AZ Snake Pit - 2019 Diamondbacks reviewsAn unofficial Arizona Diamondbacks community and bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47033/azsnakepit_f.png2019-12-22T23:10:49-05:00http://www.azsnakepit.com/rss/stream/207106472019-12-22T23:10:49-05:002019-12-22T23:10:49-05:002019 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews: #1, Ketel Marte
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<p>Arizona’s young shortstop turned himself into a superstar in centerfield.</p> <p id="uhCdAV"><strong>Rating: 9.70</strong></p>
<p id="XQpAWw"><strong>Age: 26</strong></p>
<p id="hhmlol"><strong>2019 Stats: .329/.389/.592, 32 HR, 92 RBI, 149 OPS+, 150 wRC+, 6.9 bWAR, 7.1 fWAR</strong></p>
<p id="IZ77Ig"><strong>2019 Salary: $2,400,000</strong></p>
<p id="ZBbMXH"><strong>2020 Salary: $4,400,000, Signed through 2024</strong></p>
<h1 id="X09i2y"><strong>Introduction</strong></h1>
<p id="BLsSCg"><span>Ketel Marte</span>. In the season immediately following the <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> trade, Marte exploded into superstar status, with a season better than all but one season by Goldy (8.7 bWAR in 2015). This is not meant to be a comparison between the two players; rather, it is a proxy for just how good Marte was in 2019. </p>
<p id="X5Hcrh">A lot of people in the baseball community seemed to be very surprised by this breakout. But I like to think that many of us here in Arizona have seen the growth of Marte over his three years in Arizona and weren’t so surprised. After all, we’ve been documenting Marte’s breakout for over two years now: </p>
<p id="84u9D3">In August of 2018, I wrote “<a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2018/8/1/17641090/ketel-marte-is-having-a-breakout-but-hes-not-fully-there-yet-diamondbacks-goldschmidt-altuve">Ketel Marte is Having a Breakout, But He’s Not Fully There Yet</a>”, in which Marte was currently sitting at a 100 wRC+ going into the second-half of the season, something not a lot of people were expecting from the supposedly-light-hitting shortstop. The focus on the article was about how Marte was demonstrating surprising raw power, again uncharacteristic of the player with a career .082 ISO when AZ acquired him. At the time, Marte’s power was almost exclusively from the right side of the plate and was a result of his intense work ethic and getting stronger as he got older. It was noted that Marte needed to do a lot of work from the left-side of the plate but I did make a brief comment: “When you combine the possibility of average (or better) power, elite contact/strikeout rates, above-average walk rates, and above-average defense at a premium position, you have a player that has the potential to be a star” and possibly the “next face of the franchise”.</p>
<p id="aOJbBz">At the end of 2018, Jack Sommers wrote “<a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2018/9/25/17901698/ketel-martes-breakout-keeps-moving-forward">Ketel Marte’s breakout keeps moving forward</a>”, which showed that Marte continued the same trends through the end of 2018. Lots of power from the right side but still had issues with left-handed power and inconsistency. Jack noted that Marte had a 0.862 OPS from June 1st through the end of the year, which again could have helped lead some credence to his breakout in 2019. Jack was a tad less optimistic than me, but he finished the article asking if <span>Ketel Marte</span> would be an all-star in 2019 or 2020. He was a bit skeptical, and rightfully so, but he did note “but he’s knocking on the door, real real HARD”. This is not a knock on Jack - I was in the same boat at the end of 2018. I was expecting 2019 to be a growth year. </p>
<p id="hqV1I4">Then 2019 happened. </p>
<h1 id="9mrRqp"><strong>2019 Season</strong></h1>
<p id="qTimpt">Coming in to 2019, Marte was supposed to be a solid average everyday player. He had plus defense in the middle of the infield with an average, contact-oriented bat and made a move to CF to cover an organizational hole, hoping that his plus plus athleticism would play in center (spoiler alert: it did). ZiPS had Marte with a solid 2.4 fWAR and 97 wRC+. Marte actually started the year slow, with a 96 wRC+ through the end of April. However, Marte was sitting on a .233 ISO (much like his .229 ISO from June 1, 2018 through the end of 2018). But there was something different this time: Marte was showing more power from the left side than he had in the past. His ISO at the time, left-handed, was a respectable .173, after being .127 in 2018. Twice in the month of April, Marte homered from both sides of the plate in the <em>same game</em>: </p>
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<p id="82Q7yH">443 feet from the left side. 423 feet from the right side. That’s not someone with light power. </p>
<p id="VzHZS7">It would only take Marte 9 more days to do it again: </p>
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<p id="4pLY2D">His left-handed blast was a shot to nearly dead center and it cleared by several rows. </p>
<p id="X5uolv">But he still wasn’t done. Marte would do this <em>again</em> on May 4th, achieving this rare feat three times in the span of only 30 days:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ketel Marte is the 3rd player in National League history to homer from both sides of the plate 3+ times in a single season. And it's only May. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RattleOn?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RattleOn</a> <a href="https://t.co/v3wcx6FP6O">pic.twitter.com/v3wcx6FP6O</a></p>— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dbacks/status/1124534712590950400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2019</a>
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<p id="j1vuyj">And once again... that left-handed shot was to dead center. </p>
<p id="Egpwr7">But while this is more of a “cool” accomplishment, the reality behind it was very important: Marte had developed power as a left-handed hitter. For the season, Marte would have a .297 ISO as a righty and a .251 ISO as a lefty. This is a massively important development for him, as he faces far more right-handed pitchers than lefties, at a tune of 453 PA vs 174 PA in 2019. He was still a better right-handed hitter, but he narrowed the gap between the two sides. Season-over-season, his average exit velocity would increase by 1.7 MPH from the left side and his barrel percentage would go from 5.0% to 9.3%. His .369 xwOBA as a lefty supported the idea that this was largely real. </p>
<p id="D0aimC">But Ketel Marte made <em>another</em> offensive improvement: his BABIP in 2019 was an outstanding .342 after being .282 and .290 in the two prior years. That, in combination with a K% of only 13.7% and 32 homers are the major contributors to why Marte had a .329 batting average in 2019. But what changed?</p>
<p id="uvWpWw">I don’t know how to quantify this, but Marte looked different at the plate this season. He looked locked in - every pitch he felt like he could hit. He hit more line drives - up 2.5% from 2018 - but he also hit a lot more flyballs instead of groundballs, which generally doesn’t lead itself to increasing your BABIP. However, Marte was hitting these liners and flyballs much harder than he ever did, with his flyballs 1 MPH faster and his line drives 2 MPH faster on average than last year. The biggest change, however, was his average launch angle, which nearly doubled from 6° to 11°. Overall, Marte was making much more quality contact than he ever did.</p>
<p id="DhbUme">So yeah, I’m sorry to just blast this article with stats. But it’s really remarkable how much Ketel Marte broke out last year. This does leave him open to some regression going into next year, but even then, he’s still projected to be a 4 WAR player per ZiPS, which is really really good for someone who is going into his age 26 season. </p>
<p id="aNEosd">So let’s talk about some other things regarding Marte’s stellar 2019 season. </p>
<p id="8KNKtC">The obvious one is his defense: Marte moved to be primarily a CF this season due to a lack of other options within the organization. And it sure seems like he did a really good job despite very little experience at the position prior to 2019. </p>
<p id="SGTXBp">DRS and UZR were very high on Marte. He had 6 DRS and 5.6 UZR in 687.2 innings in CF, which were 9th and 7th in the MLB respectively, despite playing far fewer innings than everyone ahead of him. He only made one error in the outfield all season and seemed to be pretty good at using his speed to run down flyballs. Statcast was a bit less favorable, giving him 3 outs below average for the season. Per Statcast, he didn’t have any spectacular catches (no 5 or 4 star catches), but he was above average in 3 star, 2 star, and 1 star outs. All together, you have to be very pleased with Marte’s defensive performance, showing to be probably at least average in CF on a whim while also playing a significant amount of time at second base and some spot time at SS and even third base. </p>
<p id="vwSgL9">Ketel also had some other really exciting highlights. He had the third-longest homer in the MLB this season: </p>
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<p id="qDWroz">That’s just pure raw power. </p>
<p id="XhSStm">He had this awesome inside-the-park homer off former Dback Patrick Corbin: </p>
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<p id="bOXXLK">For Ketel, his biggest highlight might have been being selected for his first all-star game, a starter at second base nonetheless: </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The moment Ketel has worked for his entire life. <a href="https://t.co/afanNgIxWN">pic.twitter.com/afanNgIxWN</a></p>— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dbacks/status/1144381977929216000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2019</a>
