Power-ranking the Arizona Diamondbacks: April

It doesn't make much sense to try and compare position players to pitchers, or relievers to starters. But why should we let that stop us? So, here's a rundown of all 29 players used by the Arizona Diamondbacks this year, in descending order of what I perceive as their overall value to the team.

1. Paul Goldschmidt, .338/.446/.584. And it's not even close. Leads the team in just about every offensive category (bar triples!), has as many home-runs and RBI as any two other Diamondbacks hitters combined. Leads the teams in steals (a perfect 5-0), and has almost as many walks (15) as strikeouts (19). About the only possible criticism: has not yet rescued any orphaned puppies from a burning building this year. But that's probably only a matter of time.
2. Archie Bradley, 1.80 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, 3,57 FIP. We're 4-0 when Bradley appears, including defeats of Kershaw, Bumgardner + Gallardo. The K:BB ratio is a bit wobbly at 14:11, but for his first four starts in the majors, we couldn't have asked for more. Bonus points for total bad-assery, taking a 115 mph line-drive to the face, and being back at the ballpark by the time the game ended.
   
3. A.J. Pollock, .320/.373/.400. Quietly understated so far, but solidly productive in just about all areas of the game. While his hitting has been good, with a 114 OPS+, it has been his defense which gets him this high on the list. Who'd have had Pollock tied (with the Rockes' Charlie Blackmon) for the NL lead in outfield assists after the first month?
4. Josh Collmenter, 2.76 ERA, 1.133 WHIP, 2.87 FIP. Delivered an almost certain Performance of the Year candidate, throwing a complete-game shutout in his second outing - the night after warming up in the bullpen! - when the team needed it most. Hasn't struck out that many, but control has been near-immaculate, with three bases on balls issued over Josh's 32.2 innings of work.
   
5. Brad Ziegler, 0.00 ERA, 0.207 WHIP, 2.45 FIP. Has only recorded one double-play ball this year. However, that's because you don't get DPs with the bases empty, and of the 30 batters he has faced, just two have reached base. With a GB:FB ratio of 19:5, it's clear that the knee issue which bothered Brad for much of last season is no longer an issue.
6. David Peralta, .250/.327/.545. Particularly impressive, considering he has barely started half of our games thus far (11 of 21). The .250 average is nothing to write home about, but is a victim of a low BABIP (.235), especially considering his LD% is extremely high, at 38%, so there has been lots of solid contact. Peralta has bypassed this, by opting to hit the ball out of the park instead.
7. Ender Inciarte, .316/.357/.405. Started off really hot, batting .395 through the first 11 games. Has cooled off a bit since, but still takes an active seven-game hitting streak onto the upcoming road-trip with him. Seems to have mostly taken over the lead-off spot from Pollock, having started 13 games there. Could perhaps be more active on the basepaths, with only three SB in the first month.
8. Randall Delgado, 1.69 ERA, 0.938 WHIP, 3.92 FIP. After an excellent spring, Delgado has started the season off very well, giving up two earned runs in 10.2 innings. Not having pitched since the 27th, is it possible he might take over Bradley's rotation spot? However, with a season-high of only 35 pitches, a jump to five-plus innings might be a bit of a stretch.
   
9. Jake Lamb, .414/.514/.690. Obviously, would be higher if he had played the entire month, though equally obviously, isn't going to bat .414 the whole season. Did help that he was almost exclusively seeing RHP - Lamb has precisely one at-bat against a left-handed pitcher this year. When he comes back, I'd like to see if he can handle them as well as he had handled the righties.
10. Chase Anderson, 4.24 ERA, 1.286 WHIP, 3.34 FIP. While still seeking his first win of the season - might Chase be the 2015 version of Vidal Nuño? - Anderson has been kinda unlucky, with a .338 BABIP, which is reflected in a solid FIP. He's also second among all our pitchers by fWAR.
11. Yasmany Tomas, .333/.429/.375. Been a wild month for Tomas, first being sent to Reno, then being called up and thrust into a position he wasn't supposedly ready to play. Still, he has acquitted himself acceptably there, had back-to-back multihit games to end the month and, impressively for someone with a reputation for poor plate discipline, got more walks than strikeouts in April.
12. Mark Trumbo, .319/.338/.542. That's Trumbo's highest average for a calendar month since May 2012, which is good to see - but with a .362 BABIP (career average: 287), is likely not sustainable. You'd probably also have got long odds on Trumbo ending April with more triples than home-runs! Defense remains mediocre at best, and drops him down the list a few notches.
13. Rubby De La Rosa. 4.68 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 3.85 FIP. Probably the most-improved player over the course of April, going deeper every time, while also cutting back the walks and/or increasing the K's each start. Leads the team in strikeouts, and the flashes of "stuff" we saw early on, are beginning to merge into good innings and, as last time, good outings.
    
