Pitching wins championships. With that said, it looks as if the Arizona Diamondbacks won’t be celebrating a World Series victory this coming October.
Throughout spring training, D-Backs pitchers have struggled mightily.
With former Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb beginning the season on disabled list, starting pitching is a necessity for the D-Backs.
Fifth starter candidate Billy Buckner and closer Chad Qualls combined to give up 14 earned runs in a 24-9 loss to the lowly Kansas City Royals on Friday.
Newcomer Edwin Jackson, who is slated to start the second game of the regular season, has struggled in his past two outings. Even staff ace Dan Haren ran into some trouble in his latest start against the Seattle Mariners. Barring injury, Haren and his electric arsenal of pitches will most likely post All Star numbers in 2010. After Haren and Jackson, the starting rotation is full of question marks.
Spring training is a time for pitchers to experiment and gear up for the 162-game season.
However, results on the mound are nice to see every now and then too, and those have been rare.
Let’s hope something clicks for the D-Backs’ hurlers within the next two weeks, or it will be another long summer for baseball fans here in the desert.
