What if I told you...

[82CardsGrad]

....back in March, that come the mid-point of the this season, the Dbacks would be tied for most wins in the NL, 13 games above 500 and would've held the first place slot in the west for the majority of the season, after:

- Letting JD go
- Lost Walker for the year due to TJ surgery
- Robbie Ray spending time on the DL and only appearing in 7 games and 33 innings thus far
- A pulled off the scrap-heap Buckholz and Matt Koch would be heavily relied upon
- AJ Pollack on the DL and missing half the season
- Biggest off-season acquisition, Souza, on the DL twice and missing more than half the season
- Goldy hitting 200 thru May
- Every 5th game the best hitter in our lineup is the pitcher (Grienke)
- we would be LAST in the bigs in team batting avg
- LAST in the bigs in team hits
- Only the Mets, Marlins and Padres would have a worse team OPS in the NL
- Our record for the month of May would be 8 & 19

You would've surely thought I was high on something! And yet, here we are... Seriously, while they aren't perfect (nobody is), Hazen and Torey have to be greatly admired for the job they've done the past 2 season... There is no logical explanation for what this team has accomplished thus far this year.
Can Torey win Manage of the Year in back to back seasons?? Heck, at this stage, the job he's done this season surpasses what he did in 2017!!

 

[Dback Jon]

It is pretty amazing when you put it that way...

 

[Ronin]

I’m still waiting for the title of this 30 for 30.

 

[ajcardfan]

This season has been one heck of a ride. The 2nd half is going to be just as wild i think

 

[AZ Native]

Great post and i like your optimism. But I'm afraid those below the Mendoza Line batting averages are going to kill us. I know we have AJ coming back but other than that we have a tough road ahead of us. The Dodgers went on a tear last year and the Giants are playing much better. I do love the resolve of this team. GO

 

[82CardsGrad]

Great post and i like your optimism. But I'm afraid those below the Mendoza Line batting averages are going to kill us. I know we have AJ coming back but other than that we have a tough road ahead of us. The Dodgers went on a tear last year and the Giants are playing much better. I do love the resolve of this team. GO

Wasn’t intending to show much optimism here... I was more aiming for total shock and just plain being in awe of the job Torey has done in the face of incredible challenge.
I think this team remains flawed, especially at the plate. I predicted 82 wins this season and I have a sick feeling that they will ultimately come in quite close to my prediction... Hope I’m wrong!!

 

[Ronin]

Here is something else to chew on!

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[DWKB]

Here is something else to chew on!

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That’s on pace for an 89 win season. Who had that picked?

 

[unseenaz]

idk where else to post 2 thoughts i have on my mind for the dbacks, so here i go.

first order of business - ran into an article on The Athletic (anyone else sub? great baseball stuff here) and they polled a bunch of players around the league on various topics. one of those topics was "Which manager, aside from your own, would you most want to play for?" and lovullo was voted by the players into 3rd place. that's impressive. even more impressive when you see that the only guys to get more votes was terry francona and joe maddon.

2nd thing i was recently thinking about - goldy is in the starting lineup for tomorrow's all star game at DH. he's also hitting 3rd. that's some serious respect from NL manager dave roberts. tip of the cap to him from me, gained a little more respect in my book.

 

[BC867]

That’s on pace for an 89 win season. Who had that picked?

I was close with 87. But there is a long way to go. We did better than we should have with for most of the first half with Pollock, Lamb and Souza gone from the heart of the order and Goldy and Avila MIA. That's five sluggers.

But we haven't done that well with all of them back. So, who knows?

 

[AZ Native]

I'm afraid that realty will set in the second half and it won't be pretty.

 

[Ronin]

D-backs in playoff hunt despite first-half injuries

https://sports.yahoo.com/m/db95816e-6143-3ae8-aeb7-2b3c09e99c8f/d-backs-in-playoff-hunt.html