And then there were five, a veritable “Who’s he?” of this year’s Diamondbacks – both on and off the field. Here’s a little about each of them, and a poll [browser and ad-blocker depending, perhaps!] Results
will be tallied at some point on Friday, with the result announced on Saturday for those too lazy to click the ‘View Results’ link in the poll. 🙂 There were six nominees which turned Sedona Red, and since only one rec separated the third through sixth place, I’ve included all of them on the ballot. They appear below, in alphabetical order.
Jalen Beeks
Nominated by Paulnh. “For the most part was the only consistency we had in the pen the entire year. Was Beeks great? No. Was he solid? Absolutely. 3.77 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 0.618 OPS against and 1.08 WHIP are all average or better. Only 24% of his inherited runners scored, which is lower than league average of 34%. He was second on the team in Win Probability Added amongst relievers (behind recent ROY winner Andrew Saalfrank). Righty/Lefty, didn’t matter. He was just downright solid especially considering we signed him for $1.25m about a day before the season started after the Astros released him. He never was THE GUY in the bullpen, but to me, it felt like all season he was a solid option in a year where the bullpen was a disaster.”
Allen Campbell
Nominated by Diamondhacks. “I’ll add our video coordinator, Allen Campbell. The Diamondbacks overturned more plays (27) in review than any team in baseball. They also had the highest success rate – 73%.” This one certainly counts as “unsung”, in the sense I doubt anyone here could pick Campbell out of a line-up. He’s not even in the dugout, spending the games in the back watching for umpire errors. As ‘hacks noted, he had the best record in baseball, and the percentage indicates it wasn’t just scattergun challenges either. He’s also one of our longest-serving employees, having joined the team in 2000, and becoming video coordinator in 2011. Here’s a good article on his replay activities.
Nabil Crismatt
Nominated by Trappkory. He linked to Alex’s article on Crismatt, and I will also throw in my own piece, having done Nabil’s player review earlier in the month. There, I said – in a bit of a backhanded compliment – “he did every bit of what was expected, and more… This was dumpster diving at its finest.” However, you can’t deny he gave the team better than replacement level starts, and played a significant part in helping the Diamondbacks to sustain an unexpected post-deadline challenge. Nobody would have blamed him for doing the bare minimum, but Crismatt went above and beyond the call. He certainly earned respect, and we wish him well as he now moves on to the Texas Rangers organization.
Torey Lovullo
Nominated by Imstillhungry95. “Team was stripped down to parts around him, pulled it back up from 10 games back to one game back, gets blamed for everything that goes wrong, gets zero credit for what goes right.” The last is particularly spot-on, I’d say. Any time the D-backs lose a game, in a way which can possibly be blamed on Lovullo, the nattering naboobs [sic] of negativity on X demand his dismissal forthwith. But when he pushes the right buttons? Crickets from those people, who seem to think major-league baseball is like MLB The Show, and all you need to do is push the correct buttons at the right time. In a year where just about everything that could go wrong did, Arizona contended to the final week.
James McCann
Nominated by Sighborg, “for his stable veteran influence and consistent defense.” In just 42 games for Arizona, McCann was worth 1.0 bWAR – that’s more than he put up over the previous four seasons combined. He posted a 109 OPS+, his best figure since 2020, and also managed the D-backs pitching staff to a 4.02 ERA, lower than either Jose Herrera (4.33) or Gabriel Moreno (4.80). Considering his job was to be the backup catcher, and he was a mid-season acquisition after he couldn’t crack the Braves roster, there was almost no grounds for complaint. Little wonder bringing McCann back was one of the first moves made by Mike Hazen this off-season, and should bring a productive presence to both sides of the plate.
Shelby Miller
Nominated by Michael McDermott. “Went from minor league signing to a solid closer in a crisis situation. Also who doesn’t love a redemption story?” If there were a Comeback Player of the Year in these awards, Miller would be a shoo-in. His first stint here was a disaster, and left him a despised names among fans, up there with Ortiz, Tomas and Bumgarner. The news he was a non-roster invitee understandably triggered disdain. But Miller prevailed, proving that he deserved a spot on the roster. He then kept his head elbow ligaments, when all about him were losing theirs, and ended up becoming the closer, and leading the team in saves. His final contribution was saving the team money, being dealt to Milwaukee with the dead arm of Jordan Montgomery.
The poll should be embedded below, but if you can’t see it, go here instead: https://poll.fm/16452874 When you’ve voted, feel free to explain your decision in the comments!
