How did the Diamondbacks do against every team they faced this year?

The Diamondbacks faced 19 of the league’s other 29 teams this year. We know the team struggled overall this year as they set the franchise’s second-worst record in team history. Due to that fact, the team probably struggled a lot against nearly all of their opponents? However, how did they do against them all? Were they competitive against any of the teams? Did they win any series against a team? Let’s take a look and find out how the Dbacks did against all 19 teams they faced this year.

There are quite a few surprises and some that just make your eyes hurt. Arizona was a deeply flawed team with not a great coaching staff behind Torey. Thankfully most of that coaching staff is gone! Nonetheless, the season is over and we can reflect on what went wrong, and what we need to do to fix it.

This is a continuation of an overview look at how the Diamondbacks performed schedule-wise this year. The first article about this went over each month of the season. It can be read here. I’ll go down in order of teams by alphabetical order. This will make it easier to read, at least I hope.

Atlanta Braves: The Dbacks went 3-4 against the Braves in the 2021 season. It was a tale of two halves in their two matchups. Arizona took 2/3 in Atlanta, whereas Atlanta took 3/4 in Arizona. The two series weren’t close either as the Dbacks shut out the Braves in two games in Atlanta. The runs scored by Atlanta in the series amounted to 35, which equals an average of 5 runs a game. The Dbacks scored 29 runs, which equals an average of 4.14 runs per game.

Chicago Cubs: The Diamondbacks struggled against the newly rebuilding Cubs as they went 2-4 over the course of the season. Arizona lost both their series against Chicago and scored a total of 20 runs. That’s good for a 3.33 average runs per game. Chicago scored 29 runs and averaged 4.83 runs per game.

Cincinnati Reds: Arizona played pretty well against the Reds this year. Of course, they played them in April when the team was still healthy. The Dbacks had the Reds’ secrets during their two series as the team went 5-1 against Cincy. Over those 6 games, the team scored 47 runs, an average of 7.83 runs per game. The Reds only scored 29 runs, an average of 4.83 runs per game.

Colorado Rockies: One of the arch-rivals of the Dbacks, whom they had mixed results with. To no one’s surprise, the Dbacks played the best against Colorado, than against any of their other division mates. They went 9-10. Yes, that means the Dbacks had a losing record against everyone in their division. Arizona was outscored by a decent amount, due to the Rockies blowing AZ out of Coors Field. The Rockies scored 113 runs, an average of 5.95 runs per game. Arizona only had 99 runs, an average of 5.2 runs per game.

Houston Astros: The Diamondbacks only played the Astros in one series this year, a series that they should’ve won if not for their bullpen woes. Instead, the team went 1-2 against Houston. Over those three games, both teams scored 15 runs and averaged 5 runs per game. That is emblematic of a rather equal matchup across the series.

Los Angeles Angels: As with the Astros, Arizona only faced the Angels three times over the course of a single series this year. They were dominated by the Angels and Shohei Ohtani though. Arizona lost all three games in the series, being outscored 24-15. That means the Angels averaged a staggering 8 runs per game, and the Dbacks only had 5 runs per game. Of course, that’s well above the season average of 4.19 runs per game. It just showcases how bad the bullpen/pitching was.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Arizona really struggled against the Doyers this year. Of course, what did you expect? The Dodgers bought and raised a great team, whereas the Diamondbacks did not. Arizona managed to win 3 of the 19 games against Los Angeles. That equates to a 3-16 record. Arizona managed to score a measly 53 runs, a horrific 2.79 runs per game. On the other hand, they let LA score 124 runs, that’s an average of 6.53 runs per game. Yes, LA nearly tripled the score of the Dbacks every game on average.

Miami Marlins: Another bottom-barrel team that Arizona should’ve beat upon, instead of them beating us up. AZ went 2-5 over the 7 games they played against the Marlins this year. The rebuilding team outscored the Dbacks 33-23 over those 7 games. Arizona’s awful pitching let the inept offense of the Marlins average 4.71 runs per game. Meanwhile, the Marlins great starting pitching held Arizona to average 3.29 runs per game. Not the way fans expected the year to go.

Milwaukee Brewers: Arizona was thoroughly outplayed by the NL Central champs. They struggled to do anything against them, and as such finished with a record of 1-6 over the two series they played. Arizona averaged 2.43 runs per game. OUCH. Meanwhile, the Brewers averaged 4.29 runs per game. That’s nearly double Arizona’s. Not ideal if you’re trying to win games.

New York Mets: The Dbacks didn’t fare any better against the New York Mets either. In fact, turns out having to face Jacob deGrom twice isn’t good for your offense or record. Due to that, the Diamondbacks only managed to go 1-5 against New York this year. They averaged a slim 3.67 runs per game. Of course, the Mets’ averaged more than that with 5.17 per game.

