Diamondback Preview – rotation in shambles, team in shambles, future in shambles

September 5, 2014

Seems like just yesterday the Diamondbacks and Dodgers were squaring off so I covered them, and their all rookie outfield at that time. Not much has changed since then, so let’s take a look at who the Dodgers will face on the mound.

The Diamondback rotation has had a woeful year with eleven different starters taking the mound. The original rotation of Wiley , McCarthy, Arroyo, Cahill, and Delgado has seen it’s share of movement. Miley is the only original rotation piece who was able to stay in the rotation all year. McCarthy was traded to the Yankees. Arroyo went down with a season ending injury. Cahill was removed from the rotation in April, removed from the bullpen in May, sent to the minors, and is now back in the rotation not because he’s earned it, but simply because everyone else sucks harder. Delgado suffered a similar fate, and is also back in the rotation.

Hard to give much hope to the Diamondbacks when you look at the names they have used this year. With McCarthy gone, the only real viable rotation piece you could count on for 2015 would be Miley. Nuno has done well since coming from the Yankees for McCarthy but if Nuno is going to be a major piece of the Diamondback rotation, I suspect he does not last a full year.

The Diamondbacks have two glimmers of hope. Daniel Hudson pitched his first major league game in two years when he pitched an inning of relief this week. Maybe he can get back to being the ace of the Diamondback staff by the time 2015 rolls around. Two surgeries removed from his breakout season in 2011, he has made only nine starts in the last three years, so counting on anything from him would not be wise. The other glimmer of hope is Archie Bradley, but the Diamondbacks have to hope that 2014 was an outlier because the highly touted prospect did nothing to suggest he was ready to be the foundation of the new Diamondback rotation.

Player             GS Year Age  ERA  FIP ERA+
Wade Miley         29 2014  27 4.18 4.04   91
Josh Collmenter    24 2014  28 3.81 3.96  100
Brandon McCarthy   18 2014  30 5.01 3.81   76
Chase Anderson     18 2014  26 3.75 4.30  101
Bronson Arroyo     14 2014  37 4.08 4.31   93
Trevor Cahill      13 2014  26 5.06 3.78   75
Vidal Nuno         10 2014  26 3.23 3.70  118
Mike Bolsinger      9 2014  26 5.50 4.00   69
Randall Delgado     2 2014  24 5.85 3.84   65
Andrew Chafin       1 2014  24 0.00      3.13
Zeke Spruill        1 2014  24 4.82 2.59   82

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/5/2014.

The Dodgers get to see Nuno, Chase Anderson, and Trevor Cahill. Miley was originally going to pitch on Sunday but Kirk Gibson realized that Scott Van Slyke was going to be back from paternity leave and wisely moved Miley into the next week.

This is a trio of pitchers the Dodgers should pound. Will they?