Arizona Diamondbacks Single-game Performance of the Year: Poll

Zack Greinke: eight innings of one-hit ball vs. PIT, May 11

2017 Greinke was much closer to the ace we expected when we signed him, and he had no better performance this year than a gem at Chase Field. He needed to be at his best, Zack out-dueling Gerrit Cole for eight innings in a 2-1 win. Greinke had a no-hitter going through seven innings and had faced the minimum, the only base-runner being caught stealing. He lost both when Gregory Polanco homered, just fair, on a two-strike pitch down the right field line to lead off the eighth. Zack retired the next three, finishing the night with eleven strikeouts and one walk, on 107 pitches. His slider was particularly phenomenal, being responsible for eight of the Pirates’ K’s.

Robbie Ray: complete-game shutout vs. PIT, May 30

Between May 20 and June 11, Robbie was close to unhittable. In five starts, he allowed one run over 37 innings (a 0.24 ERA), with 48 strikeouts. Peak Ray was achieved on May 30, when he threw the only shutout of Arizona’s 2017 campaign in Pittsburgh. The starter faced three batters over the minimum, and only one Pirate got past first base all night. Ray held Pittsburgh to four hits and no walks, striking out 10 and taking 115 pitches for his first career complete-game and shutout. The Game Score of 89 was the best of the year, and indeed, the highest from any Diamondbacks pitcher since Ian Kennedy had a pair of 91 scores in the 2011 campaign.

Paul Goldschmidt: three HR vs. CHC, August 3

In terms of elapsed time from scheduled first pitch, this was among the longest in team history, with rain delaying the game on three separate occasions. But Goldschmidt was totally unfazed, homering after each of them. He had a three-run shot in the first, then added a two-run bomb in the fifth, giving Arizona a 6-1 lead. Chicago fought back to have an 7-6 lead going to the eighth, but Paul gave us the lead again with a one-out blast in the ninth, and the D-backs eventually won 10-8. Goldschmidt’s game was worth +74.5% in Win Probability, almost 13% more than any other Arizona hitter this year, and the highest figure since August 2013.

J.D. Martinez: four HR vs. LAD, September 9

Far rarer than a no-hitter. Rarer, even, than a perfect game. That’s what hitting four home-runs in a game is, in terms of feats. Less than twenty people in the 140+ year history of major-league baseball have managed it, and most teams in the majors have yet to experience it. But, thanks to Martinez, the D-backs now have. He left it late: J.D. had only one home-run through six frames. But he then hit the ball out of Dodger Stadium in the seventh, eighth AND ninth innings, homering off four different Los Angeles pitchers. He had as many home-runs that one night in LA, as Augie Ojeda and Royce Clayton did combined, over their 467 games with the Diamondbacks.

Chris Iannetta: eight RBI vs. MIA, September 22

Before this year, no Diamondbacks’ catcher had ever driven in more than six runs - and even that had only happened once since 2002. But Iannetta broke that record, not once, but twice in 2017. On June 7, he had seven RBI against the Padres, and went one better against the Marlins. He had a three-run homer in the first inning, then an RBI single in the second, and passed his own mark with a grand-slam in the sixth. Both home-runs turned deficits into leads, and Ianneta was at +61.5% in WP on the night. Arizona needed just about all of Chris’s production: the game was tied at seven in the middle of the third (!), before the D-backs prevailed in this slugfest, 13-11.

Here’s the poll: votes close at 9am Arizona time on Friday, and we’ll announce the winner later that day. I wonder who it might be? :)