Did you know that the Arizona Diamondbacks led all of major league baseball in runs scored? Only the Dodgers and the Yankees came within a hundred runs of them. Every single regular starter was better than average. And it still wasn’t enough.
After winning eighty-four games the previous season and navigating a magical run to the world series, they tacked on five more wins. They needed one more. Their season ending in a three way tie with the Braves and Mets and were tossed aside by a tie breaker.
Ketel Marte has career year
Second baseman Ketel Marte finished third in MVP voting, placing just behind Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor as Shohei Ohtani walked off with every first place vote. He batted .292 with career highs in homers (36), RBI (95) and OPS+ (155).
Third baseman Eugenio Suarez went from almost getting released with a first half OPS of .668 to solidying the position with an elite .942 in the second. Joc Pederson slugged .515 mostly at DH, Randal Grichuk was terrific hitting against lefties.
It’s hard to believe with everything that went right, it could have been even better. Returning rookie of the year Corbin Carroll struggled mightily for half a season. Gold glove first baseman Christian Walker landed on the IL on July 30 with a left oblique strain and missed 32 games.
Twenty four year old catcher Gabriel Moreno, a gold glove winner in his rookie season in 2023 was limited to ninety-seven games and Marte missed some game late. With all the runs they did score, it’s tough however to nitpick on the offense.
Number one Arizona prospect Jordn Lawlar, another future star, was hurt in spring training and never relly got right. He got in a total of twenty-three minor league games.
Pitching let Diamondbacks down
Pitching is where the season was lost. So many things went wrong. It’s hard to believe that could all happen again. It starts with ace Zac Gallen who managed only 148 innings after 210 the season before and wasn’t as reliable as before.
Number two starter Merrill Kelly missed four months with a shoulder injury and the free agents signing were absolute disasters. Lefty Edouardo Rodriguez managed just ten poor outings to start his four year $80 million deal.
The other free agent lefty Jordan Montgomery signed very late and never caught up on what will now be a 2 year $50 million contract, delivering a horrible -1.4 War.
Brandon Pfaadt who looks so promising and at times dominating in the 2023 post season didn’t reach the same level for much of the season.
Throw in closer Paul Sewald blowing three straight early July saves after perfection in his first eleven and it’s easy to find that one game that would have put them in the post season and perhaps another playoff run.
There is a lot to do. Walker, Pederson and Grichuk are free agents. They were all instrumental to run scoring and will need replacing.
It’s the pitching that gives hope. The bullpen is a strength and it’s hard to believe the starters can possibly suffer the same amount of bad luck. And after all, all they need is one more win.
