MLB Stock Up, Stock Down: Blue Jays, Rangers, Mets, Diamondbacks

Stock Up: Arizona Diamondbacks

One of the more surprising teams through the first two months continues to be the Arizona Diamondbacks. In their six-game trip through the state of Pennsylvania, they continued their winning ways.

After dropping the first game of their series with the Pittsburgh Pirates, they won the final two games, before winning the first two games against the Philadelphia Phillies, before dropping the series finale Wednesday, 6-5, in 10 innings after blowing a 5-0 lead. Still, Torey Lovullo will take four out of six against the two Pennsylvania teams.

Don’t look now, but the Diamondbacks have the third-best record in the National League at 29-21, they have won seven of their last 10 games and they are winning games with their pitching and hitting. Blowing five-run leads is bound to happen in baseball over the course of a 162-game season, but it’s how a team reacts to it that determines how good of a team you are.

Following the loss in Philadelphia Wednesday, Arizona returns home for a three-game series against the slumping Boston Red Sox, who have lost four in a row and were just swept by the Los Angeles Angels. The Diamondbacks have a perfect opportunity to continue to keep pressure on the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. Like the Rangers, it’s time to start paying attention to Arizona.