Arizona Diamondbacks stay patient as trade market heats up

The injury to Pollock is an obvious place to start for the Diamondbacks’ woes. Pollock was worth 7.4 Wins Above Replacement last season according to Baseball-Reference, and the void he left was too big for anyone on the roster to fill. In 20/20 hindsight, it would’ve been easier if the team hadn’t sent Ender Inciarte to the Braves as part of the Miller deal.

Want an example of how crazy the team’s outfield situation has been this season without Pollock? Consider the Diamondbacks’ 6-2 loss to the Cardinals May 21: That day, Manager Chip Hale wrote Rickie Weeks, Chris Owings and Brandon Drury as the three outfielders on the lineup card. Weeks is a career second baseman; Owings is a middle infielder who never played outfield prior to this season; and Drury is a rookie infielder who had never played outfield in either the majors or minors prior to this season.

Understandably, the outfield defense has cost the team a lot of runs this season, and David Peralta’s time on the Disabled List hasn’t helped the cause, either.

In addition to a revolving door in the outfield, the pitching rotation has under-performed. Entering Wednesday the Diamondbacks’ rotation was 20th in Fielding Independent Pitching (4.48), 17th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.38) and 23rd in home runs per nine innings (1.32).

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