Offensive struggles mount for D-backs, but help could be on the way

PHOENIX -- Less than 24 hours after being shut down (and shut out) by Paul Skenes, the Diamondbacks could manage only slightly more offense Thursday afternoon, falling 4-2 to the Pirates at Chase Field.

It's been a tough stretch for the Diamondbacks, who have now dropped six of their last seven and nine of their last 12 to fall two games under .500.

Here are two things to know from Thursday:

The offense is in a funk
Yes, the Diamondbacks punished Pirates pitching, scoring nine runs in Tuesday night's opener, but that is an outlier during their recent struggles.

The Diamondbacks have scored 21 runs in their last seven games. Not terrible, unless you consider that nine of those runs came on Tuesday night. Take that game out of the mix and they've scored 12 runs in their last six. You're not going to win many games that way.

"Once again, I think this was mostly an offensive issue that I'm going to kind of talk about and target," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said after Thursday's game. "This game is hard, for sure. It's hard to hit, it's hard to pitch, hard to catch, hard to do everything, but we're making it way harder than it should be."

The Diamondbacks got a run in the first on an RBI single by Adrian Del Castillo and another in the third on Corbin Carroll's fifth homer of the year.

After Carroll's homer, Mitch Keller and four Pirates relievers combined to allow just two more hits and two walks the rest of the way.

"We got to get back to our basics and some of the things that we really, really believe in," Lovullo said. "And that is digging in, especially with two strikes, not giving in through the course of the at-bat, swinging strikes first of all, then once you do get to the two-strike situation, being able to get back in counts.

"But overall, I believe in this offense, and I see them working every single day, and those results will come but it doesn't happen by just going up there and believing it's going to happen. You got to make it happen."

Changes coming?
First baseman Carlos Santana, who was signed to a one-year, $2 million free agent deal in the offseason, is on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Reno and could return as soon as Friday.

An accomplished veteran, it seems unlikely the Diamondbacks would designate him for assignment without at least giving him some more at-bats despite his slash line of .083/.154/.125 in 26 plate appearances before straining his right adductor.

Making room on the roster won't be an issue, as the Diamondbacks have plenty of players with Minor League options. Finding playing time for Santana? That's another story.

Since Santana went down with his injury, Ildemaro Vargas has stepped in at first base, put together a 27-game hitting streak and was named NL Player of the Month. Lovullo said that he had no plans to take away playing time from Vargas right now.

The designated hitter spot doesn't really offer a solution at the moment because rookie Jose Fernandez and Del Castillo have done a nice job.

"I want the best players to play as often as possible," Lovullo said. "But I gotta weigh the consequences of offense versus defense. Who's pitching? Where are we at? How's the game flowing? So, it's a little bit of a challenge right now to find time for all the guys."

That challenge will get even tougher going forward, but first they have to get the offense going. After that, the playing time will take care of itself.