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<p id="7dhfC9">Marte would go 1-2 in the All Star Game, just barely missing a homer on a line-drive double off the wall in RF. </p>
<p id="fSrDCJ">There is still so much more that Ketel Marte accomplished in 2019 that we could write several more articles. But the reality is that he was just awesome. He’s young and hyper athletic and now has top tier raw strength. His work ethic is off the charts. He has shown that he can be a devastating hitter from both sides of the plate. He is a plus baserunner and is capable of playing solid defense at SS, 2B, and now CF. What more can you really ask of Marte at this point? </p>
<p id="DlkKJ8">It might only be the first season of his breakout, but if Ketel Marte is trying to be the new face of the franchise, well, he is off to a fantastic start. </p>
<h1 id="T4V8Yr"><strong>2020 Outlook</strong></h1>
<p id="HeEaoG">Can you believe that Ketel Marte just did all of that as a 25-year-old? And that the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> have him under contract for <em><strong>five </strong></em>more years?</p>
<p id="balcG2">At this point, the MLB is now Ketel Marte’s oyster. There are lots of directions Marte can go from here; the easy answer is to assume he’s going to come down to earth from last season. But considering just how athletic, how fast, how strong, and how talented Ketel Marte has proven to be, there is a massive amount of upside here, too. He’s absolutely capable of putting up another season like 2019. </p>
<p id="hUBa0y">With his rare combination of high contact while maintaining great power AND being a plus fielder up the middle of the field, Marte is the type of player that every fan and owner dreams they could build around. The team seems committed to putting a winning team out there and with the farm suddenly bursting at the seams with high upside prospects, there is a lot to be dreamy about. The Diamondbacks are going to have Ketel Marte through his prime and that is going to be really, really exciting to watch. </p>
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https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/12/22/21034041/2019-arizona-diamondbacks-reviews-1-ketel-marteSean Testerman2019-12-21T15:00:00-05:002019-12-21T15:00:00-05:002019 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews: #2, Eduardo Escobar
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<p>Before Madison Bumgarner made Arizona his top target in free agency, there was Eduardo Escobar who decided he loved it here so much that he didn’t even want to dabble in free agency.</p> <p id="uhCdAV"><strong>Rating: 8.87</strong></p>
<p id="XQpAWw"><strong>Age: 30 (To turn 31 on January 5th)</strong></p>
<p id="hhmlol"><strong>2019 Stats: .269/.320/.511, 35 HR, 118 RBI, 111 OPS+, 109 wRC+, 4.2 bWAR, 3.7 fWAR</strong></p>
<p id="IZ77Ig"><strong>2019 Salary: $6,166,666</strong></p>
<p id="ZBbMXH"><strong>2020 Salary: $7,166,666, Signed through 2021</strong></p>
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<h1 id="X09i2y">Introduction</h1>
<p id="vxkvgW">With the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Arizona Diamondbacks</a> sitting in first place in the National League West standings for most of the 2018 season, Mike Hazen swung a deadline deal to land <span>Eduardo Escobar</span> from the <a href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Minnesota Twins</a>. Third base had been a glaring weakness for Arizona having lost <span>Jake Lamb</span> to injury early in the season, but Escobar’s positional flexibility would allow Torey Lovullo to play him at second base on occasion. He was originally thought to be only a half season rental for the 2018 season, but Hazen was so impressed with Escobar’s career year that he used Arizona’s exclusive negotiating window following the end of the season to sign him to a three year twenty-one million dollar extension. Arizona loved having him, and the feeling was obviously mutual because Eduardo didn’t even bother with jumping into his first foray of free agency. As you’ll see, he isn’t loved by fans, teammates, and coaches only for what he does on the field, as incredible as he his, but also because of his infectious personality outside the lines.</p>
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<blockquote><p id="OS70SK">“I like it here because of the people. It’s a great group. Everybody is together. Everybody has one mentality, same page. The first day (after the trade), everybody was so nice to me. Now, it’s my first full season in Arizona and I know everybody. It’s different. It feels different.” -<span>Eduardo Escobar</span>, <em>The Athletic</em></p></blockquote>
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<h1 id="9mrRqp">2019 Season</h1>
<p id="al1hKo">Going into the 2019 season, Eddie was looking to build off of a career season in 2018 with newfound contract stability. Arizona would be deploying him as the everyday third baseman while moving <span>Jake Lamb</span> across the diamond to first base. Critics had their reservations about Escobar matching or even replicating his 2018 results and for good reason. He was entering his age 30 season and had notched career highs in most every statistical category. Not only did he improve with an All Star worthy performance in 2019, but he quickly became a fan favorite as well for his unmatched humor and smile.</p>
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<p id="Efj1An">He is enamored with Fogo De Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse with locations all across the country including Minneapolis (remember he came over in a trade from Minnesota) and Scottsdale. His slogan is “Fogo Power” and you can often hear him say it during a postgame victory interview. Some players need performance enhancing drugs, but Eddie just needs a good Brazilian steak to fuel his play. I’ll take it.</p>
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<p id="JczCFQ"><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F1112879%2F2019%2F08%2F02%2Fscaredy-cat-eduardo-escobars-feline-fear-and-the-purrfect-hell-the-diamondbacks-put-him-through%2F&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.azsnakepit.com%2F2019%2F12%2F21%2F21032822%2F2019-arizona-diamondbacks-reviews-2-eduardo-escobar-fogo-de-chao" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Eduardo has a phobia of cats</a>, and his teammates jump at every opportunity to give him flak about it. The thing about team sports is that if you ever have any kind of quirk, superstition, or phobia, you better not let your teammates find out unless you don’t mind being given a hard time. Have a vehicle that you absolutely love to drive to the ballpark everyday? Don’t be surprised to find one of it’s wheels in your locker when the game is finished. Got a lucky pair of batting gloves that you use only in your first at bat of the game? Now all of the sudden they’re missing until you find them in the sunflower seed bucket. Eduardo Escobar was not immune. His teammates would torment him with cats pregame, both fake and real.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">For the unaware, <a href="https://twitter.com/escobarmaracay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@escobarmaracay</a> is terrified of cats. <br><br>So of course, David Peralta now carries a lucky cat in the dugout. <a href="https://t.co/bkK3qFheZh">pic.twitter.com/bkK3qFheZh</a></p>— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dbacks/status/1147688750962528256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2019</a>
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<p id="raredm">His infectious personality makes him easy to love as a person. It makes it all the better for fans that he was one of the best players on the team as well for he led the Major Leagues in triples (10), and set career highs in hits (171), home runs (35), RBI (118), and OPS (.831). Escobar’s average exit velocity increased from 86.5 MPH to 87.8 MPH, and his increase in power did not come at the expense of his contact skills as evidenced by his K% dropping to a career low 18.6%. </p>
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<p id="rWlkqM">Determining his best game of the 2019 season is a bit of a challenge depending on how you want to define it, so I’m making an executive decision and selecting June 10th at the <a href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Philadelphia Phillies</a>. It was a game in which he tallied eleven total bases when the ball was flying out of the park at an alarming rate for both teams. Arizona and Philadelphia combined to hit thirteen home runs on the evening, eight for the D’backs and five for the Phillies, setting a new MLB record for combined home runs in a game. Escobar was accountable for two such long balls with two run shots in consecutive at bats in the fourth and fifth innings. He didn’t stop there adding a double and a single for good measure, falling a triple shy of the cycle which is ironic considering he was the MLB leader in triples. </p>
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<blockquote><p id="BtdrhZ">“(Personality is) a huge gift that he has,” Lovullo said. “He says the right things the right way at the right time. There’s an incredible intensity to him also when we’re in between the white lines and it’s go time. There’s nobody more focused than he is. But when it’s time to lighten things up and be a good teammate or say the right thing at the right time, he’s got a great personality.” -<em>The Athletic</em></p></blockquote>
