![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2165785581.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Diamondbacks pitcher Eduardo Rodr\u00edguez has seen the biggest improvement, going from a 5.94 ERA to a 4.06 in the second half. (Photo by Jason Miller\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
PHOENIX \u2014 In the blink of an eye, the Arizona Diamondbacks are knocking on the door of a wild card spot with two weeks remaining in a season where a playoff berth once appeared to be a lost cause. <\/p>\n
On July 31, the Diamondbacks were 51-58 and traded away Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suarez, Merrill Kelly, Shelby Miller and Randal Grichuk at the MLB trade deadline. They were nine games out of a National League wild card spot and seemed destined for a disappointing season defined by injuries.<\/p>\n
Since then, the Diamondbacks have defied odds by going 26-17, the fifth best record in baseball. Their 6-5 walk-off win Tuesday night against the San Francisco Giants on a ball that never travelled out of the infield kept Arizona 1.5 games out of a playoff spot with 10 games remaining in the regular season.<\/p>\n
The biggest difference for the Diamondbacks in the second half? The pitching staff. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a culmination of the whole year\u2019s work,\u201d starting pitcher Ryne Nelson said. \u201cIt\u2019s coming together at the right time and I think it\u2019s the starters for sure. We\u2019ve tried to become a little bit more of a unit and really pull for each other. You\u2019re going out there and watching each other warm up before the games and just supporting each other and having each other\u2019s backs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heading into the All-Star break, the Diamondbacks had a 4.65 team ERA, the fifth worst in MLB at the time. Since the break, the Diamondbacks have pitched to the 10th best ERA at 4.09. <\/p>\n
The biggest improvements have materialized from the starting rotation. The rotation\u2019s 0.6-run drop from a 4.47 ERA in the first half to 3.87 in the second half is the sixth-highest drop in baseball. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe switched gears a little bit,\u201d manager Torey Lovullo said. \u201cAt the beginning of the year, we were attacking weaknesses of the hitters, and now there\u2019s a blend of focusing on your strengths and what you\u2019re good at with the ability to attack weaknesses of the hitter.\u201d<\/p>\n
By focusing on each players\u2019 strengths, the rotation has given up significantly less hard contact. Hitters\u2019 barrel rates against Diamondbacks starters have nearly been cut in half from 10.7% to 6.1%. Their home runs-per-fly ball allowed has also dropped from 14.2% to 9.9%.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first and most important ingredient of our starting pitcher taking them out is what am I good at and how am I going to attack?\u201d Lovullo said. \u201cThen part two of that is blending in where are the weaknesses of the hitter. Prior to that, we had been really cycling through attacking weakness from the very first pitch on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of the four main starters who have stayed healthy and made it through the trade deadline \u2014 Nelson, Eduardo Rodr\u00edguez, Zac Gallen and Brandon Pfaadt \u2014 only Nelson had an ERA below five in the first half. Since the All-Star break, only Pfaadt and Rodr\u00edguez have an ERA north of four. <\/p>\n
Rodr\u00edguez has seen the biggest improvement, improving from a 5.94 ERA to a 4.06 in the second half. Lovullo notes that Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s ability to not panic, have a slow heartbeat and make adjustments after bad pitches are among the reasons he has improved as the season progressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason why he\u2019s having success, for me, is the location of his pitches,\u201d Lovullo said. \u201cHe\u2019s landing it in the right spot, the depth of his breaking ball, reading swings, changing speeds with the changeup and the breaking ball, and just making pitches when he has to and limiting mistakes for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the bullpen, the improvements are more subtle. The 4.44 bullpen ERA in the second half is still in the bottom half in the league, overshadowing the fact that it\u2019s the sixth biggest drop from the first half to the second (4.94 in the first half). <\/p>\n
Similar to the rotation, the key to the bullpen\u2019s new found success since the All-Star break is limiting hard contact. Hitters\u2019 barrel rates went from 8.9% in the first half to 6.8% in the second.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuys are attacking the zone,\u201d catcher James McCann said. \u201cGuys are trusting their pitches and they\u2019re making the pitches when they need to make them.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a young bullpen. The Diamondbacks currently have five members in the pen with less than a year of MLB service time. <\/p>\n
The inexperience may bring inconsistency, but Lovullo likes the perspective they offer. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re egoless,\u201d Lovullo said. \u201cWhen the phone rings, they don\u2019t know who it\u2019s going to be, and there\u2019s a uniqueness to that feeling. Your stomach is always probably churning and wondering when it is your turn, you\u2019re equipped and ready because you\u2019ve never really turned off your motor from the fifth inning on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I put player A in the game, player B has no curiosity as to why it\u2019s not him. And then the next night, I might shift the deck and put player B in the game, he has zero curiosity as to why it wasn\u2019t him. So that\u2019s where I say there are no egos. There is nobody that\u2019s trying to get in the way of one another through performance or frustrations. I think they\u2019re just laid down, and when the phone rings, they\u2019re all very eager to go in there, and they\u2019re ready to go.\u201d <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a pitching staff that collectively lowered its ERA by 0.2 runs in its last 43 games, despite losing key pieces to injury and a mainstay in the rotation in Kelly at the trade deadline. <\/p>\n
Diamondbacks\u2019 ace Corbin Burnes was one of an MLB-leading five players on the Diamondbacks to receive Tommy John surgery, with four of them happening in June alone. <\/p>\n
Through all the injuries and struggles, the pitching staff never gave up, and it\u2019s been imperative to the Diamondbacks\u2019 resurgence. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur mentality the whole time was that we were never going to count ourselves out and the last thing that we were ever gonna do was just throw in the towel and say we sold, so we\u2019re done,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cWe still come out every day and prepare to win and go out there and play with that mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Follow Cronkite News: Phoenix Sports on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n