Let’s get this out of the way: Nobody expected the Arizona Diamondbacks to reach the World Series. Not us, not you, not even your buddy in Phoenix. When we wrote “Nine concerns the Dodgers should have about facing the Diamondbacks in the NLDS,” we didn’t think those concerns would produce much concern.
The Dodgers, a 100-win team, were huge favorites. The Diamondbacks, an 84-win club, were riding high after sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in a best-of-three wild-card series. Advancing that far was supposed to be the highlight of their season. Oddsmakers and computers projected the Dodgers to end the ride. Then the Diamondbacks dominated them in a three-game sweep, not even letting the Dodgers take a lead in the series.
Three weeks later, the Diamondbacks are cruising into the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area with a full tank of gas after another upset. Down 2-0 and 3-2 in the National League Championship Series, the Diamondbacks slithered from behind to shock the Philadelphia Phillies with two road wins to advance to their first World Series since 2001.
The Diamondbacks are the first club with fewer than 85 wins to reach the World Series since the 83-win St. Louis Cardinals won the title in 2006. Two years after losing 110 games, Arizona is playing for the championship. The feat is even more unlikely when you zoom in on their season.
The Diamondbacks, once 50-34 with a three-game lead in the NL West on July 1, went 7-25 through Aug. 11. The free fall left them 12½ games behind the Dodgers and outside the playoff picture. They finished 27-19 over the final six weeks to claim the third and final NL wild card. Their 84 wins tied the Miami Marlins for fewest among the 12 playoff teams.
All that doesn’t matter now. What matters is the Diamondbacks, 9-3 in the postseason, are four wins away from one of the most unlikely championship runs in major North American sports history.
Here are nine things to know about the Diamondbacks heading into Game 1 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers on Friday at 5:03 p.m. PDT:
The Diamondbacks were one of the teams to capitalize on baseball’s rule changes encouraging teams to run more.
They ranked second in the majors with 166 stolen bases in 192 attempts and an 86% success rate during the regular season. They led the majors with 44 triples. Leadoff man Corbin Carroll ranked third in the league with 54 stolen bases in 59 attempts. Four other players compiled at least 10 stolen bases.
Arizona beat the Phillies by weaponizing its speed and aggression. After stealing just one base in the first five games, the Diamondbacks stole eight in the final two games. In the middle of it all was their star rookie right fielder …
The Diamondbacks don’t beat the Phillies without Carroll emerging from his mini slump in Game 7. After hitting .412 through the first two series, Carroll batted .130 through the first six games against Philadelphia. He then sparked his club in Game 7, going three for four with two runs, two stolen bases and a pivotal sacrifice fly to give the Diamondbacks an insurance run in the seventh inning.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Carroll isn’t just the Diamondbacks’ spark plug; he’s their best player. He’s the favorite for NL rookie of the year after compiling 25 home runs, 30 doubles, 116 runs scored and an .868 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. He led the NL in triples with 10. He became the first rookie to slug 25 homers and steal 50 bases. And he’s just 23. But Carroll hasn’t been doing it alone atop the Diamondbacks’ lineup …
Ketel Marte has played in 16 postseason games in his career. He has a hit in all of them. The streak is the longest to begin a postseason career.
The second baseman, with Carroll struggling for much of the series, sparked the Diamondbacks’ offense against the Phillies. He finished the series 12 for 31 with four doubles, a triple, three RBIs and a steal. The performance earned him NLCS MVP.
The breakout isn’t exactly out of nowhere. Marte batted .276 with 25 home runs and an .844 OPS during the season. He has an All-Star Game appearance and a top-four MVP finish — both in 2019 — on his résumé. But he’s stepped it up in the postseason. Unlike another low-key linchpin whose production has fallen off in October…
Christian Walker has zero All-Star Game selections and has won just one Gold Glove in five seasons, but he quietly has emerged as one of the best all-around first basemen.
The right-handed-hitting slugger has provided power in the middle of the lineup over the last two seasons. Last year he slugged 36 home runs with an .804 OPS. This season he hit .258 with 33 home runs and an .830 OPS. But he’s gone silent in the playoffs.
