Arizona Diamondbacks: Zack Greinke to the DL

An already difficult season for the Arizona Diamondbacks got even worse when they placed Zack Greinke on the disabled list.

The Arizona Diamondbacks shocked most of the baseball world when they made two huge moves during the offseason. The first big move was signing free agent pitcher Zack Greinke, who had just come off one of his best seasons yet in which he finished second in Cy Young voting.

The second big move was trading the 2015 number one overall pick, Dansby Swanson, in a deal that brought Shelby Miller to Arizona. With Greinke and Miller at the top of their rotation and an infield with two great players in Goldschmidt and Lamb the Diamondbacks thought they were primed to compete in a very tough NL West division.

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The season has not gone according to plan yet, as they are 37-47 and 15 games back of the division leading Giants. In the Wild Card, they are 8.5 games out of a playoff spot. Shelby Miller has already made a trip to the disabled list, and now Greinke will get his chance as well.

Greinke was pulled from his start against the Phillies on Tuesday with soreness in his oblique. The injury turned out to be somewhat serious, and the team has placed him on the 15 day disabled list. They expect that he will be back shortly after the All-Star break, but he will leave quite a hole in his wake for a team that needs as many wins as they can get.

Before the injury Greinke was beginning to rebound from his rough start to the season in Arizona. In his last 11 starts before the injury he had posted a 2.58 ERA. Now on the season he holds a 3.62 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP. Those numbers are very close to his career averages of 3.36 ERA and 1.18 He’s got a ways to go before he gets back to his normal self, and the injury won’t help; however, he’s been pitching like the ace he was in 2015 over the past couple weeks. The injury is ill-timed for both the Diamondbacks and Greinke himself.

For a team that attempted to go “all in” during the offseason by trading their top prospect, things have gone horribly wrong. Not only has Miller, the pitcher in that trade, gone on the DL, but now their ace they signed through free agency is headed there as well. Even with Miller and Greinke healthy the Diamondbacks were barely hanging on in contention for even a Wild Card spot. Now that Miller has been lacking and Greinke is injured, it might be time for them to pack it in.

Although we haven’t reached the All-Star break yet and there is still a whole lot of baseball to be played, the Diamondbacks seemed doomed when they thought they would succeed. With the trade deadline nearing, teams are going to be looking to find their identity as a buyer or a seller. Where do the Diamondbacks fall? That’s a tough question. They appear to be sellers based on their record, with multiple players that teams would potentially have interest in. However, trading young Dansby Swanson away in the offseason appeared to be a resistance to starting over and rebuilding.

The Diamondbacks could skillfully retool their roster through a couple smart trades, but it is uncertain whether they will even take that route. Most likely we will see the Diamondbacks stay pat and hope for better success in 2017 as the Giants and Dodgers continue to get better and dominate. For now it doesn’t seem like there’s a great path for the Diamondbacks to follow. They went “all in” in the winter, but their moves have not payed off. Now they are stuck in the middle ground with nothing to do. The injury to Zack Grienke only hurts them more.

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The team that had high expectations going into the 2016 season has failed to reach their potential. With injuries hitting the team along with underwhelming performances, the Diamondbacks are in trouble. It may be the end of the road for the 2016 Diamondbacks and any playoff hope they might have had.