The Arizona Diamondbacks are absolutely exceeding expectations this season and are doing it in unique fashion. They currently sit in 1st place in the NL West at 16 games above .500 already 76 games into the campaign.
This season has been a very unique one and the Diamondbacks are one of the main reasons for this. They play in a division where experts predicted them to finish fourth, some even dead last, and currently they are cruising their way through, sitting comfortably in 1st place for now.
The common trend this season is that teams do not need to pay big bucks to win and the Diamondbacks are embracing that trend. Currently they sit with the 21st largest payroll in the majors. Despite this and despite having the lowest payroll in their division, they sit in 1st place.
They play in a division dominated by high payrolls with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. The teams are filled with so much talent and had high expectations this season with no thought of the Diamondbacks interfering.
The D-Backs have been a fun team to watch. They are a great all-around, young team. It starts from their pitching which has been dominated by their 1-2 punch in Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. The two starters both have sub 3.00 ERA's and sit in the top 15 for lowest ERA's in baseball among qualified starting pitchers.
When those guys take the mound, the D-Backs are pretty confident they'll get the job done that day. Now onto the offense which has been absolutely spectacular. The overall average of the team sits at .264 which is the third highest in all of baseball. They are lead by rookie Corbin Carroll who has had a phenomenal start to the season and is the clear frontrunner for National Rookie of the Year. Some people have even spoke about him in MVP discussions, but we won't go that far just yet.
I think the real turning point for the D-Backs was during the offseason when they made a huge trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. In the trade they acquired Lourdes Gurriel and Gabriel Moreno for Daulton Varsho. The Blue Jays valued Varsho highly and this gave the D-Backs some greats options to choose from and they made the right decision. Gurriel has arguably given the D-Backs the best offensive production behind Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno has been great as well.
No one viewed the D-Backs any different or assumed they would be where they are right now after this trade, but it definitely showed what direction the organization was trying to lead this team into. In a jam-packed National League this season, the D-Backs sit currently with the second-best record just a couple games behind the Atlanta Braves for 1st.
The D-Backs will certainly be buyers at the trade deadline and I expect them to go after some more pitching assets. The offense has been unbelievable and no changes are needed there, but Gallen and Kelly can't pitch everyday, so some relief is definitely needed there for the snakes.
In a division that recently has always been dominated by the Dodgers and also consists of the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks are proving all the doubters wrong during this campaign. This is a fun and very young ball club and once they add some more pitching, they'll be in great shape.
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