Arroyo doesn't want to see starters pressing

PHOENIX -- With a starting rotation struggling to pitch past the fifth inning, the D-backs' bullpen has been greatly taxed so far in this young season.

The temptation is to say the D-backs need a starter to step up and come up with an outstanding start to turn the tide. That kind of thinking, though, can lead to pressing and then wind up having the opposite effect.

"If you start looking at it like that, it doesn't work when you don't have superstars," veteran starter Bronson Arroyo said.

Using himself as an example, Arroyo said that if you take a look at a two- or three-start stretch from him at any point of a season, it might not look good. But when you look at his end numbers, you'll find 200 innings and a good ERA.

Given the way the rotation is set up, Arroyo thinks it's in each pitcher's best interest to stay within themselves.

"We have a bunch of guys who probably would be No. 3's on a lot of teams," he said. "We probably don't have a lot of two's and one's on the staff and that's the way it is. So we all need to take this season as a marathon, and just be as consistent as we possibly can and let it shake out over the long haul."

Meetings are not the answer. It's simply a matter of each player doing what they can do.

"There's nothing so special that we're missing," Arroyo said. "There's no talks that we're not having, there's no awareness that's not there. It's a matter of going out and playing baseball and trying to consistently do something enough to beat the other club."