14. Addison Reed, 4.50 ERA, 2,167 WHIP, 2.67 FIP, I may get flak for putting Reed up this high, but he has been victimized by a BABIP of .455. League average is .298. And it's not as if Reed is getting hit hard, with a LD rate below the mean (23% vs 26%).
    
15. Chris Owings, .227/.247/.320. Has been playing a lot better of late, but this month was hamstrung by a truly wretched start, which saw him with a .271 OPS through the first ten games. While Owings has hit over .300 since then, he's still digging his overall numbers out of that early hole.
    
16. Tuffy Gosewisch, .177/.227/.177. We knew Gosewisch likely wouldn't have been a backup on any other NL West team, and his offense has lived down to that: his wRC+ of 13, ranks 248th out of 252 major-leaguers with 50+ PA. If his defense had been other than stellar, he'd likely have been DFA'd, but Gosewisch has been a wall, blocking everything, and seems to work well with our pitchers too.
17. Andrew Chafin, 5.11 ERA, 1.297 WHIP, 3.42 FIP. Our longest reliever has taken his lumps since moving to the bullpen, but has maintained a decent strikeout rate. Threw 56 pitches on the 28th after replacing Archie; maybe stretching him out for a spot start or two?
    
18. Jordan Pacheco, .250/.348/.400. Pacheco had never played catcher for Arizona until Laird was hurt, but has now taken over as backup, and owns the only extra-base hit by any of our catchers after his three-run homer last night. That one swing probably bumped him up a couple of spots here.
19. Jeremy Hellickson, 5.24 ERA, 1.746 WHIP, 3.40 FIP. We can certainly describe Hellickson's first month with Arizona as very disappointing, but a .390 BABIP certainly plays into that, and his FIP is basically the same as Anderson.
    
20. Cliff Pennington, .200/.429/.267. Pennington's renowned defense has looked more than a little fallible this season, and if it wasn't for a walk-rate close to 30%, his offensive production would be little better than Ahmed's.
21. Enrique Burgos. 0.00 ERA, 0.000 WHIP, 3.17 FIP. This may be a relatively short stay in the majors for Burgos, with Bradley expected back in a couple of weeks. But if he can keep retiring batters like he did last night, it likely won't be the last we see of Enrique.
22. Oliver Perez, 5.68 ERA, 2.053 WHIP, 6.96 FIP. Perez was super-reliable in 2014, especially against righties, but that has evaporated so far, RHB hitting him at a .438 clip. BABIP should help that come back down in May.
    
23. Evan Marshall, 6.00 ERA, 2.111 WHIP, 4.95 ERA. Ah, the volatility of relievers. It took Marshall 18 appearances to give up six earned runs last year; this season, he did it in seven. Good job he wasn't the closer, as some wanted. Difficult to say how much is down to pitching with an apparent tight calf muscle.
    
24. Daniel Hudson, 7.27 ERA, 1.615 WHIP, 4.90 FIP. The velocity is there - his fastball is averaging 94.9 mph this year. But he isn't fooling hitters, with just two strikeouts of the 41 batters faced. Right now though, I'll settle for continued good health. By the end of May? I want better results.
    
25. Nick Ahmed, .140/.234/.158. Almost the same goes for our everyday shortstop as our catcher, with Ahmed #247 of 252 by wRC+, and only his defense keeping him on the roster. But at least Tuffy's putting the ball in play; Ahmed is striking out almost 30% of the time.
26. Danny Dorn, .000/.400/.000. I'll like to congratulate Dorn for reaching the major leagues. Maybe next month, I'll get to congratulate Dorn for getting his first major-league hit.
    
27. Gerald Laird. .000/.000/.000. It would not surprise me if Laird's two PA represent the totality of his D-backs career, given Oscar Hernandez will be back from injury before he is.
    
28. A.J. Schugel, 6.00 ERA, 2.333 WHIP, 9.51 FIP. One spell of mop-up work, during the period when our bullpen was sorely tested. It didn't go too well, but Schugel is another possible candidate to step in for Bradley's spot in the rotation.
29. Aaron Hill. .180/.226/.220. Cost in April = about $2m. Based on a truly dire month. it seems only a question of how long the team wants to wait before eating the remainder of Hill's contract. Likely the one thing keeping them from doing so, is the lack of any obvious replacement.