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 postseason in 2007 and again in 2011. They would later return to the World Series as a suprise entrant in 2023, but would not come away with the victory, falling to the Texas Rangers.
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 2025 Season.
Patrick Corbin played the first six seasons of his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The southpaw has had an up-and-down career in the desert, the ups being a pair of 14 Win seasons, the first of which saw him make the All-Star Game (2013). The lows are Tommy John Surgery, taking him out of the entire 2014 Season and the 2016 campaign, when 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 a Starter, and he was third overall in the NL in…
While the best years were well behind him by the time Matt Williams arrived in Arizona, he proved to be very popular among Diamondbacks fans as one of the team’s original members and instantly brought gravitas before the team ever played a game. This is not to say that Williams still did not have some great moments left in him. In 1999, Williams would blast 35 Home Runs, 142 Runs Batted In (a career high) with a .303 Batting Average, which was enough for him to finish third in National League MVP voting. Williams would later help Arizona win the…
Nick Ahmed never played with the team that drafted him, the Atlanta Braves, as he was dealt as a prospect to the Arizona Diamondbacks, which to date is the only pro team he has ever played for. Ahmed first made the D-Backs in 2014, appearing in 24 Games, and he would win the starting Shortstop role the following year, although injuries prevented him from showing off what he could do in a full season from 2015-17. This changed in 2018, when he was healthy, and his defensive skills were on full display: he won his first Gold Glove and led…
Before the 2006 Season, Orlando Hudson was traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the D-Backs were not disappointed with the defensive presence he would bring to their infield. Already a Gold Glove winner in Toronto, Hudson would win two more Gold Gloves (2006 & 2007) with Arizona. Hudson would also hit 150 Hits in back-to-back years, both of which saw him bat over .280, and he was a nice spark to their 2007 NL West Title. The O-Dog would also go to the All-Star Game in 2007 and had 442 Hits for Arizona. …
From Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Geraldo Perdomo made his MLB debut in Arizona in 2021 and was in the Majors to stay a year later. With an ability to play at Second, Third, and Short, Perdomo was an All-Star in 2023, helped the Diamondbacks make the World Series, and, like he was in 2022, was the league leader in Sacrifice Hits. Perdomo proved his worth to the organization entering the 2025 season, but he had an unexpected offensive explosion. He smacked 20 Home Runs with 100 RBIs, while also swiping 27 bases, while batting .290 with an OPS…
A First Round pick in 2004, Infielder Stephen Drew played his first six-and-a-half seasons with the Diamondbacks, with his peak coming from 2008 to 2010. In those campaigns, Drew managed at least 10 Triples (he had 52 overall with Arizona). He was not a power hitter, but did have a 21-Home Run year in 2008, with a surprising .502 Slugging Percentage. Traded to Oakland in the 2012 season, “Dirt” had 776 Hits with a .266 Batting Average for the D-Backs. Drew later won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2013.
While Gerardo Parra was never known for his power numbers (his season-high is 14), he made history when 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. In both of those Gold Glove years, Parra showcased his cannon of…
In terms of baseball history, Jay Bell is probably better known for his time with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he was an All-Star in 1993, but it was in Arizona (where he was an All-Star in 1999) that he would win the World Series. Bell was one of the first players signed by the expansion team, and though he wasn’t the same defensive presence he had been in previous years, he still had decent offensive skills. Bell’s power numbers skyrocketed in Arizona; in his All-Star year, he belted 38 Home Runs, a far higher number than the 21 he had…
Beginning his career in Detroit, Robbie Ray was traded to Arizona, and while it was clear he had the goods to strike out Major League batters, he was still allowing baserunners. The talent was there, but he just needed to put it together, and in 2017 (his third year in Arizona), that is what Ray accomplished. Ray was an All-Star for the first time, had 218 Strikeouts (which matched the year before), and was the NL leader in SO/9 with an ERA of 2.89. He was seventh in Cy Young voting, but in the years that followed, he could not…
Miguel Batista played for ten teams over his eighteen seasons in the Majors, but it was clear that he was at his most productive as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was also the place where he had his most opportunities as a Starting Pitcher. Batista started 109 of his 156 Games in Arizona as a starter and was often used in long relief. Basically, the native of the Dominican Republic was used; however, the Diamondbacks could use him, which turned out to be quite a lot! The hurler would assist Arizona in winning the 2001 World Series, and…
