Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #101: 7/24 vs. Cardinals

Ranking the power rankings

Welcome to Plummet City, pop: the D-backs. Yeah, losing seven games of nine on the road-trip did Arizona absolutely no favors, even if they did manage to win a series against the team with the best record in the league. Go figure. But that was small comfort, and the Diamondbacks will definitely want to do better going forward. Here’s what the various rankings had to say this time round, following the off-week. Note: Yahoo! haven’t bothered, so I’m forced to switch AGAIN, and will be using Sports Illustrated’s rankings as replacement going forward. If they stop, I’ll be sending Jack a strongly-worded message to pass on to his colleagues. :)

• MLB.com: #9 (two weeks ago, #4) - A big drop here, with the Giants now right on the D-backs’ heels. Though it was not the largest of the week. That dishonor went to the Marlins who fell from 8th all the way down to #16.
• CBS Sports: #12 (two weeks ago, #7) - “The sky is falling? Yeah, I’d say so. The D-Backs have lost 12 of their last 16 and are only a half-game in playoff position. They had a three-game lead in their division before this rut. Still, in the middle of all that, they won a series against the Braves. Baseball!”
• USA Today: #10 (two weeks ago, #6) - “Lost three of last five series.”
• Sports Illustrated: #13 (two weeks ago on Yahoo: #7) - “A month ago, the D-Backs held a four-game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West. That lead is gone. The Snakes now trail the Dodgers by four games. Arizona was swept by the Reds over the weekend, has lost four straight, and is 4-11 since July 1.”
• ESPN: #10 (two weeks ago, #5) - “The D-backs lost eight of their first 11 games this month, a stretch that saw them slash just .210/.297/.326. Then they broke out for 16 runs in a wild back-and-forth game against Atlanta on Tuesday, getting multiple hits from five members of their lineup. The D-backs’ offense has proven to be good enough and deep enough to not be held in check for very long. But they’ll still need pitching before this year’s trade deadline if they hope to keep pace with the Dodgers and Giants in the NL West, both for the middle of their rotation and the back end of their bullpen. And they have the young players to get practically whatever they want.”

The average obviously takes a big hit over the fortnight since we checked in, dropping to their worst figure since mid-May. The team barely stays above the Giants (who have had their own struggles), by the narrowest of margins. The good news is, the schedule lets up for a little while, and gives the Diamondbacks a chance to right the ship this week. For now, here’s how the NL West shapes up in the average rankings:

1. Dodgers: 3.8
2. D-backs: 10.8
3. Giants: 11.0
4. Padres: 19.2
5. Rockies: 27.4