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<h1 id="T4V8Yr">2020 Outlook</h1>
<p id="CGOkTa">Escobar accomplishes all this as a switch hitter who can play multiple positions making it nearly impossible to take him out of the lineup. It is why he played in 158 games this season falling one shy of 700 plate appearances. It’s the type of player Mike Hazen has made a habit of targeting, giving Torey Lovullo a healthy amount of roster flexibility. Indeed, Escobar has already made well on his contract in the first year of it alone, and there is reason to believe he will continue to add surplus value in the final two seasons. FanGraphs has him calculated at $29.3 million dollars in value based on his 2019 performance. However, championships are not won based on theoretical $/WAR values, so Mike Hazen will look to continue to place additional valuable pieces around Escobar and others with the goal being to win a <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/world-series">World Series</a>.</p>
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<p id="MlGeIv">He will likely, hopefully, be penciled in as the everyday starting third baseman again for 2020, but it remains to be seen what other roster moves will be made before the start of the season. As it stands, the Diamondbacks need to add at least both a starting outfielder and second baseman. It has been speculated that the team would like to deploy <span>Ketel Marte</span> at second base more frequently than center field to keep his legs fresh which would allow Escobar to stay put at third base. Regardless, it’s been a delight watching Escobar play for the the past season and a half, and I’m looking forward to what he can accomplish in 2020.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/12/21/21032822/2019-arizona-diamondbacks-reviews-2-eduardo-escobar-fogo-de-chaoKeegan Thompson2019-12-20T11:07:37-05:002019-12-20T11:07:37-05:002019 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews: #3, Nick Ahmed
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<p><em>It seems the plucky shortstop from the University of Connecticut has finally silenced his doubters.</em></p> <p id="uhCdAV"><strong>Rating: </strong>8.58</p>
<p id="XQpAWw"><strong>Age: </strong>29</p>
<p id="hhmlol"><strong>2019 Stats: </strong>.254/.316/.437, 19 HR, 93 OPS+/92 wRC+, 4.5 bWAR/2.4fWAR</p>
<p id="IZ77Ig"><strong>2019 Salary:</strong> $3,663,000</p>
<p id="ZBbMXH"><strong>2020 Salary: </strong>Arb 3 (est. $7,000,000)</p>
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<h2 id="DJlIPy">Introduction</h2>
<p id="I6a3ny">Selected by the <a href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Atlanta Braves</a> in the second round (85th overall) of the 2011 MLB June draft, <span>Nick Ahmed</span> is the final man standing (from either team) from one of the bigger trades in <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Arizona Diamondbacks</a> history. Ahmed joined the Diamondbacks organization in January of 2013 along with <span>Martin Prado</span>, <span>Randall Delgado</span>, <span>Zeke Spruill</span> and <span>Brandon Drury</span> in exchange for all-star right fielder <span>Justin Upton</span> and third baseman Chris Johnson. At the time of the trade, there were debates within the Braves community about who the best defensive shortstop in the system was. Many chalked that up to the Braves simply hyping up prospects they were sending to Arizona, overvaluing a prospect as is natural for fans and even evaluators. After all, the Braves’ MLB shortstop at that time was wonder-glove <span>Andrelton Simmons</span>. <span>Simmons</span> was flashing leather at short in a way not seen in over 15 years. Surely, Ahmed wasn’t that good - was he?</p>
<p id="IlRm6x">After the trade, Ahmed was promptly placed in AA ball, where he played for former Diamondback infielder <span>Andy Green</span>. </p>
<blockquote><p id="ddIYfS">“I played a long time. I haven’t seen a better defensive shortstop. I’ve managed and played, been in the big leagues. From what I’ve seen in two months, I’ve never seen a guy save runs day after day after day like that.” - Andy Green on <span>Nick Ahmed</span></p></blockquote>
<p id="v9joZr">Despite his bat still lacking the sort of production usually expected out of a Major LEague player, <span>Nick Ahmed</span> made his MLB debut on June 29, 2014 - only two years and a few weeks after being drafted. Ahmed only played in 25 games for the Snakes that season. He still posted 0.3 dWAR. By comparison, the full-time shortstop for the team, <span>Didi Gregorius</span>, a solid fielder himself, posted 0.6 dWAR for the season. There were no highlight reel plays by Ahmed to wow fans and players, but something had changed in the space between second and third. </p>
<p id="nIVlYQ">In 2015, Ahmed arrived in Spring Training, competing for the starting nod at shortstop. Despite his lack of stick, he won the job and spent the entire season as the team’s primary option at the position. His bat was anemic, but his glove was something special. The jumps he got on balls up the middle turned groundball singles into outs with regularity. Playing a full season at the position also provided him the opportunity to show off what is perhaps his strongest defense asset, his glove to throw transfer. Ahmed’s lightning-fast transfer speed amazed fans and players alike. Sadly, the Arizona offense was not good that season. Nick Ahmed and <span>Chris Owings</span> were a big part of that deficiency. Despite his amazing glove skills, plenty of critics were calling for Ahmed to be benched and for the team to find a better option to play short.</p>
<p id="nx91vO">2016 saw the arrival of Jean Segura. Once again, Ahmed had to fight for his position as the team’s starter at short. Though he did manage to secure the position, injuries cut short his 2016. The arrival of <span>Ketel Marte</span> and more injury concerns also derailed Ahmed’s 2017. Despite his defensive prowess, it appeared to many that Ahmed’s improbable run was nearing an end. Injuries to his back and hip, surgery to correct issues, and the arrival of better-hitting talent all seemed to spell out the end of Ahmed’s time as a starter, making him either trade bait or a late-inning defensive replacement sort of bench player.</p>
<p id="3DjxjP">Nick Ahmed wasn’t done though. 2018 saw Ahmed once again secure the team’s starting nod for shortstop, moving <span>Ketel Marte</span> to second. Ahmed then proceeded to make a name for himself with the bat versus left-handed pitching. It was nothing spectacular, but it was hitting well above what the expected performance out of a shortstop was. Against right-handed pitching, he still struggled. But, this overall improvement began to quiet doubters. It also, along with a full, healthy season, allowed Ahmed to show off his defensive skills for the entire season, resulting Ahmed securing his first Gold Glove - a surprise to some from outside the desert. Though some still longed for a platoon partner for Ahmed, his overall body of work made it difficult to find the right time to bench him for a better bat. Ahmed entered the 2018-19 offseason looking to improve upon his offensive “breakout” season.</p>
<h2 id="oslRT7">2019 Review</h2>
<p id="q7coRV">For once, the only threat to Nick Ahmed opening the season as Arizona’s primary shortstop was the fact that Ahmed reportedly garnered a decent amount of trade interest in the 2018-19 offseason. As Arizona elected not to trade him, Ahmed showed up to training camp in the unusual (for him) position of having the starting nod all wrapped up. All he needed to focus on was preparing himself for the season. Ahmed’s dedication to his craft paid off in spades. For all the improvements he made in 2018, Ahmed was even better in 2019, including quietly leading the league in sacrifice flies with 12 to go with his 19 big flies, including this no-doubter for his first of the season.</p>
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<p id="S4z4ZO">Of course, the reason for Ahmed being on the field was his glove, not his bat. I briefly considered making this 2019 review article a video review, splicing together a three-minute review of Ahmed as an Ahmed-specific episode of Web Gems, but decided that might be a bit much. Ahmed wasted no time flashing the leather in 2019, robbing the evil <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> of a hit before the calendar had even turned to April.</p>
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<p id="ebaojG">Shift or not, he started the play “in position” and finished the play nearly ten feet to the right of second base in order to rob <span>Joc Pederson</span> there.</p>
<p id="dWxgL5">This season’s Snake Pit Defensive Plays of the Year could have simply been a long list of Nick Ahmed plays. Even splitting the categories into right and left infield wound up with Ahmed making appearances on plays for the right side.</p>
<p id="b5QqpJ">Making plays like this is how a player dominates the defensive highlights.</p>
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<p id="SLeXtl">Even when shifted to the right of second base, he still made plays back in shortstop territory.</p>
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<p id="uRPXmW">Going full Superman to make a play became something of a trademark move for Ahmed in 2019, resulting in plays like this one, a defensive play of the year candidate.</p>
