FanPost

What Nick Ahmed Means to the Diamondbacks

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Suffice to say there hasn't been a lot of love lost between us and the Los Angeles Dodgers of late. The team has been dominating the past few years as we have been tossed and turned between grit, La Russa, and a whole lot of losing. So I think it would make sense for Diamondbacks fans to appreciate our success in this week's series as something of an act of vengeance. It hasn't been hard to see how hard they've fought, and that's something so profoundly simple that it can get caught up in the roster upheaval and losing ways of this club's recent history. Tomás found his Chase Field power, Castillo may have earned himself a lead role, and Goldy came through again. However, the biggest enlightenment has been Nick Ahmed's subtle breakthrough.

The trade that sent a wrecking ball through Uptown was supposed to keep us moving. Martin Prado was supposed to be able to fill in for both Upton and the departed Chris Johnson, and the list of B-or-below prospects instilled hope of development and crossed fingers. It wasn't praised by analysts, but the relationship had obviously become rocky as the team became worse. We'll always have 2011. Lord knows things haven't been all that much better since. The 2013 season brought underperformance from a variety of players, and the albatross contracts started piling up. Ian Kennedy brought back two relievers. In 2014, Prado brought back only cash, and cost us a catching prospect. Gerardo Parra netted two prospects who have yet to make major contribution. Even Joe Thatcher became more valuable elsewhere, nabbing two prospects in his departure.

While these moves represent an appreciable difference from the way our front office used to ignore its own mistakes, it is wild to imagine that out of all of these deals, including June's trade of the free-swinging Mark Trumbo, the best prospect we received may have been all the way back in January of 2012; one of those B-prospects the Braves sent us to reunite the Upbros.

Ahmed has been worth 1.5 wins already this season based on his defense alone, but we could have seen that coming. But his overall success was far from a given-- it probably wasn't even expected. FanGraphs' Dave Cameron had this to say in a organizational overview in September of last year:

"Nick Ahmed, SS : Ahmed, another piece from the Upton trade, is an advanced defender (65 on the 20-80 scale) and the offensive bar for starting shortstops is so low that he may be able to clear it. That said, multiple scouts said .240 with 8 homers is what you're hoping for and, even with solid numbers in Triple-A this season, it's still even money if he ever gets there."

Let's just point Mr. Cameron over here. Could anyone have imagined the young man leading off against a groundball- heavy pitcher on a championship contender? And yet there he was on Wednesday night, hustling out two infield singles and laying himself out on a Puig grounder through the middle late in the game. Those are championship- caliber plays. And while we're at it, so are two-run homers of the comeback variety. He has earned that leadoff spot, even if it is slightly experimental. On a young team, the risk and reward will be worth it.

He is a often a first pitch swinger, yet has had success doing so largely because of his confidence when behind in the count. 54 of his hits have come in so-called "pitcher's counts" (0-0, 0-1, 0-2). Think Miguel Montero. He has upped his walk rate past league average to almost nine percent. Room for improvement is obvious for even the most skilled veterans, but Ahmed has come this far. There is little reason to expect a plateau here.

With the team finally showing a willingness to move on from "gritty" veterans in favor of young players with upside, the roster finally shows future promise. Two MVP candidates in AJ Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt obviously don't hurt anything, but consistently successful teams like the Giants, Rays and Cardinals have proven that hard work and perseverance create a clubhouse environment that can truly thrive.

Pieces will continue to shuffle, the rotation will solidify over time, and veterans will be replaced. But landing on a talented middle infielder who was once thought to be a throwaway in a star-dump trade is invaluable to a rebuilding franchise like Arizona- a vital step in a long, unglamorous process.