Arizona Diamondbacks convinced they'll bounce back

LOS ANGELES – Baseball history is littered with teams that have begun the year as poorly as the Diamondbacks, but if they're searching for inspiration to turn their season around they will have to look elsewhere.

Since the wild-card era began in 1995, 14 teams have opened with a record as bad or worse than the 4-14 mark the Diamondbacks took into their series-opening game at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. Of those 14, none reached the postseason, and only one — the 1996 Boston Red Sox at 85-77 — finished with a winning record.

So what's the lesson there? That despite there being nearly 5 1/2 months to overcome a rough start, there's a good reason no team has: Almost always, only bad teams start so poorly.

The Diamondbacks, though, remain convinced they aren't a bad team.

"I've been on some bad teams," reliever J.J. Putz said. "This isn't one of them. I was on some statistically bad teams in my career. At one point, it could have been a team that was rebuilding. But that's not the case here. The track records are here."

But relatively few of the Diamondbacks' proven players are living up to expectations. The main culprit appears to be a starting rotation that has just two quality starts and a 7.63 ERA through 18 games, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

"There have been plenty of games where the bullpen hasn't pitched all that well, either," Putz said. "And games where we haven't hit all that well or run the bases well or fielded well. Until we find a way to collectively put complete ballgames together, the spiral is going to continue. It can easily be done. It just takes a starter putting up a zero in the first and us coming out banging and kind of build off that."

The stats aren't impressive even outside the starting rotation. The offense entered Friday averaging just 3.72 runs per game and hitting .191 with runners in scoring position. The bullpen's 3.84 ERA isn't too bad, but it's worse than the NL average (3.67), and the club's relievers have already blown three saves.

Although there appear to be a lot of areas of concern, Putz is encouraged by one thing, something that might be more important than it sounds: Nobody's playing the blame game.

"We don't really have any finger-pointing going on, which I would say is somewhat rare," Putz said. "I don't think it's normally like that. Guys are still trying to pick each other up and find positives."

In 2012 and 2013, the second wild-card team in the National League has won 88 and 90 games, respectively. To get to 88 wins, the Diamondbacks would need to play at a .583 pace the rest of the way, which is the equivalent of a 95-win season over 162 games. The other 14 teams that have started 4-14 or worse averaged 67 wins.

Told this, Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock shrugged. He doesn't see how the fortunes of other teams has anything to do with his team.

"We're not going to look at that and give up," Pollock said. "That would be silly.

"You think about the next day. It doesn't do any good. You're trying to win every single game — it doesn't look like it, but we go out every day. You can only win one game at a time."

Up next

D-Backs at Dodgers

When: 5:10 p.m. Saturday

TV/radio: Fox Sports 1 and FSAZ/KTAR-AM 620, KPKX-FM 98.7, KSUN-AM 1400

Pitchers: RHP Mike Bolsinger (0-0, 6.00) RHP Dan Haren (2-0, 2.04)

Notable: Bolsinger made his major league debut in relief of RHP Josh Collmenter on Monday against the New York Mets, giving up two runs in three innings. He will be moving into the rotation starting Saturday. … Bolsinger throws mostly cut fastballs in the 88-90 mph range and curveballs. … He had a 1.42 ERA in 12 2/3 innings for Triple-A Reno before this week's promotion. … Haren, who spent parts of three seasons with the Diamondbacks, has thrown well in his three starts, giving up five runs (four earned) in 17 2/3 innings. He labored through a start against the Diamondbacks last weekend but got through 5 2/3 innings having allowed three runs. … 2B Aaron Hill hits Haren hard, having gone 8 for 25 (.320) with two doubles, two triples and a home run.

Projected starters

Sunday: At LA Dodgers, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Josh Collmenter (0-1, 3.75) vs. Dodgers RHP Josh Beckett (0-0, 4.00).

Monday: At Chicago Cubs, 5:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Bronson Arroyo (1-1, 9.95) vs. Cubs RHP Jason Hammel (2-1, 3.05).

Tuesday: At Chicago Cubs, 5:05 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon McCarthy (0-3, 7.11) vs. Cubs LHP Travis Wood (0-2, 3.00).