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<p id="X4rP7t">Unlike some shortstops who have amazing range to one direction or the other, Ahmed seems to have it in all three directions; right, left, and even climbing the ladder (sorry, not sorry <span>Will Smith</span>)</p>
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<p id="lGjYKA">Ahmed enjoyed torturing the evil Dodgers in 2019, using ballet-like plays to rob their potent hitters of hits.</p>
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<p id="GPjuZC">Ahmed’s 2019 wasn’t defined by just being a wizard with the glove. He found yet another gear offensively, improving on his 2018 adjustments. That included this bit of timely hitting, another no-doubter that gave Nick four of his five steaks on the day in one swing.</p>
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<p id="6GXDTS">In the middle of August, Nick Ahmed’s offensive improvements were put on full display. From August 11-17, Ahmed batted .407, going 11-for-27, with five home runs and 13 RBI. He posted an OPS 1.540. This was enough to earn Nick Ahmed the award for NL Player of the Week.</p>
<p id="B1Ismn">Ahmed’s season ended less spectacularly. In September, Ahmed batted only .209, including going 1-for-16 in his final four games. Still, despite this slump, Ahmed finished the season in total with a batting line that was about average for the defense-first position. Ahmed closed out the season with an astounding 18 defensive runs saved above average. This time, to no one’s surprise, Ahmed secured his second Gold Glove Award. Additionally, Nick Ahmed ended <span>Andrelton Simmons</span>’ amazing six-year run as the winner of the Fielding Bible Award at shortstop.</p>
<h2 id="gOP9yF">2020 Preview</h2>
<p id="DQMSyI">Nick Ahmed is entering his final year of arbitration eligibility. There have been numerous reports that the team has internally been discussing an extension for Nick Ahmed. However, the substance of those conversations is unknown. We do know that Ahmed has been outspoken about players taking deals below their market value. This would seem to indicate that the team is going to have bring a strong offer if they are going to convince their human highlight reel to forego free agency for a bit longer. Regardless of how the extension talks go, Ahmed will be in a Diamondbacks uniform in 2020. At the estimated $7,000,000 he is expected to bring home, Ahmed is still a bargain, even if his bat cools off some. With the kind of glove that can make him a 2-win player without hitting a lick, the only concern facing the Diamondbacks facing the shortstop position is the lack of MLB-ready depth behind Ahmed. <span>Ketel Marte</span> and <span>Eduardo Escobar</span> (who played short for the <a href="https://www.twinkietown.com/">Twins</a> for a few years) are the best replacements should something happen to Ahmed. The rest of Arizona’s options are significant downgrades, both with the glove and the bat. </p>
<p id="n4Ixm1">While Ahmed is probably not the face of the franchise, he has become the veteran leader for this young, developing Diamondbacks team. His defensive excellence has given a major boost in confidence to pitchers allowing contact and his dedication to improve at the plate is an example for others around him of what can come of “putting in the work”. He is a fan favorite for many and will continue to be so in 2020, a season which hopefully sees him sign an extension to give the Diamondbacks another three years or so of amazing defensive play up the middle.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/12/20/21031297/2019-arizona-diamondbacks-reviews-3-nick-ahmedJames Attwood2019-12-19T14:00:00-05:002019-12-19T14:00:00-05:002019 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews: #4 Mike Hazen
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<figcaption>Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Can he take DBacks from Good to Great ?</p> <h4 id="Fz2eMY">Rating: 8.31</h4>
<h4 id="306Oqb">Age: 43</h4>
<h4 id="6A52Za">2019 Stats: 85-77, 2nd in NL West, 4th in NL Wild Card. </h4>
<h4 id="ETuTg8">88-74 Pythagorean W/L, +70 Run Differential. </h4>
<h4 id="478qvu">Contract Status: Originally signed to 4 year deal 2017-2020, extended in September for unknown length beyond the 2021 season. </h4>
<h3 id="OQ7rpQ"><strong>Introduction</strong></h3>
<p id="vZ0V00"><em><strong>Disclosure:</strong></em> <em>During the last off season I reached out to the organization to see if there was an opportunity for me within Baseball Operations. There was not. Nothing positive or negative written about Mike Hazen is an attempt to suck up in hopes of future employment or sour grapes over not getting an opportunity to rejoin the organization. I call em like I see em, always have, always will. Also, this is going to be long...grab a coffee or a beer......</em></p>
<p id="Rslwzg">If you need a refresher in Mike Hazen’s background, Jim’s <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2016/10/16/13299714/mike-hazen-arizona-diamondbacks-gm">“Who is Mike Hazen”</a> article at time of the signing is a good place to start. His hiring was received with almost unanimous approval throughout the industry, as can be seen in the<a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2016/10/17/13305684/arizona-diamondbacks-hire-mike-hazen-reactions"> “Reactions article” </a>Jim also posted. </p>
<p id="WXPI2f">His tenure started off with a bang. The team won 93 games in 2017, and an epic Wild Card Game before bowing out to the <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> in the NLDS. While most of the team was comprised of holdover players, he made a number of key strategic additions at catcher and the bullpen that contributed to the sudden turnaround. His biggest move however was the mid season acquisition in July of <span>J.D. Martinez</span>. He was sensational, posting over 1.000 OPS for the DBacks. </p>
<p id="dx6NHy">Hazen also made a high profile trade with the <a href="https://www.lookoutlanding.com/">Mariners</a> that did not appear to favor his side of the equation at the outset. While Taijuan Walker was a fairly solid rotation addition, and <span>Ketel Marte</span> showed some promise, <span>Mitch Haniger</span> and <span>Jean Segura</span> both made the AL All Star team in 2017. There were howls about the trade being a bad deal for Arizona, but those were muted somewhat by the success of the season. </p>
<p id="B0nIgh">One seemingly minor move at the time was leaving <span>Brad Keller</span> exposed to the rule 5 draft in December 2017. The 8th round draft pick reached AA by age 21, but was posting ERA’s in the mid 4’s. He was chosen by the <a href="https://www.redreporter.com/">Reds</a> and then traded to the <a href="https://www.royalsreview.com/">Royals</a>. Over 2018-19 he’s thrown 305 IP, 123 ERA+ and 6.2 WAR. Oops. </p>
<p id="T980sl">2018 saw a lot of ups and downs. Unable to resign <span>Martinez</span>, Hazen expended some mid tier pitching prospects and <span>Brandon Drury</span> for Steven Souza Jr to play right field, but he was hurt much of the season and played poorly when on the field. (He also got <span>Taylor Widener</span> back in that deal) </p>
<p id="sCRwgR">The team got off to a hot start, suffered a historic offensive collapse in May, recovered for a while but then collapsed again in September as the Dodgers charged. <span>Brad Boxberger</span>, who was signed to close for the team, was removed from the role mid season due to continued meltdowns. The Three Catcher system produced the worst offensive group of catchers in the league, (but their defense and pitch framing were superb). </p>
<p id="S0kxtd">Despite entering September in first place, the team won just 82 games, and missed the playoffs. They also faced the impending free agency of several key players, including <span>Patrick Corbin</span> and AJ Pollock. To his credit, Hazen avoided dealing away any higher end prospects, and steadily built the farm system. (Despite failing to sign #1 pick Matt McClain). </p>
<p id="ycfuc7">The biggest cloud that hung over the team was the decision to be made over face of the franchise <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span>, who had just one year left on his contract extension before turning free agent. What direction Hazen should take the team was a topic of intense debate here at AZ Snakepit, and resulted in an article series presenting plans and debating the various options. You can read the summary <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2018/10/8/17952670/snakepit-round-table-rebuild-retool-or-go-all-in">Round Table article with poll</a> , and within that are links to the “All In, Retool, & Rebuild” articles. </p>
<h3 id="j4wCmz"><strong>2019 Review</strong></h3>
<p id="52aY6b">One helpful feature on <a href="http://Baseball-reference.com">Baseball-reference.com</a> is their transaction section. If you go to the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> team page, and mouse over the word “other” at the bar across the middle top, you will see the link for <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ARI/2019-transactions.shtml">transactions page for the 2019 season</a>. Mike Hazen’s 2019 season started November 2nd, 2018. So that’s pretty much what we’re reviewing here. </p>
<p id="WVrOcD">I reached out to the writers here at AZsnakepit to get a sense of how much importance they attach to the various parts of the GM’s job. This exercise helped me get a sense how others viewed the role. Sean made a good point, by asking the question “are we evaluating from the vantage point of a fan, or the owner ?” Good point, however ultimately I view it from a combination of those two perspectives. Makakilo emphasized Culture and Ethics above all else, as from his vantage point that is the foundation for everything. As always, Mak is a worthy moral and spiritual guide for us. </p>
