Let's take that number (17) and appease Niles Standish by doubling it. Only five bullpens have lost more games than that:
2004 Rockies (39)
2002 Rangers (38)
1980 Mets (36)
1989 Braves, 2007 Orioles (35)
The Nats relievers are on pace to lose 61 games. This incredulous find made me hope Nationals Park's gift shops offer aspirin.
Naturally, getting sidetracked like this successfully diverted my attention away from the Diamondbacks' lousy hitting. Things could be worse, I guess — they could be the Nationals. They could have a bad bullpen, bad rotation, bad lineup, and perhaps most damning of all, they could play in the National League East.
That's the beauty of the NL West. The Padres have shown that one trade rumor and two good weeks is all it takes to go from laughingstock to legitimate NL West contender. Remember that team that I mentioned had an even worse batting average than Arizona? They're at .500 now. Sure, they're still 8.5 games back of the Dodgers, who seem to have no problem without a dreadlocked slugger, but they just may be the team that finishes second in the NL West. It probably won't mean playoffs (it's way too early to talk Wild Card), but rising to the zenith of the bell curve is a great way to conceal futility. Maybe the D'backs should try it sometime. Soon.
Article comments
1 - Tony
Matt, the Billy Haywood references was awesome. That movie detailed my greatest fantasy when I was like 10, except I obviously wouldn't want to own/manage the Twins. I think Griffey was in that one, in his prime, playing the bad ass. Or was it the unit?
2 - Matt Sussman
Actually, it was BOTH.
I know!