Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #11: 4/10 vs. Brewers

The D-backs certainly impressed their fans by going 6-4 over their first ten games, most of them on the road, and all of them against teams expected to be fighting each other for the National League West. But the national press? Well, perhaps not so much. As we go through the season, every Monday we’ll be checking in on the power rankings from various outlets, and seeing how they see the NL West stacking up. It’s worth noting that these are a) highly objective, and b) largely designed are rage-bait for fans of teams who feel dissed. However, it’ll be interesting to see how things track with the D-backs W/L record over the course of the season. There will eventually be graphs. :)

So, here’s what we have for the division at this point, along with any comments for the D-backs/ Most of the ones which follow date from today, except for ESPN, who published their rankings before the weekend. Previous rankings for Arizona are in brackets.

• MLB.com: #3 Dodgers, #5 Padres, #19 Giants, #20 D-backs (21), #27 Rockies
• CBS Sports: #4 Padres, #10 Dodgers, #15 D-backs (19), #20 Giants, #26 Rockies. “They were tasked with playing the mighty Dodgers and Padres for the first 10 games of the season. Those pesky Diamondbacks took six of those 10 games. They’re gonna bother contenders all season and might even be one themselves.”
• USA Today: #4 Padres, #6 Dodgers, #15 D-backs (=21), #21 Giants, #26 Rockies. “Have already played 10 of their 26 games against juggernaut Padres, Dodgers - and are 6-4.”
• Fox Sports: #6 Padres, #7 Dodgers, #17 D-backs (22), #22 Giants, #26 Rockies. “The D-backs have won more than they’ve lost despite trailing in every game this year. They have an OPS over 1.000 in close and late situations.”
• ESPN: #5 Dodgers, #6 Padres, #20 D-backs (21), #22 Giants, #26 Rockies. “The D-backs earned a split of their season-opening six-game road trip with a furious rally against the Padres on Tuesday. And how they did it encapsulated what makes them a dangerous team — by working walks and becoming exceedingly aggressive on the bases. The D-backs fashioned the seventh-highest walk rate in the majors last season and were the best baserunning team, per FanGraphs. Those two traits, in addition to elite defense, make them a sneaky contender heading into 2023. Nobody embodies that better than Corbin Carroll, the Rookie of the Year front-runner who has already stolen three bases”

If we average out the numbers across those five leading outlets, here’s where we stand at the NL West at this point.

1. Padres: 4.8
2. Dodgers: 6.2
3. Diamondbacks 17.4
4. Giants: 20.8
5. Rockies: 26.2