This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert¡¯s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PHOENIX -- When right-hander Kevin Ginkel took the mound during the D-backs' run to the World Series last year, you could see the tremendous confidence he had.

In 10 postseason appearances, Ginkel threw 11 2/3 innings and did not allow a run. It capped a campaign in which he was dominant during the regular season as well, as he went 9-1 with an ERA+ of 174.

¡°It was unbelievable,¡± Ginkel said of how he felt during the postseason. ¡°I'm trying to get back to some form of that now.¡±

This season has been more of a grind for Ginkel. He hasn¡¯t pitched poorly (his ERA+ is at 105), but he just hasn¡¯t been the dominant force that he was last year.

A lot of that is because of his slider, which, when on, is a devastating pitch that complements his mid-to-upper 90 mph fastball.

¡°For me, it's just executing my slider -- whether it's for a strike or as a putaway pitch,¡± Ginkel said. ¡°It's just trying to get some momentum back and some confidence, and I feel like I'm in a great spot.¡±

That Ginkel speaks of regaining some confidence shows how fickle a commodity that can be in baseball. When things are going well, the momentum and the confidence just flow, but regardless of how much success someone has, a period of struggle can send things in the opposite direction.

¡°It's difficult, yeah,¡± Ginkel said. ¡°I feel like for me, it's trying to be the same version of yourself every single day and not letting the results affect you, even though they can. There are days I come in here and I¡¯m not feeling mentally 100 percent, but just not showing it and expressing it. I feel like it¡¯s just not letting outings kind of linger and go into the next one and the next one.¡±

Some games where things don¡¯t go well are easier to take than others. If the team still wins, difficult outings can be easier to swallow, for example. But there are other factors as well.

¡°I can walk away from an outing being like, 'OK, I gave up one today,'¡± Ginkel said. ¡°But two runs? Those crooked numbers kind of get a little tougher to bounce back from. It¡¯s just part of the journey.¡±