In 2023, Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks went on an unprecedented run, making it all the way to the Fall Classic, the World Series. They came up short to the Texas Rangers in five games, but for a team that was predicted by most to finish third in their division and not make the postseason, a World Series run was something every Arizona fan had dreamed of since their historic title winning season in 2001. But yet as the new season approaches, and a long off-season has seen so many moves shake up the entire league, the Arizona Diamondbacks are being seen as a team that had a lucky run last season, and do not have the capabilities to make it as far as they did last season for a very long time. For a team that had hurdled through the underdog status, they must do the same yet again. The Arizona Diamondbacks made a historic run last year, and there are so many reasons to believe that they can once again achieve this feat.
New Additions
Free agency saw a lot of crazy signings for ludicrous amounts of money. The Los Angeles Dodgers rightfully stole the spotlight of the off-season with the huge signings of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, along with some other notable names added throughout the process. This resulted in the Dodgers spending around one billion dollars in free agency. Other big moves occurred such as Sonny Gray signing with St.Louis, and Josh Hader finding his way to Houston, but the Diamondbacks had their own part to play as well. Arizona did something this off-season they regularly never do, and that was spend money, as they spent the third most money in all of baseball this off-season with around 135 million dollars dished out. Arizona made a signing early in free agency signing power hitting third baseman Eugenio Suarez to a team friendly deal, and followed it up with a splash signing of left-handed pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez to a four year deal, adding to an already stacked starting rotation. Arizona then continued in free agency by re-signing Lourdes Gurriel Jr., a player who hit 24 home runs for the team last season, and was a key component of that World Series run. Lastly, they signed lefty bat Joc Pederson to another team friendly deal to round out free agency, along with adjusting players contracts on the team. These free agent additions look to add fuel to a roster already looking to avenge a devastating postseason loss last season.
Old Faces
The Diamondbacks young core of talented ball players was the main reason they made it as far as they did last season, producing timely hits and stealing bases left and right. Names such as Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, Gabriel Moreno, Alek Thomas and reigning NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll are looking to build off a strong 2023 season, with an even better 2024. Corbin Carroll set numerous rookie records last season, but none bigger than becoming the only rookie in history to record 25 home runs, and 50 stolen bases in the same season. He also produced an 868. OPS and 5.4 WAR, both near the top of the league in their respective categories. Ketel Marte had himself a great regular season, but had an outstanding postseason on top of it, breaking the MLB record for longest postseason hit streak in history, with 18, and winning NLCS MVP as well. Both Christian Walker and Gabriel Moreno took home Gold Glove honors for being the best defender at their position in the NL last season, and Alek Thomas produced multiple clutch home runs in a magical postseason run. The entire crew is back, and looking forward to the new challenges that other teams will provide for them.
Pitching
Like I mentioned previously, the Diamondbacks brought in one of the most sought after arms in all of free agency with the signing of Eduardo Rodriguez, but he is only one of the parts that shape out this star-studded rotation. At the top you will find stud right-handed pitchers Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. Gallen had a career year last season, where he started for the National League in the All-Star Game. On top of that, he recorded 220 strikeouts and 17 wins, both career highs for him. The former Sun Devil Merrill Kelly also had a career year, where he posted a 3.29 ERA and 187 strikeouts in a fantastic season. At the bottom of the rotation you’ll find former Rookie Brandon Pfaadt, who broke out immensely in the postseason last year, where he delivered huge games against Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Philadelphia (twice). But, starting pitching isn’t the only important pitching component, as the Diamondbacks bullpen shined late last season as well. Led by Paul Sewald, Kevin Ginkel and Ryan Alexander, the Arizona bullpen was lights out in the later months of the season, and didn’t allow a single run all postseason until game one of the World Series. Arizona has a three-headed monster at the top of its rotation, a rotation a lot of other teams wish they also sported for their own. The bullpen has come a long way from where it was two years ago, and has made strides to be one of baseball’s best.
As the 2024 season is right around the corner, the Diamondbacks look to avenge a World Series loss by coming back even stronger this season. They proved themselves to the rest of the league, but it seems they may have to do it again. The components that make a good baseball team have been reloaded and retooled, and are looking to write their own story. The MLB can focus their sights on big name free agents, and other big teams like the ones in Los Angeles and Philadelphia that are loaded to the core, but one thing they can’t take away from us is we beat those teams last season, and we’re looking forward to doing it again.
