Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #143: 9/7 @ Astros

Well, Jordan Montgomery again saved the bullpen from being needlessly taxed, sucking up multiple innings in a blowout loss. His ERA as a reliever is 6.30, basically the same as it was as a starting pitcher (6.44), so I guess normality and parity have been achieved. Among pitchers with 100+ innings in a season for the D-backs, Montgomery’s -1.5 bWAR now trails only Russ Ortiz’s -1.8 bWAR in 2005. Right now, if the D-backs make the postseason, there’s a very real chance our most expensive player - y’know, the one earning $25 million - could find himself not on the playoff roster. I wonder if that have ever happened before, with someone earning that much money?

Of course, there’s still the question of the D-backs MAKING the post-season. If you were on social media and didn’t look at the standings, you’d be forgiven for thinking Arizona is on its way to 110 losses again, rather than the best team in the majors since the start of July. But most sports fans have a memory span commensurate with a goldfish, living or dying by only the most recent results, and reacting accordingly. Every time a closer blows a save, that fanbase will demand he be fired. Every time a runner doesn’t score from third with one out, a lack of clutch gets bemoaned. If I’ve learned anything in 25 years watching the game, it’s don’t sweat the small stuff. And a single game, or even a single week, is small stuff.