So far, Walker is seven for 39 (.180) with one home run, three doubles, 11 walks and 14 strikeouts in 12 postseason games. A return to form would provide a huge boost to the lineup. Speaking of boosts…
The Diamondbacks’ bullpen was a weakness when the trade deadline rolled around. Knowing that, general manager Mike Hazen addressed it by acquiring closer Paul Sewald from the Seattle Mariners. The addition — along with two other, less splashy moves — produced an improved unit.
Arizona’s relief corps accumulated a 2.31 ERA in September, third-best in the majors, and has remained effective in the postseason, going 5-0 with a 2.94 ERA across 49 innings.
In Game 7 against the Phillies, the team’s five best relievers — Joe Mantiply, Ryan Thompson, Andrew Saalfrank, Kevin Ginkel and Sewald — combined for five scoreless innings.
Ginkel, the setup man, and Sewald haven’t given up a run in eight playoff outings. Thompson, a sidearmer acquired after Tampa Bay designated him for assignment in mid-August, surrendered one run in 5⅔ innings over four appearances in the NLCS. Saalfrank, a left-handed specialist, was called up for his debut in September.
The bullpen has been lights out in the late innings to complement the sturdy 1-2 punch atop the rotation…
One of the notable advantages the Dodgers were expected to enjoy in the NLDS was their previous dominance against Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, Arizona’s top pitchers. But that didn’t continue. Gallen, the team’s ace and a Cy Young Award candidate, limited the Dodgers to two runs over 5-1/3 innings. Kelly was even better, holding them scoreless across 6-1/3 innings.
Gallen wasn’t nearly as sharp in the NLCS — he surrendered nine runs over 11 innings in two losses — but his track record suggests a correction. The right-hander went 17-9 with a 3.47 ERA in 34 starts this season after going 12-4 with a 2.54 ERA last year.
Kelly gave up five runs in 10-2/3 innings across his two NLCS outings. The 35-year-old right-hander, five years removed from a four-season stint in Korea, began the season pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. His late-career resurgence has been instrumental in the Diamondbacks’ leap from bottom feeders to title contenders.
On the other end of the spectrum is a rookie shining on the biggest stage…
Brandon Pfaadt made his major-league debut May 3 against … the Rangers. How did it go? Terribly. He gave up seven runs on nine hits over 4-2/3 innings. The Rangers hit four home runs. It was the beginning of a rough introduction to the bigs.
The 25-year-old right-hander finished the regular season with a 5.72 ERA in 96 innings over 19 outings (18 starts). He represented one of the many question marks surrounding this Arizona club: We know about Gallen and Kelly, but can this team really win with Pfaadt as the No. 3 starter? The answer initially was no. Pfaadt yielded three runs on seven hits in just 2-2/3 innings in his first playoff start against the Brewers. Then the result flipped.
The Louisville native has given up two runs over 14 innings in three starts since the rough October debut. He has 18 strikeouts to two walks. Remarkably, he’s been the Diamondbacks’ best pitcher. It’s the kind of development needed for an 84-win club to emerge a pennant winner.
Behind the plate, helping Pfaadt navigate lineups, is another rookie spearheading the Diamondbacks’ run…
Gabriel Moreno, just 23, is showing why Baseball America at one point ranked him the top prospect in baseball.
The rookie catcher, already one of the best defenders behind the plate, is batting .279 with three home runs and an .852 OPS in the postseason. He’s an asset controlling the opposition’s running game and as a game caller. He led all catchers with 20 defensive runs saved during the season. He threw out 22 of 57 would-be base stealers. The 39% clip also was tops in the bigs.
The Venezuelan was acquired last winter with outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. — an All-Star this season — from the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Dalton Varsho. It’s proven to be a franchise-shifting move. Perhaps nobody understands Moreno’s value more than the man leading the youthful squad from the dugout…
Torey Lovullo is Los Angeles through and through. Born in Santa Monica, Lovullo attended Montclair Prep in Van Nuys before starring at UCLA and becoming a journeyman utility player. He suited up for seven teams over 12 seasons before finishing his career in Japan in 2000.
His coaching career began the next season. Sixteen years later, the Diamondbacks hired him as manager. And now, in his seventh season, his club is four wins from an improbable World Series title.
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