The 5 worst pitching seasons in Diamondbacks history

There is bad, and then there is really bad, and there is these 5 pitching seasons.  You ever go to a batting cage where there is a machine that pitches to you; it usually throws the ball in the same exact spot every time so that you can whack it as hard and as far as you possibly can.  I wonder if hitters felt this way when they faced these guys…

In 2000, Omar Daal had the worst pitching season in Diamondbacks history

At the end of the day, Omar Daal had a nice little MLB career.  In 2000 however, Daal looked like a high school pitcher on the mound facing big league bats.  In 96 innings pitched that season, Daal owned a 2-10 record with a 7.22 ERA and a .315 BAA.  That is horrendous.  On top of that, his K/9 rate (strikeouts per 9 innings) was 4.22 and his B/9 rate (walks per 9 innings) was 3.94.  Also horrendous.  To this day, Daal’s 2000 season is the worst in franchise history…

2005: Russ Ortiz

Like Daal, Ortiz was pretty successful in the bigs after it was all said and done.  Also like Daal, Ortiz had a season he would like to pretend never happened.  In 2005, Ortiz went 5-11 with a 6.89 ERA and a .313 BAA over the course of 115 innings.  His K/9 rate was 3.60, and his B/9 was 5.09.  He walked over 5 batters every 9 innings, a pitching coach's worst nightmare…

1998: Jeff Suppan

Jeff Suppan had a long MLB career starting in 1995 and ending in 2012.  He got the chance to be a part of the first-ever Diamondbacks season; pretty cool right?  Not for Jeff.  In 66 innings pitched that season, Suppan went 1-7 with a 6.68 ERA and a .301 BAA.  His K/9 rate was 5.3 which is bad but his B/9 was surprisingly good at 2.9.  He was throwing a lot of strikes, the problem was the hitters weren't missing them…  

2004: Casey Fossum

Unlike some people on this list, Fossum did not have a great career in the bigs.  His 2004 season with the D-backs was really bad but he had an even worse season with the Rays in 2007.  In 142 innings pitched in 04’, Fossum went 4-15 with a 6.65 ERA and a .302 BAA.  His K/9 rate was average at 7.42 but his B/9 rate was awful at 3.99.  2004 was Casey’s only season in the desert…

2020: Luke Weaver

Weaver did not turn out to be who the Diamondbacks hoped they were getting in the Goldschmidt trade.  In 2020, Weaver pitched 52 innings; He went 1-9 with a 6.58 ERA and a .292 BAA.  Both his K/9 and B/9 rates were good that season, but Weaver threw his fastball too often (54% of the time) and it got mashed.  On August 1 last year, Weaver was traded to the Royals for IF Emmanuel Rivera.  Weaver is now a part of the Reds organization…