Butcher sees growth in pitchers
When informed that no coaching staff in the majors had made more trips to the mound than theirs, Diamondbacks pitching coach Mike Butcher said he’s forging a new path, so to speak.
“There’s a runway from home plate to the pitcher’s mound,” Butcher said, referring to Chase Field’s distinctive strip of dirt, “so I thought I’d make one from the dugout to the mound, as well.”
Butcher, who has overseen what has been – statistically, at least – the worst staff in the majors, was resorting to gallows humor, but he turned intense when asked specifically about the performance of his pitchers.
Butcher said he would shoulder the responsibility for a group that entered Friday night with a major-league-worst 5.15 ERA, but he was steadfast in his belief that several of his pitchers are “moving in the right direction” in their development, whether or not that is being reflected in the numbers.
“It’s been a tough year,” Butcher said. “I don’t think we’re pitching as a group the way I feel like we should be. Whether we’ve had some injuries or whether it’s guys who had off years, as a whole we haven’t done the things that I think we could have done.
“I will take 100 percent full responsibility for how we’ve pitched and not back down or shy away from it.”
Still, he pointed to starters Archie Bradley, Zack Godley, Robbie Ray and Braden Shipley and reliever Enrique Burgos, all of whom, he says, have taken strides in their development. To his credit, Butcher had been saying for weeks that Ray has been improving despite his so-so results, noting the improvements Ray had made well before his current four-start stretch in which he has a 1.50 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 24 innings.
That said, the staff is filled with pitchers whose numbers are far worse this year than last year, including the three pitchers the club was counting on to anchor its rotation. Right-handers Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller have seen their ERAs nearly double; left-hander Patrick Corbin’s isn’t far behind.
Some of that can be explained by the Diamondbacks’ atrocious defense, particularly in the outfield. The club ranks near the bottom in most advanced defensive statistics, and the drop-off compared to last year’s team has been noticeable even without the numbers.
For Greinke and Miller, at least, moving from more forgiving stadiums to the hitterfriendly Chase Field is another likely factor. The entire staff has struggled at home, where it has a 5.65 ERA compared to a 4.60 mark on the road.
Whatever the reasons, Butcher and the Diamondbacks haven’t been able to find the answers.
Butcher didn’t want point fingers at the defense, and while he said the ballpark shouldn’t be a factor, he acknowledged it probably was.
“Do we have some guys who are intimidated by the stadium? We probably do,” he said. “But that’s a mentality we’re going to have to get over if they’re going to learn to compete and win at the big-league level, whether it’s here or any other team.”
Butcher said many of his pitchers are having to develop at the major-league level; the staff’s average age is 26.7, the thirdyoungest in the majors behind the Phillies and Braves, according to Baseball Reference.
“Part of the growing process that we have here right now with our staff is that at the major-league level, you’re teaching guys how to repeat a delivery,” he said. “And then after repeating deliveries, it’s repeating fastball command. Then being able to throw a secondary pitch in for a strike, being able to throw a breaking ball in the zone and out of the zone for chase, then being able to sequence pitches and get hitters out.”
The struggles have led to a lot of trips to the mound. The Diamondbacks lead the majors with 394 visits, well ahead of the Chicago White Sox at 341, according to Stats LLC. The average major-league team has made 270.
“Do I see the improvements? I see them,” Butcher said. “I see some guys who are kind of stagnant, as well. But overall, I see guys who are moving in the right direction.
“All of those guys, for the most part, are pretty young guys. There’s got to be some realistic views on how you evaluate those guys. A lot of guys are developing at that age in the minor leagues and these guys are developing at the big stage in the major leagues, where there’s no room for error.”