The Journey Thus Far...

What a ride it's been, Snakes fans!

110 losses in 2021. Signs of life at the end of 2022. Hopes of contention on Opening Day 2023. Holding and losing the division lead. 6th seed. Series sweeps. Winning the N.L. Pennant. World Series baseball in Phoenix... 

The story of the 2023 Diamondbacks is an underdog story of underdog stories. Fangraphs gave the Snakes a 15.8% chance of making the postseason, and a 0.5% chance of winning the whole thing. Certainly, we had higher chances than some, but not most. In the last week of the season, ESPN pitted them 12th in their power rankings, two spots above the last eventual playoff team, the Miami Marlins. At every stage of the playoffs, nearly every expert analyst picked them to lose their series. I struggle to find even one mainstream talking head who believed in them. 

And let's not fool ourselves; none of us thought we'd be here at the start of the year. Once we punched our ticket to the playoffs there was always a chance, but it was slim. All we really hoped for was a win and another chance. That's what's brought us here to a 9-3 postseason record; four wins away from a title. 

I give a lot of credit to Mike Hazen, who very nearly left baseball when his wife Nicole passed away last year. Zach Buchanan, formerly of The Athletic, beautifully chronicled that story here. He had a vision in 2017, this regime's first year, to build a team with brains and heart. He established a proper analytics department and hired Torey Lovullo, whom we've all now come to know for his compassion and ability to motivate his players. The D-Backs made a surprising, though short-lived playoff run that year, but mostly with fingerprints of the previous front office all over the roster.

This year it was all Hazen, with the last remnant of the previous two regimes cast off in Nick Ahmed mid-season (yeah, Nick was a Kevin Towers addition). It seemed like his moves, like trading Varsho for Gurriel Jr. and Moreno, were finally going to put us in playoff contention, in a year or two, like the experts thought. But Mike seemed to know there was something special here. Always careful with his words to the media he told Steve Gilbert of MLB.com what constituted a successful 2023 campaign: "Being in the position to be aggressive at the [Trade] Deadline to buy and play meaningful baseball games in September. That's what I would constitute to be a successful season this year. I don't know what's going to happen after that. Nobody does." 

We do now. He banished MadBum, Carson Kelly, and the aforementioned Ahmed. He made way for Perdomo, Gabi, and Pfaadt. He picked up Ryan Thompson on waivers. He traded for Paul Sewald to answer the years-long question, "Who's gonna be the closer?" He added a hard-nosed veteran bat in Tommy Pham. Jace Peterson... you're here. 

Hazen trusted in Torey when so many of us doubted he'd remain after 2021, to rally these guys and march them toward glory. Granted, many of Lovullo's in-game decisions may have cost some games over his tenure, but I believe there's no better man to helm this team. In-game managerial decisions are of questionable value because even the "correct" decisions can pay off poorly. I believe we got a glimpse of Torey's real value to the team in those post-series win clubhouse speeches. Who wouldn't be willing to run through a brick wall for Torey? 

Now we laud the on-field performances. Corbin Carroll, proving why he was the Rookie of the Year favorite. Ketel Marte, patiently riding the ups and downs of the five years after his first postseason appearance to earn NLCS MVP. Christian Walker, making the most of his opportunity to man Goldy's post after his departure to lead the team in home runs and lock down 1st base with Gold Glove efficiency. Gabriel Moreno, blossoming into a star at catcher, getting clutch hits and gunning down would-be base stealers in a year that was supposed to be "easy." Zac Gallen, making his case for a Cy Young. Merrill Kelly, a rookie at 30 in 2021, mowing down batters with consistency. Brandon Pfaadt, taking his lumps throughout the year to bend, but never break, under pressure when the team needed offenses locked down in games 3 and 7. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. lighting up the clubhouse and the crowd with unexpected defensive prowess and timely hits. Alek Thomas, randomly becoming a power threat in the lineup this postseason while flashing elite range in center. There are too many contributors to name, but they all got us here, picking up each other when one was down. 

I love this team. 

Regardless how this title run ends, this team is going down as one of the all-time favorites.