<p id="m0qr8f">Here were the categories and the average ranking once I had 9 responses (7 writers and 2 scouts I know responded ). Please let us know in the comments section where you agree and where you differ from this particular crowd sourcing. The scale is simply 0-100 , must total 100</p>
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<p id="646ZyE">Using a 1-4 Grade Point System, here are my grades:</p>
<p id="OR7OVf"><strong>DRAFT: </strong> The 2019 draft was an important one for the team. With a slew of picks in the top 100 and a large bonus pool to work with, it was critical that the team make good choices and avoid obvious mistakes. The industry consensus was that they did just that. Turning to our own <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/6/15/18680333/the-2019-mlb-draft-final-grade">James Attwood’s summary</a> as a guide, I am comfortable giving the organization under Hazen a <strong>4.0</strong> for how they handled the 2019 draft <em><strong>process</strong></em>. Actual results will take years to know. </p>
<p id="QkOlQj"><strong>DEVELOP:</strong> While a number of players and prospects developed really nicely in 2019, several key prospects did not. At the end of the day though, this is a process of keeping up with the <span>Jones</span>es....or specifically, the Dodgers. They continue to roll out high impact players from their system year after year, despite having lower draft picks. Any measurement of the DBacks player development system must go directly head to head with the Dodgers. </p>
<p id="u1giFE"><a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2020-zips-projections-los-angeles-dodgers/">Dan Szymborski wrote in the Dodgers ZIPS article</a></p>
<p id="kzDXzM"><em>“The Dodgers always seem to have a ready stash of prospects who just happen to fit the team’s needs at the right time. </em><a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/yasmani-grandal/11368/stats"><em><strong>Yasmani Grandal</strong></em></a><em> leaving and </em><a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/russell-martin/4616/stats"><em><strong>Russell Martin</strong></em></a><em><strong> </strong></em><em>showing aging? Well, here’s Will Smith and </em><a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/keibert-ruiz/sa872528/stats"><em><strong>Keibert Ruiz</strong></em></a><em>. Corey Seager only a couple years from free agency? Okay, let’s have Gavin Lux engage full beast mode in 2019. Pitching defections? Let’s just have </em><a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/dustin-may/19716/stats"><em><strong>Dustin May</strong></em></a><em> emerge as a top 10 prospect, and just three years from being signed from </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT1tZmGvFfY"><em><strong>out in Fraggle Rock</strong></em></a><em>.”</em></p>
<p id="bmMnV6"> I have to squint to give the team a<strong> 3.0 </strong>on this score. That may be generous</p>
<p id="pQ4JaZ"><strong>TRADES:</strong> Talk about burying the lead. This was the area where Hazen made the biggest impact on the 2019 Roster. He did so in dramatic fashion by Trading <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> to the <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">Cardinals</a> for <span>Carson Kelly</span>, <span>Luke Weaver</span>, and <span>Andy Young</span>. The negative emotional impact on the fan base was immeasurable. But the on field results provided a resounding affirmation of the trade, as <span>Kelly</span> and <span>Weaver</span> provided value immediately , and Andy Young looks ready to step in to a utility role in 2020. With many years of cost controlled performance ahead the trade should continue to bear fruit. This wasn’t the only trade made in 2019. Other moves that impacted the 2019 MLB roster in a big way were the <span>Tim Locastro</span> and <span>Zac Gallen</span> trades. The trade deadline deal of <span>Zack Greinke</span> bolstered the farm system and saved money, but will take time to payoff at the MLB level. </p>
<p id="uHPFzc">Below is a table showing the in and out. The overall WAR and WAR Value Earned is not too much different, but of course the cost savings were enormous, so the surplus value for the DBacks was quite high. Add in the years of control, and I give a grade of <strong>3.8</strong>. (Sorry, the <span>Blake Swihart</span> for <span>Marcus Wilson</span> deal prevented a perfect 4.0)</p>
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<p id="zc3xEE"><strong>FREE AGENT SIGNINGS: </strong> Working with the limited budget that he has, it’s not easy for Mike Hazen to make a large impact here. Still, the way the free agent dollars were used were strategic, and overall positive. There were some hit’s and misses. But Merrill <span>Kelly</span>, <span>Wilmer Flores</span>, and <span>Abraham Almonte</span>’s contributions more than offset the negatives of <span>Greg Holland</span>, <span>Adam Jones</span>, and <span>Caleb Joseph</span>. (If you are inclined to opine the intangible positives of <span>Jones</span>, you’ll need to offset that with the negative intangibles of signing a closer who couldn’t throw strikes and who wouldn’t take coaching from the coaching staff) Here is the table. Still, no big mistakes that hurt the team long term. Score <strong>3.25</strong></p>
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<p id="E1HAA0"><strong>IN SEASON ROSTER MANAGEMENT: </strong> I have a decidedly negative view in this area. The persistence of the three catcher system well into the season, the mishandling of <span>Jon Duplantier</span>, sticking with <span>Holland</span> too long, sticking with Zack Godley WAY too long, giving <span>Swihart</span> too many PA to rack up negative production, etc etc all added up to a lot of missed opportunity for the team. There is little second guessing going on here on my part, as I was vocal on each of these issues throughout the season, and I believe that many of the readers here felt the same way. Were it not for the astute callup of <span>Alex Young</span> and the patience with <span>Archie Bradley</span>, this score would be even lower. Score. <strong>2.0</strong></p>
<p id="sEO76W"><strong>BUDGET MANAGEMENT/ASSET ALLOCATION: </strong>It was pointed out to me there is some overlap here with the trades and free agent portion, and I agree with that. But I still believe this deserves extra attention and credit. Mike Hazen had the unenviable task of putting together teams at least capable of appearing to contend while working with a very restricted budget. After being granted a franchise high budget in 2018 to work with, the was cut WAY back in 2019. </p>
<p id="ZapDcH"><strong>Year End Expenditures</strong></p>
<p id="Nhz2Zv"><strong>2018- 154 Million</strong></p>
<p id="UiPVOk"><strong>2019- 123 Million</strong></p>
<p id="LxZTWC">So he saved his owner 30M over the previous year, gave a roster to Torey Lovullo that was capable of contending for the Wild Card through early September, and came out on the positive end financially of most his trades and FA signings. He unloaded the <span>Greinke</span> contract while bolstering the farm system. During the previous off season he extended Ketel Marte to a very team friendly contract, and Marte broke out to have a 7 WAR season while only making 2M, swinging the trade valuation from the previous season completely around. He also plugged Christian Walker (making league minimum) in at 1b after the Goldschmidt trade and Lamb injury, and that paid off in spades as well. Grade: <strong>4.0</strong></p>
<p id="AnGbxD"><strong>COACHING STAFF: </strong>Mike Hazen and Torey Lovullo have put together a strong coaching staff and the players respect and listen to their coaches. However letting Mike Butcher go signaled a breakdown at a critical coaching position, so . Grade <strong>3.5</strong></p>
<p id="CxuoVk"><strong>USE OF ANALYTICS AND TECHNOLOGY:</strong> The Diamondbacks are all in when it comes to utilizing all of the technology and player development tools available in the industry these days. They constantly rank high in successful replay challenges. (Video reviews have been excellent !) And they have proven their excellence in other analytics areas by continually being at or very near the top in positive runs saved due to shifts. At the same time they are not a slave to analytics. In fact being a Theo Epstein disciple , Mike Hazen is fully invested in traditional scouting as well. <a href="https://www.mlb.com/dbacks/team/front-office#baseball-operations">The Dbacks have one of the biggest scouting departments in MLB. </a> In may seem incongruous to discuss scouting in this section, but it is precisely the ability to balance the two disciplines of Analytics and Scouting that brings me to a grade of <strong>4.0</strong></p>
<p id="Yu78bX"><strong>CULTURE AND ETHICS: </strong>One scout I spoke to (not one of his) said that within the industry Hazen is viewed as an honest broker, with no backhandedness. He’s well respected and has a good reputation among agents, players, and other executives. He never seems to say the wrong thing in public, and always appears respectful. He runs a tight ship that simply does not leak. The days of players being bad mouthed before or after a trade seem long gone. The only reason this score is not even higher is because we just can’t know everything that goes on behind the scenes, and a small measure of reservation is always good in these matters. Score <strong>3.5</strong></p>