Ian Kennedy had an interesting up-and-down career in Major League Baseball, but by far the best season he ever had was in 2011. That year, Kennedy went 21 and 4 with a 2.88 Earned Run Average while finishing fourth in Cy Young voting, and driving the Diamondbacks to a division title. He would secure 15 Wins the next year, but was traded to San Diego during the following season. Kennedy returned in 2022, though had an awful year with a negative bWAR and an ERA over five. He left again, this time for Texas.His record with Arizona was 48-34 with…
Gabriel Moreno began his MLB career with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022. That off-season, he was traded to the Diamondbacks, where the young Venezuelan found a home to show off his defensive abilities. Moreno’s first season with the D-Basks (2023) saw the Catcher lead the National League in Defensive bWAR (3.1), Assists by a Catcher (55), Total Zone Runs by a Catcher (14), and Caught Stealing Percentage (38.6). Moreno, who batted a respectable .284 in 380 Plate Appearances, won a Gold Glove and helped Arizona win the NL Pennant. Since then, Moreno has remained the top defensive Catchers in…
In 2001, Byung hyun Kim made history as the first Korean born player to win a World Series and though his performance in the Fall Classic was poor (0-1 with a 13.50 ERA), he was not a bystander in getting the team there. Kim took over as the Diamondbacks closer that year and in 2002 he had his best regular season with 36 Saves (eight overall in the NL), a 2.04 ERA and his first and only trip to the All Star Game. Kim would record 70 Saves for Arizona and will always be remembered in the desert for that…
Aaron Hill had an up-and-down career with the Toronto Blue Jays, and when he was traded to the Diamondbacks during the 2011 Season, it was a similar story for the Second Baseman. In his first full year in Arizona, Hill had a great season, winning a Silver Slugger with 26 Home Run/.882 OPS year, where he also batted .302. It was also a historic year for Hill, who hit two cycles in a season, becoming the first player since Babe Herman in 1931. Hill broke his hand the following year and was never the same hitter, but he continued to…
In the first four seasons of Jose Valverde’s Major League career, he seemingly was fighting for the closers role with the Diamondbacks. When he would win it, injuries would take it away or a slump might have cost him the role. In that time frame the Dominican reliever who would become known as “Papa Grande” would accumulate 56 Saves. That wasn’t bad, but it was in 2007 where he was the undisputed closer of the team where he did more than enough to land him on this list.
Jake Lamb played his first six-and-a-half seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he played mostly at Third Base. Lamb became a starter in 2016, and in 2017, he was an All-Star, hammering 30 Home Runs with 105 Runs Batted In, both of which were career-highs. His high-water mark was his 2017 Wild Card performance (4 for 5, three runs), but afterward, he was beset with multiple injuries and was never the same player again. He was released during the 2020 Season, but continued to play in the Majors for another four years. With the D-Backs, he had 84 Home…
The 2016 Horizon League MVP, Daulton Varsho, parlayed his success at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to a Second Round Pick in the Amateur Draft. Varsho first made the Majors in the COVID-19 season of 2020, and after a respectable 2021 (97 G, 70 Hits), the Outfielder/Catcher blossomed in 2022, where he belted 27 Home Runs with a .745 OPS, finishing fourth in Power-Speed # (20.1). Defensively, he was very good, coming in at ninth in Defensive bWAR (2.0) and was fifth among National League Outfielders in Total Zone Runs (11). Varsho’s stay in the desert did not reach four years, as…
In 2016, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. defected from Cuba along with his brother, and he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays months later. Gurriel Jr. worked his way up the system and became a starter for the Blue Jays in 2021, but he was traded to Arizona in the 2023 offseason, and since that time, he has elevated his game to become a vital part of the Diamondbacks. In Gurriel’s first year in the desert (2023), he made his first All-Star team, and had 144 Hits with 24 Home Runs, both career-highs. Arizona won the National League pennant with his help,…
Brad Ziegler never started a game for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Actually, he never started a game anywhere in the Majors. The bullpen has been a place that has served Ziegler well, and during his time with the D-Backs, he excelled in long relief, short relief, or closing. Ziegler would lead the National League in Games Pitched in 2013, and as the team’s closer in 2015, he had 30 Saves. The submarine pitcher would secure 62 Saves for Arizona. Ziegler was brought back for a second run midway through the 2018 season, and he would retire after the season ended. Overall…