Arizona Diamondbacks - The Covid-19 Years (2020-2029)

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Titles:

Top Diamondbacks Players of the Twenty Twenties

2023 - Won NLWC(Milw); Won NLDS(LA); Won NLCS(Phila); Lost WS(Texas)

Pitchers:

BallPark:

Zac Gallen (14.28) - 31

Chase Field

Merrill Kelly (11.29) - 28

Madison Bumgarner (-0.42) - 10

Team Name:

Mark Melancon (2.26) - 5

Diamondbacks

Kevin Ginkel (0.42) - 4

Miguel Castro (1.18) - 3

Owner:

Ian Kennedy (-1.1) - 3

Ken Kendrick

Ryne Nelson (0.75) - 3

Caleb Smith (1.18) - 2

General Managers:

Kyle Nelson (0.94) - 1

Mike Hazen

Catchers:

Managers:

Carson Kelly (2.72) - 11

Torey Lovullo

Gabe Moreno (4.3) - 6

No Hitters:

First Basemen:

2021 - Tyler Gilbert (San Diego)

Christian Walker (10.15) - 24

Hall of Famers:

Second Basemen:

None

Ketel Marte (9.68) - 24

Rookie of the Year:

ShortStop:

2023 - Corbin Carroll

Geraldo Perdomo (3.18) - 12

Nick Ahmed (2.13) - 9

MVP:

None

Third Base:

Josh Rojas (3.23) - 13

Cy Young:

Eduardo Escobar (1.72) - 6

None

Outfield:

Notable Events:

Corbin Carroll (6.54) - 17

David Peralta (2.69) - 13

2020 - The Dbacks had a couple of ninety plus win seasons in the previous decade

Daulton Varsho (6.46) - 9

and had a decent team in 2019, winning 85. They were riding a three year above

Jake McCarthy (3.2) - 9

.500 steak coming into the decade. Unfortunately for the Dbacks, the big story

Alek Thomas (2.45) - 7

of the '20 season occurred in '19 when the Dbacks jettisoned their ace

Lourdes Gurriel (3.0) - 7

righthander Zack Greinke and his 35 million a year contract to the Astros

Pavin Smith (-0.39) - 5

at the trade deadline. This deal was a killer psychologically for the 2020

Kole Calhoun (1.26) - 5

Arizona club. With basically the same team, plus hot hitting FA OF Kole Calhoun,

the Diamondbacks plummeted to a 25-35 mark and last place in the Division.

Notable Events:

We've seen it before, when ownership gives up on a club for whatever reason

(financial in this case), the spirit just isn't there anymore in the players left behind.

2024 - Arizona GM Mike Hazen has done a nice job rising Phoenix from

the ashes, so to speak, over the past few years. Despite an against the run

□ The Arizona owner is Ken Kendrick who has been part of the ownership

of form journey to the World Series last year, the Dbacks are not there yet.

group since the team's inception. He is not known for having deep pockets, altho'

But, they are clearly moving in the right direction.

he'll fool you once in a blue moon like the time he signed Zack Greinke.

Arizona gave up more runs than they scored last year and yet finished six

games above .500 and making the wild card. The Dbacks then got super

□ Mike Hazen is the GM since 2017 and has presided over Arizona's three

hot from there. Usually, when your record is better than your run

winning seasons. Hazen had a good pedigree before coming over to the Dbacks

totals would predict (80-82), you've got a good closer who nails down

having worked in the highly successful Red Sox organization for eleven years.

the close ones. Arizona had a good one in Paul Sewald, acquired from

Seattle at the trade deadline, who picked up thirteen saves down the

□ Torey Lovullo is the Diamondbacks manager and has been since 2017 and

stretch. The Dbacks were just about at the league average in runs scored

is also riding the three season winning streak coming into the decade.

last year and slightly above the league average in runs given up.

Mike Hazen has made some nice off season moves which, while not

2020 - Not good juju for Diamondbacks fans. OF Starling Marte and P Archie

making Arizona a contender for the Division Title against the vastly superior

Bradley are jettisoned at the trade deadline.

Dodgers, will solidify their run at another Wild Card.

