Diamondbacks Get Nootbaar, Bet on the Offense to Carry Them Home

Arizona made its deadline move with about ten minutes to spare, acquiring outfielder Lars Nootbaar from St. Louis. Mike Hazen waited until the last possible moment, which tells you something about how the front office weighed its options — and what it decided it could and couldn't fix.

The rotation is what it is. Corbin Burnes is on the 60-day IL. So are Ryne Nelson, A.J. Puk, and several others. Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3, 2.48 ERA) is the one genuine stopper on the staff, and Brandon Pfaadt has been solid, but this group has been held together with tape and necessity all summer. Hazen apparently concluded that no available arm was worth the cost, so he went the other direction and doubled down on run production instead.

That's not an unreasonable read of the situation. Arizona is scoring 5.7 runs per game over its last ten, up sharply from where it was a month ago, and the lineup has stayed functional even with Jordan Lawlar on the IL. Nootbaar adds another left-handed presence to an outfield that already has Corbin Carroll and Ryan Waldschmidt getting regular at-bats. The offense has been the reason this team is 51-45 and holding a wild card spot, not the pitching.

The concern is the August 2 shutout loss to Cleveland — a reminder that when the bats go quiet, this staff has no margin. That's the trade the Diamondbacks made at the deadline, literally and figuratively: more offense, same rotation. Sixty-six games to find out if it holds.