The 1 Ugly Truth Surrounding Diamondbacks' Poor Offense

May 6, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Ketel Marte reacts after grounding out in the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The 1 Ugly Truth Surrounding Diamondbacks' Poor Offense

Originally posted on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI
By Alex D'Agostino | Last updated May 16, 2026 9:00 AM ET

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The Arizona Diamondbacks' offense is flat-out not producing at the same level it once did. That has been one of the many subjects of concern through their recent rough patch in 2026.

It's not as if the D-backs lack talent in their lineup, nor does Arizona seem to be striking out or whiffing at an extremely high clip.

Arizona's whiff rate, heading into Friday night's game in Colorado, sat at 24.4% — that ranks 11th in baseball, and a full percent tick below MLB average. They had struck out just 329 times, tied for third-best in the majors.

Arizona simply isn't doing what they need to do to turn an at-bat into a base hit, a walk, or other productive outcome at a consistent rate, and it comes down to one factor in particular: chasing pitches outside the zone. The Diamondbacks' chase rate, going into Friday, was a fourth-worst 33.5%.

Of course, a 9-1 victory in Colorado Friday night does offer some hope, but the consistency of Arizona's production has been low.

It's fine to be aggressive, but not when the quality of contact is so poor. Manager Torey Lovullo had this to say about Arizona's ugly tendencies on Arizona Sports 98.7's Burns & Gambo show:

Diamondbacks' Torey Lovullo on Arizona's offensive issues

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Lovullo said there are "a few things" the Diamondbacks are working on figuring out offensively, but he singled out that less-than-ideal chase rate as a major culprit.

"It's the chase that we got to take care of," Lovullo said. "I think we just got to be stubborn to the pitch that we want to look for."

"Our core belief is 95 miles an hour in the middle of the [plate], which should help the approach and keep you balanced to see the baseball, and if we get back to those basics, we know that we're very capable of doing it because we've done it before and we have a lot of the same characters."

The Diamondbacks' team OPS, home run production and overall patience has plummeted in 2026. At one point — just about a week prior — the D-backs had seen 400 fewer pitches than they had at that point in the 2025 season. That is not the way to force pitchers to throw more hittable pitches.

"The game is hard," Lovullo said. "The game gets challenging, and it's that old thing: the harder you try, sometimes the worse you do.

"I want to let these guys go up there, be the best version of themselves, put them in a relaxed state of mind. That's... one of my core beliefs. Create awareness where we need to where we got to create some urgency, we will, and we have, and hopefully it gets better. That's all we can do."

This article first appeared on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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