<p id="l2UcA9"><strong>SUMMARY and 2020 Outlook: </strong>Using the weights and grades above, I come out to a 3.50, or a very solid B+</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FYqF0ztBpidDjTaMEn9NjUOYQwU=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19531513/Screen_Shot_2019_12_15_at_12.21.59_PM.png">
</figure>
<p id="KoRIJk">That feels about right. Hazen is a very good GM, who had a very good year. He is not yet a <em><strong>GREAT</strong></em> GM. As much as I respect and admire his process, this business is about results. Hazen himself would tell you the team did not have a great year. In fact when they were eliminated from the Wild Card race they were just a couple games over .500. They finished with an 8-2 run to get their record to 85-77 , but that came AFTER they were effectively out of the race. Their stated goal is to win championships, and they did not come anywhere close to doing that. However making the playoffs with the payroll he has to work with in any of the next couple of years would put him on the cusp of greatness. This time around, lets hope that ownership stays the course and remains patient. </p>
<p id="8F57BN">Just after I finished this article draft, the Madison Bumgarner signing news broke. Clearly Hazen is consistently trying to position the team to contend, at least for the wild card, and has done so by adding Bumgarner on a heavily backloaded contract. He’s also added veterans Stephen Vogt and Junior Guerra. He still has outfield issues to address, but with the payroll flexibility he has opened up, one must feel confident he can do so in a competent manner. </p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/12/19/21021777/2019-arizona-diamondbacks-reviews-4-mike-hazen-gmJack Sommers2019-12-18T15:00:00-05:002019-12-18T15:00:00-05:002019 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews #5: Zack Greinke
<figure>
<img alt="MLB: World Series-Washington Nationals at Houston Astros" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/p2-1PyVTHxI3fvDEyncCKSr_npU=/0x0:3272x2181/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65933630/usa_today_13595593.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The King is dead. Long live the King.</p> <p id="uhCdAV"><strong>Rating: </strong>8.20</p>
<p id="XQpAWw"><strong>Age: </strong>35</p>
<p id="hhmlol"><strong>2019 Stats: </strong>18-5, 2.93 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 6.4 bWAR, 5.4 fWAR</p>
<p id="IZ77Ig"><strong>2019 Salary: </strong>34.5 Million Dollars</p>
<p id="ZBbMXH"><strong>2020 Status: </strong>Exiled to Houston</p>
<p id="lO8iHC"><strong>Awards: </strong>NL Silver Slugger, NL Gold Glove</p>
<h2 id="7nl8ik"><strong>Introduction</strong></h2>
<p id="o1cuDI"><span>Zack Greinke</span> might be the best pitcher to ever wear a <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> uniform. I realize this might be controversial statement, and I mean no disrespect to <span>Randy Johnson</span>, <span>Curt Schilling</span>, or even Brandon Webb. However, What <span>Greinke</span> was able to accomplish after he should no longer have been a top tier pitcher is astonishing to me. While he didn’t have the Cy Youngs of RJ, or the Bloody Sock moment of Schilling, or the brilliant but burned to quickly promise of Webb, watching him reinvent himself on the fly from his stellar self in KC and LA, into a soft tossing, but equally stellar, pitcher who still managed to make batters look foolish with a 68 MPH eephus is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing on this team. The fact that he managed to live up to the massive contract he signed, despite a near-constant chorus around the country that he would never be able to, speaks to that.</p>
<h2 id="s9tguv"><strong>2019 Review</strong></h2>
<p id="nqoyS6">Greinke was really good this season. No <em>really </em>good. By almost any statistic, it was his best season here. ERA? Only season under three. Not advanced enough for you? Best season for ERA+ by seven points. WHIP? Only season under 1. Fewest H/9, fewest BB/9. Sure, FIP didn’t love him quite as much, but I think that was part of what made him so good. He excelled at inducing bad contact that could be fielded. At those velocities and with those pitches, you <em>have</em> to do that to succeed.</p>
<p id="GVuZe2">That’s what made him so great. The cerebral, meticulous effort to be the best, regardless of his pure “stuff.” He is a student of the game, and as a baseball fan in addition to a Diamondbacks fan, I truly appreciate that. He made the games interesting by making them boring. I’m sure Manfred hates him.</p>
<p id="k9BzhA">He was so good in fact, the conversation became just how good he was. On July 4th of this year, our own Jack Sommers <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/7/4/20681877/is-zack-greinke-a-future-hall-of-famer-jaws-jay-jaffe">wrote an article</a> breaking down whether or not he has a realistic chance at the Hall of Fame. At the end, he turned the question over to the readers and an astounding 97% of the 148 voters said he was either close or already there. No prize if you guess what I voted. That case only got stronger, of course, with a phenomenal Game 7 in the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/world-series">World Series</a> with Houston.</p>
<p id="fJdAQI">Of course, just twenty six days later, everything changed. Mike Hazen was making calls about <span>Robbie Ray</span> and suddenly Houston offered a king’s ransom for Greinke that he couldn’t refuse. Greinke was gone, <span>Ray</span> was still there, Leake was a Diamondback five years too late, and we got a new ZG from the <a href="https://www.fishstripes.com/">Marlins</a>. The face of the team was drastically different.</p>
<p id="ePQcPv">The rest is history. The Diamondbacks missed the playoffs, but probably wouldn’t have made it with him anyway. Greinke made the playoffs with Houston, and came agonizingly close to winning it all. Personally, I believe that sealed his fate in Coopers town and seven or eight years from now, we’ll get to see what his acceptance speech is like. Hopefully they keep the plaque short and sweet, just like he’d like it. Might I suggest:</p>
<p id="h23CxD">He was <span>Zack Greinke</span>, and he was damn good at it.</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/12/18/21025408/2019-arizona-diamondbacks-reviews-5-zack-greinkeImstillhungry952019-12-17T15:00:00-05:002019-12-17T15:00:00-05:002019 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews : # 6, Torey Lovullo
<figure>
<img alt="Torey Lovullo is proud of Escobar who hit a homer. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LsF-dfuFXWedl3_WQ4bvdAhcz7A=/0x0:2563x1709/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65925103/1163085720.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Torey Lovullo is proud of Escobar who hit a homer. | Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“We are brothers.”</p> <p id="tEQgKn">Rating: 7.82</p>
<p id="cHZx9h">Age: 54</p>
<p id="OfMnOz">2019 stats: 85 wins-77 losses, “That’s a good year, all things considered….”</p>
<p id="CgHbBn">2019 salary: Neighborhood of $1 Million ($900,000 for 2018 season, Source: USA Today).</p>
<p id="6jNtW3">2020 status: contract extended through the 2021 season.</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="REXpli">
<h2 id="pHiEC6"><strong>Introduction: Who is Torey Lovullo? </strong></h2>
<p id="v9gKqe">He was asked, “Who is Torey Lovullo?” His reply had two parts:</p>
<ul>
<li id="1jyMgF">“Proud son of Sam and Grace Lovullo.”</li>
<li id="AEe5Ys">“A believer in morals and values [who] tries to preach that every single day.” </li>
</ul>
<p id="0atrrR"><em>Who-he-is</em> flows into <em>what-he-accomplishes as manager of the D-backs</em>. “Building relationships is a big part of managing today. There has to be some humor. You have to listen. Players need to know why decisions are made. It’s not complicated.” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="il9jv4">As Ken Rosenthal wrote, successful managers are “…<em>completely secure in who they are</em>...” That phrase aptly describes Torey Lovullo as he builds team culture.</p>
<p id="6DdGte"><em>He established a culture of, “We are brothers.” </em> “I took a big chance when I started to use the word love in sports. People would look at you sideways. I didn’t care. I really believed in my heart that if I loved my team, and loved my coaches and everyone around me, we would become a family…and rely on one another.” —Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="EO0rbP">Torey Lovullo’s coaching philosophy is similar to legendary basketball coach John Wooden. Reference to Wooden is apropos because Lovullo loves playing pick-up basketball. One way to look at Wooden’s coaching philosophy is a pyramid of 15 athlete-development-centered characteristics. </p>
<ul>
<li id="TRtKtk">The pyramid’s bottom tier is build quality relationships between coaches and athletes. </li>
<li id="GnCKqA">The next tier is hard work, be curious, find and invent ways around obstacles, and seek continuous improvement.</li>
</ul>
<p id="pcXWiQ"><em>Torey Lovullo builds relationships of caring and trust</em>. He asks his players about their life and family. What he learns goes beyond knowing how to put players in the best situations to succeed.</p>
<ul>
<li id="k17Z8I">“I think they start to realize, very quickly, that I care.” That builds trust with his players. </li>
<li id="fSFcfF">“I make eye contact [and]...I say hello to everybody and have basic conversations with everybody every day.” That builds his connections.</li>
