Top 50 Arizona Diamondbacks
The city of Phoenix was awarded an expansion team in 1995 and the thriving desert city would see the Arizona Diamondbacks take the field in 1998. The Diamondbacks would immediately become competitive and in 1999 they would make the playoffs by winning their division. In 2001 they again made the playoffs and on the strength of Starting Pitchers Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling they would win the 2001 World Series, which made them the youngest franchise to win the title.
The Diamondbacks would return to the playoffs the following season but would regress in the following years until they returned to the post season in 2007 and again in 2011. In recent years on the strength of superstar Paul Goldschmidt they have returned to prominence and were last in the playoffs in 2017.
As this is a new team (relatively speaking) this list will be very fluid in the years to come and with Phoenix being a vibrant sports town we can see Arizona doing well in the years to come.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics and post-season accolades.
This list is updated up until the end of the 2018 Season.
Going into this process we knew that Randy Johnson was likely going to be ranked number one. What we didn’t realize is just how wide that chasm was going to be between him and everyone else!
As of this writing, Paul Goldschmidt is still with the Arizona Diamondbacks and is without a doubt their top star. He is also the best position player the team has ever had.
In his second season in the Majors, Brandon Webb led the National League in Losses and Walks allowed. That was 2004. In 2006, Webb transformed himself into the best hurler in the National League.
Curt Schilling did not spend a long time in Arizona (three and a half years) but nobody can dispute the impact that he had as a Diamondback.
Luis Gonzalez was a good baseball player before he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks but it was in the desert where he became an All Star and the team’s premier offensive threat.
With a wide variety of pitches, Dan Haren used equal parts skill and craftiness to carve out an effective thirteen year career in Major League Baseball, the best of which was spent with the Diamondbacks.
As of this writing, A.J. Pollock is in his seventh season with the Diamondbacks and while there have been issues staying healthy there has been evidence that in a full season that the Centerfielder could be very good.
The signing of Steve Finley via free agency proved to be a fruitful one for the Arizona Diamondbacks as the Outfielder would put forth some of his best offensive seasons playing in Arizona.
Justin Upton was the number one draft pick in 2005 and to nobody’s surprise he was able to crack the Diamondbacks roster as a teenager. Upton would quickly take over as team’s starting Leftfielder and in 2009 he was named a National League All Star, a feat he would repeat for Arizona in 2011. That was his best season for the Diamondbacks where he smacked 31 Home Runs with a .529 Slugging Percentage while finishing fourth in MVP voting. Upton would also have two 20-20 seasons for Arizona.
As of this writing, Zack Greinke has completed three seasons as an Arizona Diamondback but in that time frame in Arizona he has showcased some of the skills that helped him win a Cy Young Award as a Kansas City Royal.
While Chris Young was never known for having a great Batting Average, he would bring some good power numbers to the Diamondbacks lineup. In his rookie season, Young went yard 32 times and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year balloting. He would have three other seasons where he had 20 or more Home Runs and he would also have three 20 Stolen Base seasons for the D-Backs.
As of this writing Patrick Corbin has completed six seasons with the Diamondbacks, the only Major League team he has ever played for. The southpaw has had an up and down career, the ups being a pair of 14 Win seasons, the first seeing him go to the All Star Game (2013). The lows being Tommy John Surgery taking him out of the entire 2014 Season, the other being the 2016 campaign where he lost his role as a Starter. Lows are lows and highs are highs and since 2016, Corbin returned to the All Star Game in 2018 as…
Miguel Montero spent nine years with Arizona Diamondbacks gradually working himself to a full time starting role with the team. While he never had a season where he collected more than 140 Hits, he did have back-to-back 139 Hit seasons where he batted over .280 with 15 Home Runs (2011 & 2012). Montero would also provide solid defense, most notably where in 2011 he led the National League in Caught Stealing Percentage throwing out 40% of all who dared to steal against him.
Stephen Drew would accumulate 776 Hits over his six and half seasons in Arizona though he might be best known for the three bagger. Drew finished second in Triples in the NL three seasons in a row (2008-10) and was third in 2011. His best season was in 2008 where he had 21 Home Runs with a .502 Slugging Percentage, both career highs.
Craig Counsell played four seasons for the Diamondbacks (2000-03) and while he was never really that close to being an All Star the Shortstop did show decent Batting Average on occasion (he batted .275 and .282 in the two seasons where he had over 100 Hits for Arizona) and he had good defensive prowess. Essentially, Counsell was best served as a utility infielder throughout his career but D-Back fans will always remember his performance in the 2001 NLCS where he was named the MVP of the series. He would later help Arizona win their first World Series.
While Gerardo Parra was never known for his power numbers (his season high is 14) he made history where he became the 100th player in Major League Baseball history to hit a Home Run in his first ever at-bat. Parra may not have had many more of those for Arizona, but he did have three 130 Hit seasons and an impressive defensive resume. Parra would win a Gold Glove playing both Leftfield (2011) and Rightfield (2013), the latter of which would see him win the Wilson Overall Defensive Player Award.
While the best years were well behind him by the time Matt Williams arrived in Arizona, Matt Williams proved to be very popular among the Diamondbacks fans as one of the original members of the team.
At present, David Peralta has played five seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks where the Outfielder has displayed a balanced offensive game. Peralta has had three 15 Home Run seasons (which includes a 30 Home Run season in 2018) and in 2015 he would lead the National League in Triples while also batting .312. With a career Batting Average of .293 and an improved power game his ranking is clearly on the rise on this list.
Orlando Hudson would be traded to Arizona from the Toronto Blue Jays and the D-Backs were not disappointed with the defensive presence that he would bring to their infield.