The 5: Diamondbacks’ hottest hitters entering All-Star break

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ lineup has been key to their hot July, as the club entered the All-Star break as baseball’s top-scoring offense this month.

The D-backs have scored at least five runs in 11 of the last 14 games and put together 25 runs over their three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend.

“Building an inning is one thing, and getting something behind that with a little bit of slug and more productive at-bats with runners in scoring position is what stands out to me,” manager Torey Lovullo said after a 12-1 win on Saturday. “We’re building innings, and we’re capitalizing on it. Early in the season, we were leaving a lot of runners on base.”

Ketel Marte, Christian Walker and Joc Pederson have continued to drive in runs, but Arizona has benefitted from the emergence of slow starters Eugenio Suarez and Gabriel Moreno over the past few weeks.

With the D-backs in position to compete for a postseason spot in the second half, here are five of their hottest hitters into the All-Star break:

The 5 Diamondbacks’ hottest bats

Eugenio Suarez

Suarez went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts on June 23, dropping his batting average to a season-low .192.

Since then, Suarez has a 1.031 OPS in 70 plate appearances, which ranks eighth in the National League over that span.

The veteran recorded two hits and two RBIs in each of his last two games going into the break, hitting a home run in Saturday’s blowout win and a game-tying two-run single on Sunday.

GENOOOOOOOO! 💣 pic.twitter.com/JKUtuBJPHW

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 11, 2024

Ketel Marte

Marte has been such a stable force for the offense all season, leading to his second career All-Star Game selection.

In Marte’s last game before heading to Texas, he started 3-for-3 with a grand slam that sparked a seven-run comeback.

Marte struck out in the eighth inning, which ended a streak of 36 straight plate appearances without a strikeout.

The switch-hitter earned four multi-hit starts in a row entering the break with two home runs and six RBIs.

Ketel Marte slams the @Dbacks within striking distance 🐍

(MLB x @DairyQueen) pic.twitter.com/neQiuxbc58

— MLB (@MLB) July 14, 2024

Gabriel Moreno

Moreno was scorching hot after coming off the 10-day injured list on July 2, recording back-to-back three-hit games in wins at Dodger Stadium.

From July 2-11, Moreno produced a 1.053 OPS with three multi-hit games.

Moreno had a .632 OPS going into June, and he increased that figure to .714 before a pair of quiet games going into the break.

Christian Walker

Walker has cooled off since Arizona’s series at Dodger Stadium, but he was so good in those three games that he still ranks eighth in the NL with a 1.054 OPS in July. Walker blasted five home runs in three games, driving in nine runs.

He set a career-high with five straight straight multi-hit games from June 29 to July 4, and he entered the break building a three-game hitting streak.

oops, HE DID IT AGAIN

Christian Walker with ANOTHER homer at Dodger Stadium! pic.twitter.com/rZwiVMcPGL

— MLB (@MLB) July 5, 2024

Jose Herrera

Tiny sample size aside, Herrera picked up three hits on Saturday and drove in a run for a third straight start. Not known for his offense, Herrera is 5-for-his-last-9.

Honorable mention: Corbin Carroll

Carroll seemed to have turned his early-season misfortunes with a hot stretch from the end of May through mid-June. But Carroll from June 19 to July 12 hit .182 with only seven extra-base hits.

The 23-year-old, though, broke out a two-homer, six-RBI game on Saturday, setting a franchise record for most RBIs in a single game by the leadoff hitter.

“It hasn’t been an easy season for Corbin, but the thing that has stood out for me is the way he goes about his business, the way he takes care of his day-to-day operations,” Lovullo said after Saturday’s performance. “These results are, in my opinion, a product of that hard work. I think it was imminent. … Hopefully that’ll catapult him into the next level.”

Carroll has reached base in 10 of his last 11 games, but Saturday was a rare sight this season that the club can use a lot more of.

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