The Arizona Diamondbacks just wrapped up a brutal road trip, going 1-5—and don't forget, those Mexico City games technically counted as home games for the Snakes. Playing at over 7,000 feet of altitude might have left a lingering effect, like facing Coors Field on steroids. The Padres haven't exactly thrived since descending from the mountain either, losing series at home to both Chicago teams. In fact, the two clubs involved in the Mexico City series combined to go 3-9 the following week. (For context, after the Houston-Colorado series there in 2024, those teams went 8-6. Though if anyone should be used to high altitude, it's the Rockies.)

Whatever the cause, the Diamondbacks are clearly struggling right now. Or maybe this is just a regression to expectations. The underlying metrics haven't been promising for a while. The season's high point came on April 18, when Arizona beat the Blue Jays to secure a series win and improve to 13-8. At that time, they had gone 5-0-1 in series after getting swept by the Dodgers to open the season, and only three teams in the majors had a better record.

But there were already signs this was unsustainable. Over those 21 games, Arizona had scored just three more runs than their opponents. Their Pythagorean win percentage—based on runs scored versus runs allowed—was over 100 points lower than their actual record. To be fair, a significant chunk of those runs against came from James McCann and Joe Ross, who allowed 13 runs in just 4.2 innings. Still, the numbers didn't reflect a top-four team. On the pitching side, their ERA ranked 12th and their FIP 20th. Unusually, Arizona's hitting was worse than its pitching: OPS ranked 19th and wRC+ 21st.

Averaging it out, you get a roughly 16th-ranked pitching staff and a 20th-ranked lineup. That's a little below average, but with some luck, you could squint and see a team hanging around the wild-card race. Early on, that luck showed up in one-run games—but for the Diamondbacks, the cracks are starting to show. Whether they can patch things up before it's too late remains the big question.