Before you gasp in disbelief that I would even write about such a lousy team, keep in mind that I even wrote an article on the Colorado Rockies! I would not say 2005 was a disappointing season for the Diamondbacks. They improved by 26 wins from 2004 and they lost their backers 52 fewer units! So before you say 77 wins is not an accomplishment, it was for these Diamondbacks. After having so many great/decent years including their World Series championship, these Diamondbacks were sputtering. They were losing their fans. 2005 was a blessing. I will be honest. If their 2006 season is anywhere close to their 2005 season, it will be a disappointment. A lot of people make the argument that the Diamondbacks are bad because they gave up Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. That is true but not the complete story. They have horrible hitting. In 2004, they were a paltry 13-41 (-30 units) against left handed pitching. They were overvalued by over 50 points. So if you saw them at +220 odds, they should be a +270. Betting against them when they faced left handed pitching was where the money was that season. They improved in 2005 against lefties but still not necessarily to an acceptable level. You may not believe this but they broke even going up against right handed pitching last season. Their lack of success against lefties skewed their odds for every game they played to the point that betting on them was actually statistically beneficial when they faced righties. On the road against righties, the Diamondbacks were 34-28 +14 units in 2005. |
