The Arizona Diamondbacks have had some great teams in the past, highlighted by the 2001 World Championship team featuring a dynamic one-two punch in the rotation in Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, and a miraculous offensive season from Luis Gonzalez. But aside from those three stars, that Diamondbacks team was mediocre. Aside from Gonzalez, the only starters with OPSes above .800, which was around league average ten years ago, were Reggie Sanders and Mark Grace. Past Johnson and Schilling, the Diamondbacks rotation was pretty bad, with guys like Brian Anderson, Albie Lopez, Robert Ellis, and Miguel Batista struggling to be league average. In fact, Batista was third on the team in innings pitched behind Johnson and Schilling…with 139 1/3, more than 100 less than both of the two aces. The team did feature a decent bullpen, with Byung Hyun Kim and Bret Prinz anchoring things, as well as Batista when he wasn’t starting.
This Diamondbacks team is different. Like the 2001 D-Backs, they feature a superstar on offense in Justin Upton. But unlike the 2001 team, Upton has a hell of a supporting cast. After acquiring Aaron Hill in August, and promoting Paul Goldschmidt from AAA at the beginning of the same month, the Diamondbacks feature a below average regular at just one position, shortstop. Their normal starting shortsop, Stephen Drew, is normally a solid hand, but broke his ankle in July and will miss the rest of the year. Willie Bloomquist and John McDonald have been getting the playing time at short since Drew’s injury, and both are best served on the bench.
The biggest surprise on this year’s Arizona team has been the emergence of third baseman Ryan Roberts. After playing just eight innings at third base in 2010, Roberts was given the chance to earn the third base job after the departure of Mark Reynolds. All Roberts has done is finish just shy of a 20/20 season (19 homers, 18 steals) and show a fantastic eye at the plate, walking in 11.9% of his plate appearances on the season.
Another major change for this Diamondbacks team is in the team’s defense. After years of shoddy defense, the team has improved to become one of the best in the league, ranking first in the majors in UZR and seventh in DRS. Arizona’s outfield defense is exceptional, with the stunningly good Gerardo Parra highlighting an outfield that also features Upton and the always solid defensively Chris Young. In the infield, Hill and McDonald have been excellent since being acquired from Toronto (which is nothing new for them), but Goldschmidt and Roberts at the corners leave something to be desired.
But I have yet to touch on the most important part of the 2011 Diamondbacks, which is their fantastic starting pitching. The Diamondbacks franchise has never had a team where three pitchers threw 200 innings. Until 2011, of course. Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, and Joe Saunders have all hit the magic number, with Josh Collmenter tacking on 150 more after being promoted from the bullpen in May. Perhaps more impressively from their rotation are their ERAs: the highest mark is Saunders’ 3.69. None of the top four are strikeout pitchers, with all of them falling under 200 for the season, but they limit their walks; Saunders and his 67 lead the quartet. The fifth spot in the rotation has been a problem for Arizona this year, with guys like Zach Duke, Micah Owings, Wade Miley, and Barry Enright getting a majority of the starts and not lighting the world on fire. But in the playoffs, you only need four.
I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about Arizona’s bullpen at all. In 2010, the Diamondbacks bullpen ERA was 5.74, far and away the worst in the majors. For comparison’s sake, the next worst was the Cubs at 4.72, nearly a run better than Arizona’s. Here in 2011, Arizona’s bullpen ERA is in the middle of the pack, 14th in the league. But the ERA is 3.71, more than two runs better. That is a hell of an improvement. You can give a lot of the credit to GM Kevin Towers, who signed free agent JJ Putz to close (2.17 ERA), traded Reynolds for David Hernandez (3.38), picked up Joe Paterson (2.91) in the Rule 5 draft, and brought in Brad Ziegler (1.74) at the trade deadline. Sure, the acquisitions of Aaron Heilman and Duke didn’t work out too well, but Heilman was released after not performing and Duke is now strictly in mop up duty.
This Diamondbacks team is good. But how good are they? The starting pitching is very young, and could be worn out after logging so many innings during the regular season. Or maybe not. Kennedy has a 2.08 ERA in September, and hasn’t gone less than six innings in a start since the middle of August. Hudson and Saunders have struggled, but not to the point where you wonder if they have anything left in the tank. But it’s true, the Diamondbacks starters aren’t battle tested like the veteran staffs of Philadelphia and St Louis, and they’re not young and experienced like Milwaukee’s rotation.
I’m not saying that Arizona is going to win the World Series. But I will say that the young core that this team has gives the team a solid foundation for the future, and that I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see another world title in their future. We’ll see what happens this year….but don’t be surprised if the Snakes pull off an upset or two.
