The Arizona Diamondbacks are in a deep hole with June rapidly approaching and the "it's early" palliative is quickly wearing thin. 11.5 games back in late May is a big hole. Even worse, the problems on the team are pretty much everywhere and anywhere on any given night.
Some games the offense has all the potency of a watered down lemonade and on other occasions it's the bullpen or untimely fielding mistakes that delivers the heart breaks. You just don't know where the fail will come next and conversely, there's not any part of the team you can truly trust.
It's frustrating.
It's slam your helmet, overturn the water cooler and scream at the players after the game frustrating.
But that's not how the "fiery" Kirk Gibson rolls. He's Mr. Positive Thinking who's convinced that good things are just around the corner.
"The loss stung (Tuesday) night, but I felt pretty good today. We were this close," Gibby said before Wednesday's game against those NL West-dominating Dodgers.
That confidence may just be an act that all coaches and managers put on during a slump, but when Gibby talks about the mental approach to guiding his team through dark times you certainly feel like he's being sincere.
"We don't focus on the negative parts of our frustration or emotions...You've got to keep things in perspective in this game. You can't allow yourself to predetermine negative things. We won't do that."
There's no question this team has underperformed expectations and has failed to come close to their potential. The magic they had last season is currently wearing Dodger Blue.
Will it come back?
Or maybe the better question is: How do you get it back?
According to Gibby's Power of Positive Thinking, all you need to do is avoid letting negative thoughts predetermine the outcome and eventually all the hard work and preparation will pay off.
It might sound corny, but it's pretty hard to call him a fool. My money is still on this team making a run at some point. They just better hope it's not too late.
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