Diamondbacks have ‘alarming’ 400-pitch issue that can be fixed with 3 key statistics originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Arizona Diamondbacks came into Mother’s Day weekend with a sub .500 record, and while they are just one game under .500 after winning the series against the New York Mets, there is one issue that became very apparent recently.
While the struggles of the team do involve the pitching staff to some degree, a lot of the blame can fall on the offense. And there are some clear issues that need fixing.
As USA Today’s Bob Nightengale highlighted, the Diamondbacks did some self-scouting recently and found what Tony Lovullo said was an “alarming” statistic.
“The Diamondbacks did a deep dive on their offensive struggles and discovered that they have seen 400 fewer pitches than they had seen at the same time a year ago when they scored the sixth-most runs in baseball,” Nightengale writes.
This 400-pitch difference is a big issue. Fortunately, there are a few quick ways to fix this issue and get back to seeing a lot more pitches.
D-Backs have 3 ways to fix ‘alarming’ 400-pitch problem
The three key statistics that the Diamondbacks need to improve upon this season to fix this 400-pitch issue are the following: Chase rate, on-base percentage, and walks.
When it comes to walks, the Diamondbacks currently rank second-to-last with 110 walks this season. The San Francisco Giants have a terrible 80 walks this season, but Arizona ranks 29th in this category.
On-base percentage has gone up lately with a better series against the Mets, but they still are sporting a .299 OBP, which ranks 27th in MLB this season, barely ahead of the San Diego Padres, Giants, and New York Mets for worst in baseball.
Those are two results-based statistics, and while those two numbers improving would result in better offensive production, there needs to be improvements with their chase rate to truly see some positive change offensively.
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According to Baseball Savant, the Diamondbacks have a 33.7 chase rate this season, the third-highest in all of MLB behind only the Colorado Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays.
Improving this 400-pitch problem stems from being more disciplined at the plate, which could be seen directly with a decrease in chase rate.
One thing could lead to another, and the D-Backs could get out of this offensive funk by cutting down on their chase rate, which should improve their walk rate, which should improve their on-base percentage.
These three statistics all work together, and if they simply chase less often, things might begin to look up for the Diamondbacks’ offense this season.
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