When discussing what the best stories in baseball are this year, a lot of things come to mind. People say the Pirates, because they have been bad for so long and were in contention at the All Star break. Others point to Jim Thome hitting his 600th home run. Still others look at the Indians amazing season and point to that. I am here to tell you why the Arizona Diamondbacks should be the unanimous choice for story of the year.
Unlike the Pirates and Indians, the Diamondbacks are actually in first place right now. The 2010 Dbax went 65-97, to finish in last in the NL Central and second to last in the entire NL. They had bad pitching, their 4.81 team ERA was the second worst in the NL. Their offense was very average last year, scoring just 12 more runs than the average for the NL. They just couldn't out hit their bad pitching.
This year has been the story of a rebirth, a complete turnaround. They have already won four more games than they did last year, and currently sport a 69-56 record. They have a 2.5 game lead over the reigning World Series champion San Francisco Giants. How have they managed such a turnaround?
They are basically winning with just "improvement" at both pitching and hitting. Their team ERA at this point is drastically lower at 4.03, but that is still high for the NL. They moved up the list a few spots at runs scored, a decent amount higher than the league average mark. Their team batting average is a meager .248, below the NL average. However, in a weird coincidence, only one team(Milwaukee) above the league average in this category is actually in first place. I guess it's not how well you hit but how well you hit when it counts?
Arizona is doing their run scoring via the long ball. They have the second most home runs in the NL right now at 139. They are third in RBI and third in slugging. This team can mash the ball, but getting the little hits that piece together big innings have eluded them.
Justin Upton is someone you can point to whose numbers are drastically higher this year. Last year he was .273/17/69 with a .799 OPS. This year he has found his swing with .300/25/77 with a .924 OPS. Everyone expected this from him last year, but he's certainly delivering this year. Chris Young is a player who you can look at as having down numbers compared to last year: .257/27/91 compared to .234/17/57 this year.
The pitching is much different than last year, and not what you would expect to be better. Last year they had Edwin Jackson and Dan Haren, and this year they have retooled their pitching staff top to bottom. Their rotation features a drastically improved Ian Kennedy and Joe Saunders, as well as a solid Daniel Hudson in his second year with the team. The biggest addition to this year's rotation is rookie Josh Collimenter, who given them a lot of good innings this year at 7-7 with a 3.47 ERA.
Ian Kennedy has really stepped it up this year. Cast off by the Yankees, he has really made the most of his time in Arizona. He definitely has ace stuff, going 15-4 with a 3.22 ERA and 100 more K than BB. Kennedy has a 1.13 WHIP, with 24 hits fewer than innings pitched, but a slightly high walk total. He's given up a sort of high number of home runs at 18, but that's ok because he's battling and throwing strikes. Ian will most likely give his team 200 innings this year barring any injuries, and could make an important Game 1 start if the DBax make the post season.
Ian Kennedy has really stepped it up this year. Cast off by the Yankees, he has really made the most of his time in Arizona. He definitely has ace stuff, going 15-4 with a 3.22 ERA and 100 more K than BB. Kennedy has a 1.13 WHIP, with 24 hits fewer than innings pitched, but a slightly high walk total. He's given up a sort of high number of home runs at 18, but that's ok because he's battling and throwing strikes. Ian will most likely give his team 200 innings this year barring any injuries, and could make an important Game 1 start if the DBax make the post season.
In the bullpen, they went with something completely different. After signing free agent JJ Putz and throwing him in the closer role he had been accustomed to in Seattle, he has locked in that role. Putz has 30 saves with a 2.84 ERA and 1.015 WHIP. He's been one of the best closers in MLB this year. The rest of the bullpen has pitched much better than last year's pen, allowing the DBax to retain leads or remain close in games so that they have a chance to win late.
It is that very thing that has probably propelled the Diamondbacks to the top of the NL West this year. Arizona leads all of MLB this year with 35 come from behind wins. Their most recent was a victory over the Phillies, in which they scored runs in the 9th inning to take the lead and JJ Putz hammered down the save. The Phillies had been 66-1 when leading after 8 innings this year.
This is a scrappy team with a lot of power and much better pitching than last year. They are gritty and can win the late games that good teams find ways to win. They are a rag tag bunch of players who lots of other teams didn't want(Juan Miranda, Kelly Johnson, Russell Branyan, Willy Mo Peña, Xavier Nady, Daniel Hudson, Armando Galarraga, Ian Kennedy, Joe Saunders, Zack Duke, Aaron Heilman). These guys want to win and this is clearly one of those stories where a bunch of castoffs come together to win as a team. Sure, Dan Haren could have really helped this team, but they have done just fine without him.
Arizona should be the top story in baseball, but because their games usually last beyond midnight for people on the East Coast, most people have not seen them play this year. I don't think this team is going to go away, they have persevered all season long. Nobody in the NL West seems to want to jump up and grab the lead away from them, certainly the Giants have been faltering in that department. This team is a really interesting story and should continue to produce through the end of the season.
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