The Arizona Diamondbacks are proudly calling 2023 their 25th Anniversary year, after coming into the league in 1998, taking three years to win a World Series thanks to a useful signing of one Randy Johnson, and only finding occasional success ever since while farming great players such as Justin Upton, Patrick Corbin, Paul Goldschmidt and Brandon Webb. And while it's definitely a big 25 year for them, funnily enough the number I keep seeing during their 2nd place come-up has been 23.
Geraldo Perdomo, Alek Thomas, Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno are all 23 years of age, and all four players have been crucial in bringing the D-Backs up so far. Perdomo is the biggest one of these. Last year, though he was the starter at shortstop, Perdomo couldn't hit very well at MLB level, and was relied on mostly as a defenseman. Now, a year in, he's figured it out. Right now, Perdomo's hitting .373 with 18 RBIs, and is the only Diamondback with an OPS higher than 1. He's also been fantastic at short and already has stolen 4 bases. Even with enough well rounded players on this team [Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, Lourdes Gurriel], Perdomo is showing so much range and has been the most impressive player on the team so far.
Equally impressive has been Carroll, who was already called upon to do great things from the start of the season, and has already stolen 10 bases, hit 5 homers and 35 hits. Clearly the Diamondbacks knew something in signing him to an extension before the season even began. Carroll is already looking like a sure bet for the next generation of this team, and fits in well with people like Marte and Pavin Smith. Thomas, while not quite as sharp as he was last year, still has 10 RBIs and is useful enough. Moreno might be the sneakiest 23-year-old here, as he was a backup catcher brought over in the Daulton Varsho deal that was a third stringer behind Kirk and Jansen before, and was waiting for an injury to Carson Kelly to get him more playing time. That happened, now Moreno's the starter and is hitting .312 with 16 RBIs. Not bad at all for a guy who was thinking he'd be doing more backup work.
It's these pieces that have added a spark to this team that's kept them toe to toe with the Dodgers and Padres. Granted, it's not just 23-year-olds, as Zac Gallen, Christian Walker, Ketel Marte and Lourdes Gurriel have also been impressive this year. I feel like they were expecting a bit more consistency from Ryne Nelson and Brandon Pfaadt, but they'll get there. Chafin's been decent in the ninth, Walker has 9 homers, this Dominic Fletcher kid can hit for contact, and Gallen's working on another Cy Young campaign. A lot of the factors I figured would be in play certainly are, and it's making this D-Backs team a lot bigger than usual.
As the Padres rise, and as the Dodgers continue to cement their 1st place status, I hope the D-Backs aren't too left out, they've got a lot of nice things going, and could use this year as their breakout. All those 23-year-olds can't have linked up for nothing.
Coming Tomorrow- A shortstop with all the pressure in the world performing like a champ.
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