It is no secret the Arizona Diamondbacks are one of the surprise teams in Major League Baseball so far in the first third of the 2023 season.
What Is Right With the Diamondbacks
The offense has been a pleasant surprise with new addition Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. leading the way in May. Gurriel, Jr. is hitting an impressive .317 so far and is in the midst of a 15-game hitting streak. Plus, they are getting an unexpected contribution from Geraldo Perdomo who is sporting an out of the blue batting average of .315 to go along with his improved defense. Not to mention the consistent skill of the new face of the franchise, Corbin Carroll, whose 8-year, $111,000,000 contract is looking better and better by the day. I’ve yet to even mention the Ace of the staff, Zac Gallen who is already a top Cy Young candidate this season after a shaky first two starts of the year.
What Is Wrong With the Diamondbacks
The season feels like a smashing success so far and it is. What could possibly go wrong? Why do I have that ache in my stomach that things are not going to work out? It is because Diamondbacks fans and Arizona sports fans in general train to expect failure. The franchise has been in existence for 25 years . It has been 22 years since the Diamondbacks won the World Series and in that time, they have only made four postseason appearances. Many promising teams unable to do the job. The most recent example is the 2018 Diamondbacks coming off an exciting 2017 season and playoff birth who went a putrid 8-19 in September to miss the playoffs. Lots of hope, little delivery.
Why Everything Will Be Okay For the Diamondbacks
However, I am here to tell you that this time things are different, this team is different. The Dbacks are back for good this time. Mike Hazen has built this team from the ground up through trades and the draft on a small budget. It all starts with the young crop of talent both at the big league and minor league levels.
Saying goodbye to Daulton Varsho was painful. However, the trade to bring in Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. and Gabriel Moreno has yielded huge returns thus far. The tremendous hitting of Gurriel, Jr. and calm defense of Moreno filling in for the injured Carson Kelly have been huge. Eerily similar to the trade of Jazz Chisholm for Zac Gallen as both appear to be win-win for all involved. Plus, the additional drafted talent at the major league level such as Corbin Carrol, Alek Thomas, Dominic Fletcher with fast approaching talent of Jordan Lawlar and Druw Jones. This collection of young, deep, talent creates a formula of sustainable success for years to come.
It is not just talent, but also mindset and approach in the face of adversity. The Arizona Diamondbacks have these characteristics in spades as well. They survived Madison Bumgarner being designated for assignment, young stars with high expectations bouncing back and forth from Triple A in Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy, and bullpen that is still somewhat shaky bullpen. Yet they are still the top Wild Card team in the National League by a 3.5 game margin. Simultaneously, knocking on the door of 1st place in the NL West.
Happy Ending
As Diamondbacks fans we must fight that urge in us that says we are inevitably going to fail. This team has all of the makings of sustained success. No, they aren’t winning the World Series this year (maybe), but this isn’t their only shot. We should all start getting used to October games at Chase Field with the roof open.