Arizona Diamondbacks: The All-Time Bracket
No. 2 vs. 7 seed
The 1999 Diamondbacks improved by a stunning 35 games from their debut season, running up a franchise-record 100 victories on their way to the NL West title. The arrival of Johnson to lead the staff had to be one reason. His 17-9 and 2.48 ERA in 271 innings won his second Cy Young Award and the first of four straight he would take with Arizona.
Gonzalez batted .336 and was one of four Arizona regulars to top 100 RBIs: He had 111, outfielder Steve Finley drove in 103, second baseman Jay Bell had 112 and third baseman Matt Williams led them all with 142. Bell, Williams, and Finley all also surpassed 30 home runs.
The 2019 team lacked Goldschmidt, who had been traded to St. Louis the previous off-season. But it still came home second in the NL West. Its 85-77 record was, however, four games short of the second wild-card spot.
Infielder-outfielder Ketel Marte blossomed into a front-rank star with a .329 average, 32 homers and 92 RBIs. Third baseman Eduardo Escobar drove in 118 runs.
Greinke (10-4, 2.90) was on hand until a mid-season trade dispatched him to Houston. The loss of the team ace may, in the end, have crippled the club’s postseason chances. But Ray produced a 12-8 record and emerged as a candidate to be the new team ace.
Game 1: The 1999 team’s .617 percentage is the best in franchise history, better than 2019’s .525.
Game 2: The 2019 team did not play a post-season game, so this game is a forfeit.
Game 3: In 1999, the Diamondbacks had a 101 team OPS+. The 2019 team only got to a 94 OPS+.
Game 4: The 1999 team compiled a 122 ERA+ behind Johnson. In 2019 the Diamondbacks managed a credible but insufficient 105 ERA+.
Result: 1999 in four games