Arizona Diamondbacks: Team preview and prediction for 2020 season
By Sean Basile
Out west, the Arizona Diamondbacks look to play Cinderella in a crowded National League. But they may just be one of the top dogs in reality.
To the surprise of many, the Arizona Diamondbacks over-performed in 2019, winning 85 games and finishing fourth in the NL Wild Card standings. This came after the D-Backs lost their best player in Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals in the offseason.
Quiet and under-the-radar, the D-Backs now head into 2020 on the back of a feel-good 2019 performance and having tweaked the roster just enough to potentially put them over the top.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
The D-Backs certainly surprised me last year with the success they had. I thought they looked like one of the worst teams in baseball on paper, and with the loss of Paul Goldschmidt, their offense was going to suffer tremendously. Outside of Eduardo Escobar and David Peralta, I thought this offense was going to be one of the worst in the league.
But silly me, I totally overlooked Ketel Marte and Carson Kelly who both broke out in 2019 as Kelly smashed 18 home runs and Marte was actually fourth in MVP voting hitting .329 AVG/.389 OBP/.592 SLG/.981 OPS with 32 homers and 92 ribbies. Christian Walker had himself a solid year as well, slugging 29 home runs.
Then came this offseason, where they added one of the Pirates’ best players in Starling Marte to be their everyday centerfielder, as well as swapping out the injury-prone Steven Souza Jr. for one of the best defensive corner outfielders in baseball in Kole Calhoun.
And don’t forget the extension they gave Nick Ahmed who hit 19 homers of his own in 2019 and is bursting onto the scene as one of the premier defenders at shortstop with two-straight Gold Gloves.