The Scars of 2021 Run Deep for the Diamondbacks
The carnage of the 2021 season for the Diamondbacks left an indelible imprint on the Diamondbacks organization. Mike Hazen has repeatedly referred back to that season when explaining moves he's made, especially when it comes to the starting rotation. He reiterated that again last night:
"In 2021 we were in a position to be a good team, but we were a disaster because our entire rotation was gone by May 1st."
While not quite literally true, this is essentially true. The Diamondbacks had 16 different pitchers make two starts or more in 2021. Only three pitchers made more than 20 starts, Merrill Kelly 27, Madison Bumgarner 26 and Zac Gallen 23, each spending time on the injured list. Luke Weaver and Taylor Widener had 13 starts each and spent large chunks of the season on the injured list as well. Caleb Smith made 13 ineffective starts and had to be moved to the bullpen.
No fewer than 10 other pitchers combined for 47 injury replacement starts, averaging just 4.4 innings per start and putting up a staggering 6.76 ERA. The D-backs were constantly in the hole they could not dig out of on the way to 110 losses.
Beyond injury, the variability of young pitcher performance looms large in Hazen's thinking. While the current crop of young starting pitching prospects appears to be much stronger than the options Hazen was able to turn to in 2021, we are still talking about rookie starters.
"Before if we didn’t have zach you are penciling in two of those young guys to fill out the 4th and 5th spot of the rotation and if they don’t pitch well we realistically have one or two other guys that are ready. I’m hoping a couple of those Amarillo pitchers are going to be pushing into AAA and be ready................Having Zach just ratchets up the competition amongst all the pitchers"
That competition for the 5th starter spot then will be among pitchers such as Drey Jameson, Ryne Nelson, Tommy Henry, & Brandon Pfaadt. Other pitchers such as Slade Cecconi and Blake Walston will be pitching in Reno in 2023 and will provide additional depth. Each of these pitcher's appears on our Top 30 Prospects list. You can follow that link which will take you to links for stories on each pitcher's 2022 season review.
Hazen was asked if he was considering using any of these pitchers in the bullpen to start the season, but he seemed hesitant to do that. Perhaps learning from past mistakes such as the handling of Jon Duplantier in 2019, he indicated he does not want to be moving pitchers back and forth between a relief role and a starting pitching role.
“If you do that there is really no going back in the other direction or you are increasing the risk of injury of to the player”.
If everyone in the rotation stays healthy and is pitching well as they get into the season then he will be more aggressive in pushing starters into the bullpen, but everyone usually doesn’t stay healthy.
"This conversation will unfortunately possibly change at some point in the early part of the season. That’s my largest concern with making that decision in spring training. It’s not to hold those guys back from being on our team. I want those guys on our team. We also want starting pitching that is going to carry us. "
As for Davies himself, Hazen indicated that he was always intent on brining him back. They had spoken to one other free agent starting pitcher, but in Davies they feel they have a known player and what he can do.
"I think he really stabilized things for us in the rotation last year , especially from a consistency standpoint. We love the guy. We felt like he’s a pro. He fits in great in our clubhouse."
"Adding Zach it was obviously a quality starting pitcher for us. He throws strikes, he takes the ball, he has an idea of how to work around situations. He’s a smart pitcher. Just a lot of things to like. Strommie [pitching coach Brent Strom] really likes him. A lot of those things added up for us. "
Six man rotation?
Hazen also left open the possibility of going with a six man rotation at some points during the season as both a way to get extra rest for the mainstay starters and to work the younger pitchers into more innings.
Bullpen
Somewhat surprisingly Hazen indicated that the additional bullpen help he is seeking is just as likely to come via trade as opposed to free agency. He was hesitant to specify whether those discussions centered around players off the major league roster or prospects, but also said that prospect trades are very difficult to make in this environment.