<li id="dssj2x">“I am genuinely interested. I really enjoy listening to people, getting to learn about people, getting to know their signals, their heart, their mind. Because that’s who I am at my core.” That core demonstrates his authenticity.</li>
<li id="8TCEPe">Building trust and demonstrating authenticity increases effectiveness when Torey Lovullo adapts to the demands of challenging situations, which happen continuously in baseball. </li>
</ul>
<p id="gnR32g">“<em>I let them know my expectations</em>. There are no barriers, I am totally transparent. They know what I am thinking. They know what I want them to get to. Once they are there it becomes very special.” —Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="H1zNmx">“My job sometimes is to kick somebody in the rear and tell them to get moving in the right direction and<em> I’ve got to figure out how to do that because you can’t use the same strategy with every player.</em> And then there’s other times where I have to push them along and have a patient conversation.“ — Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="WHiIZe">“<em>We talk about winning the margins.</em> Taking care of the little things and adding them up into one or two big moments in a game.” When that happens, “I see the smile directly related to their success.” He pulls them aside and says, “I am so proud of you.” He is seen as, “A dad to 25 guys every day.” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="srRcH8">“<em>Perseverance</em> in professional sports is a huge concept. So when you can get through those moments to a shining light at the other end and you can tell a good story, I really enjoy those players.” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="GKRCG6"><em>His players persevere despite circumstances.</em> “As long as they’re giving an effort and have an I-care attitude, I’m going to dust them off, posture them, push them out there and believe in them.” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="CMgVIO">Players respect and own Torey Lovullo’s leadership<em>, </em>so<em> improvements are implemented.</em> “I rely on a veteran and leadership committee. I ask them where we are at and what do we need to do? … I bring them into my office. We talk over the situation. What is good and what is bad? And they tighten it up from there. “ — Torey Lovullo</p>
<blockquote><p id="i7tsbq">In the dugout, out of the dugout, in the clubhouse, out of the clubhouse, every player that plays for him believes in him and loves him.” — Derrick Hall </p></blockquote>
<h2 id="v0NjU5"><strong>2019 Season: It wasn’t enough.</strong></h2>
<p id="1q7Mcm">“It [85 wins] wasn’t enough [to make the playoffs].” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="ZN8PNK">“But I’m jealous. I’m pissed; I’m jealous and angry that we’re not going to be able to put on one of those hoodie pullovers that has the special season saying for each team. And I’m going to be watching the [playoffs] with a lot of envy but I know what we got to do to get there, ...” — Torey Lovullo, Sept 29 pregame interview</p>
<p id="pKJqng">“That’s a good year, all things considered - the changeover, the uncertainty, the unknown, creating a new culture, add-in culture. However, I don’t want to stand pat. I don’t want anyone to think that me, Mike Hazen, or the <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a>, will sit tight and be satisfied with 85 wins. We want to go somewhere special.” — Torey Lovullo, Oct 1 Burns and Gambo interview</p>
<h2 id="YWTZhb"><strong>2020 Season: Spring training sets a tone.</strong></h2>
<p id="VdFumD">“…We want our guys to be aligned with our expectations. We want to do special things and they know that.” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="bJwu52">“…Make sure nobody is compliant. They come in here ready to earn a spot.” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="ZaI92r">“…We want everybody to be ready. I want everybody to have an intense spring, because that’s where the focus is going, we are going toward spring training, [to] <em>set a tone for what we want to do</em> – tell a great story at the end of the year. We know what that ending means.” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<h2 id="kfdvgV"><strong>2020 Season: We won’t stop until we get there.</strong></h2>
<p id="JVzuup">“I don’t want us to lose focus ... It’s a huge, huge point of emphasis for me that we don’t worry about anything other than what takes place at 7 p.m. every single night.” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="BL3PD8">“Winning the game is the first priority. But giving guys opportunities and believing in them is a strategy that I wholeheartedly believe in.” — Torey Lovullo </p>
<p id="h5LgsF">“So when they respond to some of the things I’m asking for, when they go hard every single day, those are the things I focus on, those are the things that I’m going to continue to build on. I want our guys to know we have a lot of work to do. 500 is not where we want to be within our Division. I expect good things from our guys next year.” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<p id="3IZ21E">“…I look up there where there is one banner; I want to hang more than one. I want to hang 4 or 5. That’s our goal every single day. That’s what gets me out of bed. That’s what motivates me. And I want to be part of the culture that we have here, and we’re not going to stop until we get there.” — Torey Lovullo</p>
<h2 id="I0jwxP"><strong>An Artistic View of Torey Lovullo</strong></h2>
<p id="HySXYY">Five of Torey Lovullo’s traits (authenticity, D-backs manager, enjoying pickup basketball, establishing a culture of “We are all brothers,” and achieving daily progress toward something special) are represented by the following watercolor & multimedia art work created by Makakilo.</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="An Artistic View of Torey Lovullo" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ECbqOagB5t2IXA9NNzQ4p9wc9Tk=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19403410/IMG_1158.jpeg">
<cite>Makakilo</cite>
<figcaption>An Artistic View of Torey Lovullo</figcaption>
</figure>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/12/17/20957085/2019-arizona-diamondbacks-reviews-6-torey-lovulloMakakilo2019-12-16T20:00:00-05:002019-12-16T20:00:00-05:002019 Arizona Diamondbacks Reviews: #7, Carson Kelly
<figure>
<img alt="Arizona Diamondbacks v Colorado Rockies" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VIVLJb6m2qSLGP52uRQ9zc8ydQg=/0x0:5122x3415/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65919550/1168408911.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Moving on is easier with you.</p> <p id="uhCdAV"><strong>Rating: 7.79</strong></p>
<p id="XQpAWw"><strong>Age: 25</strong></p>
<p id="hhmlol"><strong>2019 Stats: .245/.348/.478, 365 PA, 1.9 bWAR/fWAR, 112 OPS+, 108 wRC+, 18 HR</strong></p>
<p id="IZ77Ig"><strong>2019 Salary: $560,000</strong></p>
<p id="ZBbMXH"><strong>2020 Salary: Pre-arbitration until 2021</strong></p>
<p id="mop66Q"></p>
<h1 id="DJ0A2r">Introduction</h1>
<blockquote>
<p id="7QY8b1">“Being traded for <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span>, is there added pressure for you? Do you feel like fans are going to be evaluating your play under a microscope?” -<em>Keegan Thompson, Fan Fest 2019</em></p>
<p id="MQAEEc">“Basically, when you get traded and come to an organization... we need to come here and try to be ourselves. We can’t try to replicate what Paul did here. Hopefully, over time you guys love us and grow with us because we’re younger players. We want to grow to be part of this organization” -<span><em>Carson Kelly</em></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p id="vgmG45">One year removed from that question and response, I’d say <span>Carson Kelly</span> did exactly what he set out to do upon arriving in Arizona as part of the trade return for <span>Paul Goldschmidt</span> to the <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">St. Louis Cardinals</a>. As I’m sure was the case for most of us <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/">Diamondbacks</a> fans, I didn’t really know how to feel or what to expect after the franchise altering trade. However, at Fan Fest 2019 <span>Luke Weaver</span> and <span>Carson Kelly</span> responded to my question by telling me to sit back, relax, and just enjoy the show but not in so many words. Boy did they not disappoint. No longer stuck behind the shadow of <span>Yadier Molina</span>, <span>Carson Kelly</span> faced a new challenge for playing time behind the dish in a three man timeshare between himself, <span>Alex Avila</span>, and <span>John Ryan Murphy</span>.</p>
<p id="B447kL"></p>
<h2 id="7Km4FU">2019 Review</h2>
<p id="rfdRwH">Carson got off to a slow start at the plate through April batting a lowly .196/.226/.333 in the midst of the positional timeshare struggle behind the dish, but he quelled seller’s remorse concerns with the best month of his season coming in May. He slashed .360/.467/.680 with five home runs, and that put an end to the catching Cerberus as <span>John Ryan Murphy</span> was designated for assignment on May 25th. The very first home run of his career came at the hitter friendly Coors Field on May 4th during a game in which <span>Luke Weaver</span>, another piece of the <span>Goldschmidt</span> trade, also started and won. </p>
<div id="LRsd7y"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/m/carson-kelly-homers-1-on-a-fly-ball-to-center-field"></iframe></div>
<p id="ywnccl"></p>
