Los Angeles Dodgers: Predicting the 2019 NL West standings
By Jason Reed
4. Arizona Diamondbacks — 74-88
I think it has been a bit understated how bad the Arizona Diamondbacks are going to be in 2019. There are no reasons to suspect the Diamondbacks to be in the hunt for the playoffs and the tough National League will lead to the record falling below .500.
This offseason has been nothing but losses for the Diamondbacks. The team is obviously preparing for the future as both Patrick Corbin and A.J. Pollock walking (Pollock, of course, going to the Dodgers) and Paul Goldschmidt getting traded to St. Louis. That is three of the team’s best five players that are no longer on the team.
Zack Greinke is getting older and the rest of the offseason lacks any true firepower or a legitimate middle of the order threat. The pitching staff is not great, the bullpen is weak outside of Archie Bradley and the Diamondbacks really have nothing to be excited about in 2019.
We started to see the cracks of the Dbacks in September last season which will translate to a year-long performance in 2019. The team slumped their way out of the playoff picture, going 8-19 in the last month.
The Diamondbacks are obviously going to be better than the 48-win pace that occurred in that last month but won’t be good enough to crack the 80 wins threshold.