With a Vengeance

 

Y'know, earlier this year the Diamondbacks were circling fourth. It was a pretty big deal. Y'know, they made a World Series last year, then in May they were beat up and circling the drain, the fear was that the other teams had figured out Corbin Carroll, the Giants were surging. Wasn't looking great for 'em.

And then...right at the end of June something clicked. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but since the start of July the Diamondbacks have only lost thirteen games. Only blew one series. And now they're leading the wild card race and three games behind the Dodgers. Not only are the D-Backs a playoff team, it's just turning into a matter of where exactly they'll seed at this point.

And the most crucial piece of this team at the moment might be Corbin Carroll, who, after having a really rough start to the year, is finally hitting again, and has an August OPS of .914, with 14 RBIs and 6 homers this month as well. This team knew Carroll was gonna be the guy, which is why they gave him all that money before he really got going. It was somewhat worrying when he struggled earlier this year. But they knew he'd bounce back. And so he has, right when the rest of the team is getting the hang of things as well. 

Very important as well that Eugenio Suarez has been surging since the beginning of the spike in wins. Suarez has 20 homers and 79 RBIs this year, and has continued his haphazard but reliable offensive dominance, despite some getting used to the new terrain. Zac Gallen just had a masterful start and is back to where he was last year. Justin Martinez seems to have taken over the ninth inning and already feels like a pro at closing games. I don't know where this team was before but they're incredible now.

And the insane thing about this D-Backs team right now, is that they are doing all of this, and still winning, without Ketel Marte, Gabriel Moreno or Christian Walker. Marte is the reason they got this far, and they're without him as the stretch tenses up. They have Kevin Newman and Luis Guillorme covering second, both are admirable options, especially Newman. Josh Bell was brought over specifically to cover for Walker, and he's got 4 homers and 11 RBIs as a Diamondback. Adrian Del Castillo got called up to replace Moreno and he's been an absolute force, hitting .341 with 3 homers and 14 RBIs in 13 games. This is the kind of thing that would slow any other team down, and the D-Backs have this energy that really can't be quenched.

The prevailing theory is that those guys will be back by October, which will give them infield depth, DH depth, catching depth, and an incredibly difficult lineup to get around. This team could be just as deadly as last year's in the playoffs if they hit the right momentum. So all future opponents...tread with caution.

Coming Tonight: A rookie base-stealing defensive infield highlight for a team fighting to stay alive.