Despite three-game skid, Arizona Diamondbacks look like legitimate contenders
The Diamondbacks have hit a skid.
They’ve been in first place, with a lead over the hated Dodgers, for about a month, but have now lost three in a row with the Cleveland Guardians heading into town for a weekend series.
It leaves Arizona fans with a big question: Are these guys real contenders or not?
Veteran Evan Longoria sure thinks so.
“We’ve played a lot of games now. You’d know by now,” he said. “A lot of teams that get out of the gate hot and then fizzle out, you see that happen by now.”
Indeed, the team is more than a third of the way through the season, plenty of time to get a good assessment. And for the most part, Arizona looks legit.
That said, the Diamondbacks didn’t play their best ball over the last three games. Manager Torey Lovullo knows it, and he’s not happy.
“This is another grinding loss … I have certain expectations, the team has certain expectations, little things matter here, little things show up every day,” Lovullo said after the 5-4 loss Thursday afternoon.
Before the three-game slide, the Diamondbacks had won 12 of 14. Lovullo attributed that to his players’ attention to detail, which slipped this week.
That’s correctable.
“This team is always ultimately prepared,” Lovullo said. “We hammer down on these guys about winning every margin possible … We’re gonna find a way out of this.”
If they do, it’ll be yet another example of the never-quit attitude that has defined the team so far this season.
SCOREBOARD | STANDINGS | INJURIES
Take for example what the Diamondbacks do with two outs. They could just go up there, swing at the first pitch and be content to go play defense.
But Arizona ranks near the top of the National League in batting average, slugging percentage, hits, runs and home runs with two outs.
The Diamondbacks also have 20 comeback wins, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Call them the “Answerbacks”?
Starting pitcher Zac Gallen has heard the expression.
“It just kinda speaks to the culture, the vibe we have in here,” Gallen said. “We don’t think we’re out of any game.”
That’s a key intangible for Longoria, who’s been to the playoffs five times, including an appearance in the 2008 World Series.
“The intensity with which we play every day and the never-quit attitude we have, those are two characteristics that always seem to be at the top of all the winning teams I’ve been on,” Longoria said.
This is Arizona’s third three-game slump of the season, and it comes as casual fans have a chance to really focus on baseball now that the NBA and NHL seasons are over.
There’s a concern that this might be a mirage in the desert. Didn’t this team lose 110 games just a couple years ago? And wasn’t last year terrible, too? How can the Diamondbacks compete over the course of a season when they spend a fraction on player salary of what the other teams in the division do?
For Gallen, it’s all about playing together.
“We’ve just kind of galvanized the last couple of years … last year, you could see at the end there, when we started getting some of the young guys in, and they started getting comfortable.”
They play team baseball.
“As cliché as it is, it’s just a bunch of guys pulling in the same direction,” Gallen said. “All right, you’ve got my back tonight. I’m gonna have your back another night.”
It’s an essential quality when other teams are spending more than double to bring in proven veterans and superstars.
The Padres pay nearly $250 million in player salary. That’s third most in all of baseball.
The Dodgers spend about $223 million, good for fifth most expensive.
The Giants pay out $188 million, 11th in the big leagues.
Arizona? Try $116 million, 21st of the 30 teams in the sport.
So far, it hasn’t mattered much. The Diamondbacks are 10-8 against their big-spending rivals, including 5-3 against LA.
So are they for real?
Time will tell, but it sure looks like it. The Diamondbacks have showed some of the most important qualities a team can have for success: They’re gritty, and they’re nasty when they’re winning.
“Resiliency,” Longoria said, “the attitude that when you get down or when things go wrong, it doesn’t deflate the morale of the team. And then there’s that killer instinct of when we do get ahead in games, we continue to pile on. We continue to run the bases hard. We continue to make all the right plays on defense and maintain focus late.
When the Diamondbacks are winning, “we do all of those things really, really well,” Longoria said. “And for a young group, that gives me the promise that we’re here to stay, and what we’re seeing is not a fluke.”
Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @SayingMoore.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Despite losing streak, Arizona Diamondbacks look for real
