Diamondbacks Need to Play Better Late in Games

The Diamondbacks bullpen has not successfully protected leads and the offense has failed to score late, putting them in position to lose their last 5 games.

Over the Diamondbacks' last five games, there has been a consistent theme that's prevented them from winning. The bullpen has struggled to keep runs off the board, the offense has disappeared late in games, and the defense hasn't been able to pick up the baseball in key at-bats. In close ball games any of the three issues can be problematic by itself, but having all three put together have resulted in this five-game losing streak. Looking at the playing record, the D-backs have been outscored 14-6 in innings 7-9 over their first 11 games.

The easiest culprit to blame would be the bullpen. In those five losses, the bullpen has inherited a lead or a tied game in four of them. Arizona's relief pitchers have combined to allow 18 runs in their past 16 1/3 innings, although three of those runs can be attributed to the ghost runner rule. Even ignoring that, the bullpen has collectively pitched to a 7.71 ERA over that stretch. Simply put, that is not good enough if the team wants to make another trip to the postseason.

In the absence of their closer Paul Sewald, there hasn't been a pitcher who has stepped up to lead the unit. Kevin Ginkel has been the defacto closer, but the team has struggled to hand him a late lead. In his one save opportunity he pitched well enough to close it out, but Blaze Alexander left two outs on the field and allowed the Braves to tie the game in the 9th and win the following inning. Scott McGough has become the face of the recent bullpen failures, taking losses in each of his last three appearances.

Having a bullpen that struggles to hold leads also puts extra pressure on the hitters. The offense has a habit of disappearing in the late innings, batting just .121 in the 7th inning or later. In fact, they have more walks (18) than hits (13), so it isn't due to a lack of opportunities or inability to put pressure on opposing pitchers. The big hit has eluded them when they've needed it most this season, although they came close in the 9th inning of Monday night's loss to the Rockies.

When it comes to ending a losing streak of this length, it will take someone stepping up and carrying the team. It could be Merrill Kelly, who has pitched into the 7th inning in both of his starts. Other players that could step up offensively include Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Christian Walker, and Eugenio Suárez. Those five hitters are expected to carry much of the load offensively. Once the team experiences the success, both in the bullpen and hitting late in games, it could be what they need in order to push in the right direction.