The Arizona Diamondbacks finished the 2021 season with the worst record in the NL, and a tie for the worst record in baseball. And because of a technicality, they did not suck enough to get the first pick in 2022. Rob Manfred is working on this, rest assured.
The team itself just sort of sunk under the pressure of the competitive NL West, as well as the lack of a real anchor like Goldschmidt or Pollock, and no player finished with a WAR over 2.3, with only Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly having seasons resembling decency. And you had a lot of both veterans and young stars just struggling to make an impact, resulting in a very difficult D-Backs year to watch.
Nick Ahmed, one of the longest-tenured Arizona starters, had his most meh season since his consecutive gold glove wins. His fielding numbers decreased, his batting figure was a -19, and he only hit .221 with 38 RBIs in 129 games. He's locked up for 2 more years, but it's becoming worrying that Ahmed might have passed his peak.
2022 Prediction: A sort of an upswing, but for some reason I don't see it being a full season for him.
Luke Weaver I'm just starting to feel really bad for. Brought up as a major Cardinals prospect, traded for Paul Goldschmidt, yet hasn't been able to put together a full season worth celebrating due to injuries. This year he actually did pretty decently, with a 4.25 ERA and 62 Ks in 13 games, but it was once again shortened by an injury.
2022 Prediction: A full season without injury. I fear this may be statistically flawed.
Christian Walker's 2019 season was a surprise, as the former Orioles farmhand made a name for himself as the replacement at 1st for Paul Goldschmidt. Sadly, Walker has yet to really follow that season up entirely, and is looking pretty one-dimensional. This season he hit .244 with 46 RBIs and only 10 home runs. The D-Backs need to ask themselves if Walker's 2019 was a fluke or not.
2022 Prediction: He's gonna get cut sometime this season in favor of a younger player.
Kole Calhoun's 2021 was actually pretty statistically nice, but he was just injured for a lot of it. In 51 games, Calhoun hit .235 with 17 RBIs and 5 homers, relatively productive even if it was a bit short-lived. The Rangers seem to think he's still capable of a lot, and have signed him to a long-term deal.
2022 Prediction: The DH position will be split between the two Calhouns in 2022. As much as I wanna think that Calhoun can still be a great outfielder, he's getting beat up, he'll be 34 next year, and he needs to be in position to just hit.
One of the many starting pitchers to get injured at a horrible time, Taylor Widener was doing alright with a starting role, with a 4.28 ERA and 64 Ks in 13 starts. Then the injury happened, he lost the starting role, and relieved accordingly when he could.
2022 Prediction: The D-Backs will not initially have room for him to start, but he will make some very nice ones in August and September after some of their other starters get traded.
After the departure of Joakim Soria, another former closer in his 30s, Tyler Clippard, took the ninth, and actually had a pretty decent season for himself. Yes, he only had 6 saves, but he had a 3.20 ERA in 26 appearances, and boosted his free agency resume.
2022 Prediction: A low-market team signs him, he has a great first half, then he gets traded to a contender and pitches into the playoffs. He then retires.
And finally, a late-year starting option that really paid off for the Diamondbacks was Tyler Gilbert. In 9 games, 6 of them starts, he had a 3.15 ERA, 25 Ks and 1.025 WHIP. He also had a very crucial no-hitter in his first career start. So hopefully it's not entirely downhill from there.
2022 Prediction: Due to a crowded rotation he'll be mostly pitching in relief for the D-Backs next year, but that doesn't mean he won't get any starts.
Tomorrow, a few Dodgers I didn't get to during the season.
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