks face buzzsaw in Marlins’ Jose Fernandez
Jun 10, 2016, 11:31 PM | Updated: Jun 11, 2016, 12:10 am
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez reacts after striking out New York Mets' Wilmer Flores during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 5, 2016, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The splintering of a season that began riding a wave of big names, larger contracts and plenty of expectations never turns in one moment.
But as the losses pile up for the Arizona Diamondbacks, the absurdity increases.
Things like the D-backs’ Friday night 8-6 loss to the Marlins, where Miami’s seven-run seventh inning doomed them, happen. What could be excused as bad luck in a one-game or week-long or even month-long vacuum is hard to explain now.
“I thought there were four innings in a row where I felt really strong,” starter Patrick Corbin said after the Friday loss. “It was a 5-1 game, we were still in control there. I think I put too much pressure on myself to throw perfect pitches instead of going after guys like I had to that point.”
The latest example started with Corbin and ended with the bullpen, but the pressure builds for every Diamondback.
It doesn’t get easier, not without a reason to exhale.
After blowing what looked like a victory, the Diamondbacks now must try to turn their fortunes Saturday against a team that runs Jose Fernandez onto the mound.
The 23-year-old pitcher will try for his ninth-straight win with a victory. Owner of a 0.91 WHIP, 1.17 ERA and six earned runs in his last 46 innings pitched (7 games), it hurts even more looking back to last summer, when Arizona was in the thick of trade rumors involving the young pitcher.
It burns more considering the D-backs stepped out of any conversation about a Fernandez deal when they instead traded for Shelby Miller, using potential trade chips like Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson and Aaron Blair in order to acquire the pitcher from the Braves.
Miller, after all, is a few days removed from a rehab start with High-A Visalia.
A column by Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan from December reads even more dark these days than it did fresh.
It was that (D-backs general manager Dave Stewart) needed to embrace his philosophy even more. If you are going to make deals like the Miller trade – if you’re essentially going to give up a significant haul in future assets to win today – then you might as well go buck wild, which, in this instance, means trading for Miami Marlins starter Jose Fernandez.
The context gets more absurd.
The Diamondbacks face Fernandez on Saturday with Zack Godley making his first major-league appearance of the season while relying on a hitting crew in desperate need of a fresh look.
Peter O’Brien, called up from Triple-A Reno while on a hot streak, had opportunities Friday night to provide a burst of offense but struck out three times and twice left two runners on base.
“It’s playing his home-town team, you know, first game back,” D-backs manager Chip Hale said. “Just probably trying to do a little too much. They pitched him carefully. The breaking ball was one they used a lot. He’ll have to adjust to it.”
Hale added that O’Brien may take a day off as not to throw him in the Fernandez fire. But these are desperate times.
O’Brien or not, against Fernandez or not, the Diamondbacks need to stop seeing good-looking games go south. That or they need bad-looking matchups to go surprisingly in their favor.
As the Diamondbacks try to live up to expectations, the weight they carry grows heavier with each head-scratching defeat.
