Congratulations, D-backs fans. The winter was cold, the hot stove was hot and now pitchers and catchers are reporting this upcoming Wednesday, February 12. You’ve overcome the dreary months of the offseason. Baseball is back.
Following the Starling Marte trade, the D-backs’ 2020 roster can almost entirely be written in ink. This is unlike the past few seasons, when spring training for many D-backs players more closely resembled tryouts than warm-ups.
Last spring, for example, Jake Lamb and Christian Walker battled themselves to a platoon at first base. Merrill Kelly, meanwhile, earned his starting rotation role as Yoan Lopez landed a bullpen slot and Greg Holland claimed the closer role. The list goes on.
This year, however, D-backs players figure to have more clearly defined roles, leaving less room for competition this spring. But that is not to say there won’t be any. If we look close enough, there is at least one position battle in every phase of the roster.
Starting Lineup
As the D-backs know all too well, tragic injuries can happen to core lineup pieces during spring training, so we have to remain flexible if someone goes down. However, I’d say we have a better handle on the D-backs’ 2020 everyday starters than we’ve had in quite some time (in order of position):
- David Peralta, LF
- Starling Marte, CF
- Kole Calhoun, RF
- Eduardo Escobar, 3B
- Nick Ahmed, SS
- Ketel Marte, 2B
- Christian Walker, 1B
- Carson Kelly, C
Obviously, the exact lineup every day will depend on factors like rest and matchups. For example, Calhoun probably will get some relatively frequent days off against lefties, and we’ll probably see Stephen Vogt behind the plate against righties from time to time.
From my standpoint, the only real battle in the starting lineup centers around corner infielder Jake Lamb. The D-backs paid a relatively hefty $5.51 million to keep him in Sedona red after an injury-ridden 2019 campaign that saw him post a 76 OPS+ over 78 games. However, Lamb is only two seasons removed from an All-Star appearance in 2017, and there’s no reason to think he couldn’t feasibly make it back there at age 29.
It’s hard to imagine Lamb supplanting Escobar at the hot corner, but I expect him to challenge Walker for everyday opportunities at first base.
Starting Rotation
Like past seasons, the D-backs’ 2020 rotation has some question marks. What’s different about this year is that they actually have too many viable candidates, which is a very good problem to have. As of now, the D-backs have six pitchers who deserve to start the season in an MLB starting rotation (listed alphabetically):
- Madison Bumgarner, LHP
- Zac Gallen, RHP
- Merrill Kelly, RHP
- Mike Leake, RHP
- Robbie Ray, LHP
- Luke Weaver, RHP
Most people would peg Kelly and Leake as the weakest links in this group. However, neither has the kind of stuff that would play up in a bullpen role, leaving the D-backs with no clear solution other than simply trading one of them away. Perhaps the team is keeping both around as a safety net in case Weaver’s health goes south after a Tommy John surgery scare from last season. We’ll find out this spring.
Bench
The D-backs’ bench is certainly more mysterious than the two previous categories, but the following group still feels likely:
- Ildemaro Vargas, INF
- Josh Rojas, OF/INF
- Steven Vogt, C
- Jake Lamb, 3B
- Tim Locastro, OF
Of these five, Vogt and Lamb are probably the only locks to break the Opening Day roster, given the offseason investments made to each of them. However, Locastro and Vargas showed themselves to be reliable depth options last season, and Rojas can play virtually anywhere on the diamond while having as high a ceiling with the bat as anyone in this group.
Several other names are worthy of a mention, though. In the outfield, expect to see old friend Jon Jay compete with Locastro. Jay struggled last year with the White Sox, slashing .267/.311/.315 in 47 games. However, the ten-year vet has as good a reputation as anyone in the league and certainly deserves a look for a backup role.
The infield has more intriguing options. Domingo Leyba only logged 30 MLB plate appearances last season, but he slashed .280/.367/.440 and should at least pose a threat to Vargas. We also can’t forget Kevin Cron, who led all of Minor League Baseball with 39 homers last year (in just 84 games, no less!). He has an outside shot of cracking the roster as a right-handed power bat off the bench.
Finally, it’s not out of the question that infield prospect Andy Young could make the team. At the very least, he figures to make his MLB debut at some point this season after slashing .271/.368/.535 with 29 homers across 133 games with Double-A Jackson and Triple-A Reno last year.
Bullpen
For the first time in a while, the D-backs’ bullpen is also mostly set as we enter the spring:
- Archie Bradley, RHP
- Héctor Rondón, RHP
- Andrew Chafin, LHP
- Junior Guerra, RHP
- Yoan López, RHP
- Kevin Ginkel, RHP
- Alex Young, LHP
Bradley figures to settle in the closer’s role after saving 18 games last year. Rondón closed games for the Houston Astros as recently as 2018, so he’s probably the most significant competitor to finish games.
It’s worth noting that either Leake or Kelly could find their way into a long relief role if the D-backs opt to keep both of them. In terms of competition for the bullpen as a whole, the most intriguing options this spring include Silvino Bracho, Stefan Crichton and Jimmie Sherfy.
Crichton is in particularly good position to snag a spot after posting a 3.56 ERA and 1.02 WHIP over 30.1 innings last season with 33 strikeouts and just eight walks. It is not difficult to see Crichton beating out Ginkel or Lopez, given that none of them has a long track record of MLB success.
Bracho hasn’t pitched since 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but it’s worth noting that he posted a 3.19 ERA that year with 34 strikeouts and 12 walks over 31 innings. If he can find his way back to full health, we should see him out of the ‘pen at some point this year. Whether or not that can happen on Opening Day depends on how far along he is in his recovery process, which remains to be seen.
Lastly, Sherfy is a longtime fan-favorite who has struggled to find his stride at the MLB level. His career ERA in the regular season is still just 2.98, though, and he has some encouraging peripherals to go with it.
As we have seen time and time again with the D-backs, competition breeds success and there will be a healthy dose of it this spring for the guys in Sedona red. Don’t fall asleep waiting for Opening Day because real baseball games are less than two weeks away, and some of the most important decisions of the season will be made during the Cactus League.
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