On offense, the Diamondbacks have added slugging 3B Eugenio Suarez,

2020 - There are a number of keepers on the 2020 roster moving forward:

and hard hitting outfielders Joc Pederson and Randal Grichuck. Add this

□ RHP Zac Gallen, 24, obtained from Miami in '19 for 2B Jazz Chisholm

to a nice core of hitters in Rookie of the Year and future super star OF

□ RHP Merrill Kelly, 31, signed in '19 after playing four years in Korea

Corbin Carroll, slugging 1B Christian Walker, solid hitting 2B Ketel Marte,

□ Closer Archie Bradley, 29, dealt to Reds at deadline in '20

solid hitting OF Lourdes Gurriel and up and coming young star C

□ C / OF Daulton Varsho, 24, '17 2nd round pick, dealt to Toronto in '23

Gabriel Moreno. They also have a can't miss young SS prospect in

□ OF Starling Marte, 31, '20 FA from Pirates, dealt to Miami at deadline in '20

twenty one year old Jordan Lawlar. That adds up to a potential circular

□ OF David Peralta, 33, '13 FA pickup, dealt to Tampa in '22

lineup that should end up scoring well above the league average runs.

□ 3B Eduardo Escobar, 32, fell off a cliff from 35 HRs in '19 to 4 in '20

□ 1B Christian Walker, 30, '17 waiver pickup from Reds

On the mound, things are looking up, as well. The Diamondbacks

□ 2B Ketel Marte, 27, '17 trade with Seattle involving five well regarded prospects

had a nice one-two punch at the top of the rotation in Zac Gallen and

□ IF Josh Rojas, 26, '19 trade from Houston for Zach Greinke

Merrill Kelly. Gallen, in particular, has emerged as one of the top starters

□ OF Pavin Smith, 24, '17 1st round pick

in the game. Add to them a pair of solid free agent lefties in Eduardo

□ OF Corbin Carroll, 20, 1st round pick in '19 draft

Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery and now you've got something.

□ OF Alek Thomas, 20, 2nd round pick in '18 draft

The bullpen showed out in the post season last year.

□ OF Kristian Robinson, 20, '17 IFA

Sewald returns as the closer and Ryne Nelson, Kevin Ginkel and Miguel

□ SS Geraldo Perdomo, 20, '16 IFA

Castro provide some quality depth

2021 - Arizona crashes and burns. 52-110. A disaster.

All in all, I wouldn't be surprised, barring injuries, if the Diamondbacks

Injuries play a big part in the decline, but a house cleaning is in order.

top ninety wins and make the Wild Card in a very competitive division.

GM Mike Hazen has been doing a good job of building up the farm

system so the team won't be terrible for long.

2021 - OF Jake McCarthy, 23, is a rookie. '18 1st round pick

2022 - After bottoming out, Arizona gains 22 games in the standings.

Improved pitching is the big reason for the gain as Zac Gallen and Merrill

Kelly provide a nice one-two punch at the top of the rotation and the

Nelson boys, Kyle, 25, and Ryne, 24, pitch well out of the pen.

2023 - A productive offseason trade with Toronto brings in OF Lourdes Gurriel

and catcher Gabriel Moreno in exchange for Daulton Varsho.

Gurriel end up with a .772 OPS and Moreno .747 which solidify the lineup.

2023 - Arizona gains ten games in the standings and finish a bit over

.500 at 84-78. They are given no chance in the playoffs, but fool

everybody and beat the Brewers, Dodgers and Phillies to make it to the

World Series. They come down to earth against Texas in the Classic.

2023 - Interestingly the Arizona offense doesn't improve from '22 runs-wise.

It is league average. The pitching improves a bit, not a whole lot, and

is still below league average. So the Diamondbacks overachieved a bit

in the regular season. Usually when a team overachieves over what

it's stats would predict, it's the bullpen. However, the Diamondback

bullpen is pretty mediocre. All that being said, the difference between the

22 Dback pitching and '23 was the improvement of the bullpen from poor

to mediocre. Five year veteran Kevin Ginkel, 29, is the big difference in

the bullpen going 9-1 with a 2.48 ERA.

Starters Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly remain the mainstays

of the staff - Arizona would be lost without either one of them.

2023 - '19 first round pick, Corbin Carroll, 22, comes up and tears it up

winning Rookie of the Year. He steals 54 bases and has an .868 OPS.

Combined with 1B Christian Walker, .830 OPS, and 2B Kettel Marte,

.844 OPS, the Diamondbacks have a solid core on offense.

Because WAR and other traditional stats severely underestimate

the effect of game changing speed on results, the Diamondbacks

appear to have an overachieving offense.