Oakland Athletics: Facing them due to the inter-league matchups, the Oakland A’s dominated the Dbacks over their 2 & 2 home and away series this year. The Dbacks just didn’t know how to pitch or hit against them. In fact, while going 0-4, Arizona averaged only 3 runs per game. As for Oakland, they averaged a healthy 6.25 runs per game. That’s more than double the Dbacks.

Philadelphia Phillies: The Diamondbacks did rather well against the contending Phillies. In fact, they helped ensure that Archie Bradley and the Phillies didn’t make the playoffs or win their division by way of just winning games that Philly should’ve won. Arizona went 4-3 against Philly. Arizona scored less than Philly, but we had some great pitching performances along the way. Alas, Arizona’s bats only scored an average of 4.43 runs. Philadelphia averaged 4.86 runs per game. At least it was tightly contested.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Ah, at least we can take solace in the fact that once again, the Diamondbacks dominated the Pirates. It’s become routine for this to take place. I look forward to these matchups every year. Arizona went 4-2 vs Pittsburgh, including sweeping them at Chase Field once again. Arizona’s offense averaged a healthy 5.5 runs per game. If only we could face Pirates pitching every game. Pittsburgh’s offense only averaged 4 runs per game. For once, Arizona vastly outscored their opponent.

San Diego Padres: I don’t know about you all, but I fully believe the Dbacks are responsible for starting the collapse of San Diego’s season. When the Dbacks No-Hit them, thanks to Tyler Gilbert, and almost swept them at Chase Field, it felt like that’s when all of San Diego’s momentum changed. Maybe I’m just living in a fantasy world, but I can wish haha. Arizona started off the season bleak against San Diego losing 3 straight. Luckily, they rebounded to only lose the season series by going 8-11. It’s not ideal, but it’s a lot better than the team’s records vs LA or San Fran. The offensive scoring was really tight as well. Arizona averaged 4.53 runs during their 19 games. San Diego averaged a barely higher 4.68 runs during their 19 games.

Seattle Mariners: Seattle ruined the 20th Anniversary of the World Series celebration by sweeping Arizona at Chase Field in early September. Thankfully, Arizona went to Seattle the next weekend and took 2/3 from the Mariners to help them fall further down the playoff race. In fact, if Seattle had won one more game, they would’ve been tied to go into the playoffs. OOPS. Arizona went 2-4 over the two series, in which they averaged 5.0 runs per game. The Fishermen averaged 6.0 runs per game, which helps explain how they beat Arizona 4 times.

San Francisco Giants: You know something, I don’t know if Arizona ever actually showed up to play the Giants this year? I think it might’ve been just all forfeits, or at least that’s how it felt. Arizona went an abysmal 2-17 this season against the Giants. You’re welcome Giants for all the easy wins. This was their worst record against a team that they played more than 4 times. I guess they just had the Dbacks number every pitch. Arizona only averaged 3.84 runs to San Francisco’s 6.63 runs per game over the course of the 19-game season series. Yea, that’s not how you win ball games.

St. Louis Cardinals: Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals vastly outplayed Arizona this season on their way to a Wild-Card berth. Arizona went 1-6 across the two series this year. Way to go Arizona for helping Goldy get to the playoffs again! Anyways, the pitching by the Cardinals was, to no one’s surprise, much better than Arizona’s. You can already tell just by how many runs they averaged per game. Across these 7 games, Arizona averaged 4.29, and St. Louis averaged 5.57 runs.

Texas Rangers: Everything’s bigger in Texas, especially their new stadium. Unfortunately, that didn’t help Arizona do well against the Rangers in their 2 & 2 home and away series. Arizona went 1-3 to a fellow rebuilder. They only averaged an awful 3.25 runs per game against a rather bleak pitching staff. Texas had a healthy 4.5 runs per game against an inept Arizona pitching squad.

Washington Nationals: Both of these teams expected way different results at the beginning of the season. Instead, they both ended up as rebuilders that missed their original mark by quite a distance. Arizona went 3-4, staying competitive in all 7 games. It was a nice refreshing watch to see Arizona not get blown out from the get-go. Of course, Arizona still struggled to put up runs as they only averaged 4.43 runs per game. Washington didn’t struggle as much, putting up 5.57 runs per game.

That’s all the opponents that the Arizona Diamondbacks faced this season. Some of the series were great, some were miserable. It was a rough season, but at least we can take comfort in some of the positives instead of just focusing on the negatives. I hope you all enjoyed this article, and there’s plenty more in the pipeline coming soon.

Thanks again, and as also,

May the Force be With You…