<p id="r36oVK">Despite cooling off considerably at the plate as the season drew on, <span>Kelly</span> finished near the best hitting catchers in the game for the year based on wRC+. Among catchers with at least 350 plate appearances during the 2019 season, Kelly’s 108 wRC+ was tied for eighth with perhaps the best catcher in the game currently, <span>J.T. Realmuto</span>. Carson did most of his damage against left handed pitchers hitting .356/.462/.667 with 6 home runs in 104 plate appearances.</p>
<p id="TXT9O5"></p>
<p id="iS8REW">Perhaps most enlightening is that his respectable play with the bat did not come at the expense of his defense as we see far too often with catchers. He’s no <span>Jeff Mathis</span> or <span>Alex Avila</span> on defense, yet, but he wasn’t completely inept either. His 32% caught stealing rate was above the league average 27%, and Baseball Prospectus has him saving 2.6 runs, 8th in the league, from errant pitches. His framing in 2019 was about average, but we’ve seen how that can fluctuate wildly for a player from one season to the next and he’s not <span>Welington Castillo</span> terrible. </p>
<p id="0CApnU"></p>
<p id="taLiIy">His best game of the season undeniably came on August 9th against the <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> in Los Angeles. Baseball Reference has his Win Probability Added for that game at .647, and it can be attributed to his play on both sides of the plate that evening. The game went eleven innings total and Carson caught each one of them and was directly responsible for all D’backs runs. Arizona had been losing 2-0 since the third inning, but Kelly took struggling Dodger Closer Kenley Jansen deep for a two run blast tying the game at two apiece in the bottom of the ninth. </p>
<p id="RSwB2M"></p>
<p id="0gCwGE">He’d single handily dismantle Los Angeles in the eleventh with the decisive run and a heads up defensive play. He hit his second home run of the evening off <span>Julio Urias</span> giving Arizona the lead. Needing to preserve the one run lead, <span>Archie Bradley</span> came on for the save with Kelly still behind the dish. <span>Bradley</span> walked <span>Joc Pederson</span> to begin the inning bringing the winning run to the plate in the form of former D’back <span>A.J. Pollock</span>. <span>Bradley</span> uncorked a 96 MPH fastball in on <span>Pollock</span>’s hands. The pitch hit the knob of the bat and Kelly, not missing a beat, caught the pop foul to record the first out of the inning. <span>Dave Roberts</span> challenged the call with <span>Pollock</span> saying the pitch had hit his hand, but the call was upheld. Pollock slothed his way back to the dugout to the annoyance of Archie who barked at him to hurry along, clearing the benches and delaying the game further. None of this would have taken place without Kelly’s heroics that evening.</p>
<p id="hxhJ7V"></p>
<div id="iZrsVJ"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/m/kelly-on-timely-homers-in-win"></iframe></div>
<p id="I0Ky0v"></p>
<h1 id="RpoQek">2020 Outlook</h1>
<p id="ZGKnP7"></p>
<p id="mDnlyk">Kelly’s strong results in his first full season essentially ensured that he will be the D’backs primary catcher for the foreseeable future. It may even hasten the development of Daulton Varsho, Arizona’s top ranked catching prospect, who the D’backs have experimented with moving to the outfield towards the end of the minor league season. He has the foot speed to play in the outfield, and as <span>Carson Kelly</span> continues to develop behind the plate there is less of a need to keep Varsho as Arizona is currently thin in the outfield. Instead, Kelly will be splitting his time at catcher with <span>Stephen Vogt</span> who signed a one year deal this offseason with a vesting option for 2021. Carson will surely almost always start against left handed opposing pitchers as he fared much better against them in 2019 than <span>Vogt</span> has in his career. </p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/12/16/21010414/2019-arizona-diamondbacks-reviews-7-carson-kelly-filling-the-shoes-of-a-giantKeegan Thompson2019-12-16T16:00:00-05:002019-12-16T16:00:00-05:002019 Arizona Diamondback Review #8: Christian (Thiccness) Walker
<figure>
<img alt="MLB: San Diego Padres at Arizona Diamondbacks" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zu-EdeFEcaGPOZB-sRvG4d8Ds7E=/0x0:4293x2862/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65917851/usa_today_13434533.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Thicc homers yo | Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li id="1y2H3c">Rating: 7.67</li>
<li id="IXgkda">Age: 28</li>
<li id="Y8gCVR">2019 stats: .259/.348/.476 2.8bWAR</li>
<li id="VkfhXV">2019 salary: league minimum, pre-arbitration</li>
<li id="C9pgMo">2020 status: Pre-Arb Wont hit free agency until 2025</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="Z5qg4l"><strong>Introduction </strong></h2>
<p id="W6doqm">The dawn of 2019 was our first season without the vaunted Goldy: He of the Eternal Home Run, He of the Forever Golden Glove, Bane of Timmy, among many other titles. Big shoes to fill....</p>
<p id="BCGdfH">Needless to say most of us on the SnakePit had no reason to think much of anything would come from either Lamb manning 1st, or his platoon partner in Walker. Expectations were low for the team, but especially for 1st base with Walker having only started 5 games in 2018 and Lamb being pretty much all over the place with his availability and production that year as well.</p>
<p id="FUA9Qu">I’d write a bit more about Walker here, but regrettably (or blessedly?) Walker won our very own ROY voting, so our fearless leader Jim covered much of the background already.</p>
<p id="whj8ny">Essentially though Thiccness Walker was stuck behind All Star 1st basemen from day one of his career until 2019, where he would finally have his chance to shine. </p>
<p id="VsQUXB">So how’d he do in 2019? </p>
<h2 id="yOeuhN"><strong>2019 Review: Down with the Thiccness</strong></h2>
<p id="rXzkUm">Pretty solid. Very solid. Almost as good as Goldy (in a Cards uni)</p>
<p id="Vivv2Y">Walker started off the year with a bang homering in his first two games off our good buddies the Doyers. As Jim noted in his article, that start was to be his only one in the opening series, and might have likely signaled the beginning of a long series of trade offs with Lamb.</p>
<p id="BvaDD7">Fate had other plans though...</p>
<p id="DWAecb">April 3rd saw Lamb go down with a strain of his left quad, and quite suddenly Walker found himself as THE 1st baseman. </p>
<p id="963Fym">Christian “Thiccness” Walker (as some of us on the Brute Squad called him) nearly spelled Goldy in month of April, driving in 15 RBI, crushing 7 bombs and putting up an impressive .994 OPS. By the end of that month many of us (jokingly) asked ourselves “Goldy who?”</p>
<p id="q9SGWg">Walker wasn’t perfect though, and May saw him struggle mightily at the plate. Lovullo chose to stick with Walker throughout his struggles (batted .208 that month) and throughout the rest of the season Walker put up respectable numbers at the plate, enough to land him as our ROY and close to the top of this player review series.</p>
<p id="2iT61b">Probably one of the most bizarre things about Christian Walker’s season was how eerily similar it was to Goldy’s season with the Cards. Jim compared the stats artfully <a href="https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/12/6/20998731/arizona-diamondbacks-rookie-of-the-year-christian-walker">here</a>, but if you’re too lazily to click the hyperlink and scroll down the number basically show much the same production for both players; one the Golden God of 1st Base and the other the 28yr old “rookie”. Strange stuff huh?</p>
<p id="mzRmvr">Also, and it’s worth noting, Walker was very much an asset with his glove as well. Outside of the losing Goldy’s vaunted bat I worried almost as much about losing his glove. Walker though did an admirable job, and I feel it might have been his glove more than his bat that insured Cron didn’t get more than a cup of coffee in 2019.</p>
<h2 id="5moF06"><strong>2020 Commentary: More Thiccness Please?</strong></h2>
<p id="j7B75o">So where does that absolutely solid 2019 campaign leave Walker in 2020?</p>
<p id="Vg682J">I’ve spoken about Walker’s 2020 status with my fellow Brutes quite extensively, and he represents a bit of an odd duck situation for this Hazen lead squad.</p>
<p id="NMqmXd">On the one hand the D-backs have him under control for quite a long time; all the way through 2025. On the other hand though he’s a 28yr old rookie, meaning his developmental ceiling might already have been reached and the cruel fate of age regression looms.</p>
<p id="ZZxh14">So though while it’s awesome to have him under control through his 33rd bday, what does that mean for Seth Beer(23) or Kevin Cron (26)? Either might ultimately be the better choices for the long run and both could have higher ceilings that Walker.</p>
<p id="InEfS9">I feel that Hazen, who’s been tirelessly upgrading the farm system and acquiring young starters, might opt to sell high on Walker either this off season or next. We have the infield talent either ready or close to ready to fill his spot and have HUGE need for outfielders.</p>
<p id="2JzJTc">Or....................</p>
<p id="hUyg78">Or Hazen just sticks with Walker through 2020 and beyond. He’s got power, he gets on base and he’s got a competent glove. I’ll be happy to have another season o 25+ thicc dongs and great plays at 1st. Why the heck not?</p>
https://www.azsnakepit.com/2019/12/16/20995460/2019-arizona-diamondback-review-8-christian-thiccness-walkerTurambar