MLB.com writer makes the case for D-backs to be World Series contender
Jul 6, 2020, 6:28 AM
The Arizona Diamondbacks had more success than most people anticipated last season, but even so, they were never considered a serious World Series threat.
This year, with a pair of key additions that could spark runs at important moments during a 60-game season, one MLB.com writer made the case for the D-backs to be in the chase for the championship.
Will Leitch wrote that the crafty front office, the Madison Bumgarner signing and the trade for Starling Marte make Arizona one of five teams that have entered title contention with the shortened season.
He referenced the team trading first baseman Paul Goldschmidt the offseason before yet managing a very respectable 85-77 record.
The D-backs were one of baseball’s quietest surprises in 2019; they were only four games out of the Wild Card, and they had a better record than the Cubs. That they did this after trading franchise icon Paul Goldschmidt just showed how sharp and nimble this front office has been …
If there were ever a time you needed a sharp and nimble front office, it’s in a 60-game season.
That front office acquired two former All-Star veterans this offseason. Though Marte doesn’t have the accolades of Bumgarner, Leitch wrote that this trade was the “key move.”
He’s a perfect fit for this offense, and he’s also famously streaky: He started slowly last year, but may have been one of the best 10 players in baseball in July and August.
Last year wasn’t so much as streaky as it was a poor start and an incredible finish.
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In Marte’s first 35 games last season, he hit .244 with four home runs, 17 RBIs and seven stolen bases.
Over his final 35, he .331 with five home runs, 21 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.
Overall, in his final 60 games of the year, Marte hit .322 with 11 home runs, 42 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.
If Arizona can get that version of Marte in the lineup, they’ll have another formidable piece around the top of the lineup.
Add him to a team that always seems to find a way to overperform, and, oh yeah, Madison Bumgarner coming into town too, and the D-backs look like that team you won’t notice is hanging around the Wild Card race all year until they’ve already clinched a spot.
To be fair — painting the D-backs as a Wild Card team the way Leitch does doesn’t exactly scream World Series contender.
But the MLB is zero years removed from a different Wild Card team going all the way.
In a year of crazy, who knows?
