The worst pitching staff in Diamondbacks history
2016 Diamondbacks: 5.09 ERA, .275 BAA, and a 1.49 WHIP
In 2016, the Arizona starting rotation was horrendous…
- Robbie Ray (4.90 ERA)
- Zack Greinke (4.37 ERA)
- Patrick Corbin (5.15 ERA)
- Archie Bradley (5.02 ERA)
- Shelby Miller (6.15 ERA)
I think the numbers speak for themselves here. Not a whole lot to say when the best starter in your rotation has an ERA above 4. Zack Greinke was the only starter in the 16’ season to have a solid campaign. In 26 starts Greinke went 13-7 with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Not great but not terrible either. What was terrible for Arizona in 2016 was Shelby Miller. In 20 starts, Miller went 3-12 with a 6.15 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. Yikes! It makes you wonder why the Diamondbacks gave him that many chances. You would think after a while they would try using him out of the bullpen. No wonder the D-Backs won less than 70 games in 2016…
The starters weren’t the only pitchers that struggled for the Diamondbacks in 16’; the bullpen was bad too. Out of the 4 relief pitchers with the most innings under their belt, only one had an ERA lower than 4. Randall Delgado who pitched 75 innings in relief had a 4.44 ERA. Daniel Hudson pitched 60.1 innings in relief and had a 5.22 ERA. Enrique Burgos pitched 41.1 innings in relief and had a 5.66 ERA. Not a lot of reliability from these 3 guys in 2016…
There were two solid bullpen arms that season, however. Relief pitcher Jake Barret pitched 59.1 innings and had an ERA of 3.49 with a .218 BAA. Those aren’t terrific numbers but a solid season compared to the rest of the bullpen no doubt. A Diamondbacks relief pitcher that wasn’t just solid but stellar that season was closer Brad Ziegler. In 38.1 innings pitched Ziegler had a 2.82 ERA and also recorded 18 saves out of 20 opportunities. These two were the stars in the night sky for this Arizona ball club. A ball club that had the worst team ERA in the league. Amazingly, the very next season was the best pitching staff the franchise has ever seen…