Arizona Diamondbacks: Top five draft picks of all time, ranked

PHOENIX, AZ - MAY 11: Paul Goldschmidt #44 of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals stand on first base in the MLB game at Chase Field on May 11, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Washington Nationals won 3-1. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

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Brandon Webb #17 of the Arizona Diamondbacks (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images) /

Brandon Webb, 8th round pick in 2000 draft. 31.1 WAR

Another lower-level draft pick, Brandon Webb was able to make draft-day geniuses out of the Arizona Diamondbacks again. Taken in the 8th round out of the University of Kentucky, Webb proved to be a front line starter for several years.

He finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting after winning ten games. After struggling a bit his second go-around (leading the league in walks and wild pitches) he found his rhythm in 2005.

In a three year stretch, Webb won a Cy Young and was runner up twice, even leading the league in ’08 with 22 wins.

Webb pitched the team to the 2007 NLCS where they succumbed to the Colorado Rockies.

Never a strikeout pitcher, Webb was able to coax hitters into weak contact and for six years was the most durable member of the Diamondbacks rotation. Twice he lead the league in starts.

At one point in the 2007 season Webb had spun 42 consecutive scoreless innings.

Unfortunately the unexpected hit in 2009. After being the poster boy for longevity, injury set in. Webb made just one start before going down with shoulder issues. He was unable to come back and just like that, at age 30, he had thrown his last major league inning.

Brandon Webb played for the Diamondbacks his entire seven-year career, finishing with an 87-62 record and a 3.27 ERA. If the shoulder injury wouldn’t have set in, one wonders how far this arm could have gone.

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