Well, that was disappointing.

In a game in which the Dbacks put on full display to the Valley of exactly their season woe’s, the Dbacks lose a heart breaker and series-clinching game to their number 1 current rival, the LA Dodgers.

Last year’s motto for this team was ‘Anybody, Anytime’.

The apparent motto for your 2008 Diamondbacks is ‘If it ain’t one thing, it’s another’.

With the exception of the first week of the season, when the Dbacks in all likelihood peaked for the season, this Dbacks team has had any number of issues. Ranging from the inevitable (injuries), to the mundane (batting woes), to the completely inexcusable (poor fundamentals), this team has gone through long stretches of each this year. When one part starts to come back a little bit, another bit goes. It’s as though this team is incapable of putting together a ‘complete’ game.

The last two nights, in spectacular fashion no less, it was the closer Brandon Lyon. With the exception of the first week of the year, Lyon has been a rock at the back end of our bullpen, the one person who the Dbacks could count on. In the last two games, he’s been given a combined 6-run cushion, and has promptly given up 7 runs. I’m amazed we managed to win one of those games…

In a series in which it appeared the Diamondbacks bats were starting to come around, especially the top 4 to 5 hitters, the bullpen completely fell apart. And though it was Lyon in the last two games, it did not escape our set-up men either, with Leo Rosales and Doug Slaten giving up the tying and winning runs, respectively.

In all three games against the Dodgers, the Dbacks jumped out to early leads, compiling 11 runs in the first two innings, while managing to score just 4 runs in the other 23 innings (game 1 went 11 innings). Regardless, that should have been good enough in all three games to win them.

The scary stat of the week, courtesy of Daron Sutton and Mark Grace, is this: Last year, the Dbacks lost 6 games in which they had the lead after the 6th inning the entire year. This year already they’ve blown 16. Take even half that amount and the Dbacks are 56-42 with an 8 game lead in the division.

Which brings us back to the bullpen. Granted Qualls and Pena have had their struggles lately, but nothing like the total meltdown Brandon Lyon has had the last two days. That Valverde trade is looking worse and worse, given that we got back an unreliable set-up man in Qualls and a completely worthless Chris Burke (.186 BA, 0 home runs, 7 RBI’s, why is he still on the team?).

I still think Lyon can be a good closer, on this team even, but his struggles are just an indication of a bigger problem with the Dbacks: Their bullpen as a whole. Juan Cruz is injured. Conner Robertson is mediocre at best, Doug Slaten ditto, especially as a left handed ’specialist’, Edgar Gonzalez is out for the season, Qualls is slightly injured, Pena has struggled as of late, and Lyon just blew two saves (I’m still calling game 2 a blown save even though it technically wasn’t). Yusmeiro Petit has actually looked good as of late, but he’s a long reliever/starter, so doesn’t get much time in relief. Though maybe he should.

So, rumors are swirling. Jon Rauch from the Nationals is the hot name, presumably to come in as a closer and push Lyon back to the 8th inning. Problem is, the Nationals will want something in return, and Dbacks are hesitant to give up a top-flight prospect or any of their big league guys. I’ve also heard a rumor about moving Micah Owings to the bullpen (where he pitched from in Philly right before the all-star break, which i thought was curious at the time), and moving either Petit or Max Scherzer into a starter’s role. I think this could be an interesting role, though i’m not ready just yet to give up on Micah as a starter.

Personally i think you could also look at moving Scherzer or Cruz into a permanent set-up role, but that’s just me. All i know is that right now, the bullpen as presently configured isn’t getting it done and is costing the team games. It’s getting too late into the season for that to be happening…

Join the discussion at The Fanster Forums. Arizona Sports 24/7.