Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #116: 8/11 vs. Padres

Over the past ten games, in which time the Diamondbacks have gone 1-9, Arizona has collectively hit .190/.264/.274 for a .538 OPS. They have scored a total of just nineteen runs since July 29, including three shutouts. There has only been two true ten-game spans in franchise history where the D-backs have scored fewer runs. Near the start of last season, from the second through eleventh games, they scored 18 runs, while hitting .160/.273/.268 for a similar .541 OPS. But the worst ever was from July 19 through August 3, 2003. This bottomed out from July 22-August 1. The team was held to two or fewer runs in nine straight games, scoring just 14.

Weirdly, Arizona actually hit a bit better than the current team, with a line of .226/.285/.299 for an OPS of .584. The low runs output is likely because, If my math is correct, the D-backs hit just .117 (9-for-77) with runners in scoring position across those ten games. They somehow still managed to win twice, beating Los Angeles 2-1 and 1-0 in back-to-back games (Elmer Dessens of all people, and three relievers, combined on a six-hitter in the latter contest). Although Arizona lost the sweep by being beaten 1-0 in the series final. Curt Schilling being the unlucky loser, despite eight innings of one-run ball. Not sure many three-game series in the modern era have seen fewer than five total runs.

In terms of OPS, the worst level of offense by the Diamondbacks across a ten-game span was in May 2018. From May 11-21, they batted .173/.229/.266 for a .495 OPS, 43 points below the current figure. However, they did score a total of 20 runs. The lowest batting average for 10 games was during that slump in April last year. Over the first ten games, the D-backs batted a mere .156 over 364 plate-appearances. That was the second-worst start to a season by batting average in the live-ball era, ahead only of the 2003 Tigers, who hit .153 through their first ten. Third place goes to Cleveland in 2018, who hit .158... yet still went on to win their division. Goes to show that over a ten-game span, anything can happen!