Arizona Diamondbacks: A
(53–36, 7.5 games back in NL West, first place in Wild Card): Mounting a ninth-inning rally against new Giants closer Mark Melancon on Opening Day was only a sign of the wins to come for one of baseball’s biggest surprise teams. Paul Goldschmidt, as he’s proven throughout his career, has been his usually spectacular self on offense. He leads the team in every major offensive category and could easily emerge as an NL MVP candidate by the season’s end. Arizona’s pitching has generally performed better than expected. Not sure many predicted this team to post the second best ERA in the National League by the All-Star break, but they’ve been carried by three starters with sub-3.00 ERAs: Zack Godley (2.58). Zack Greinke (2.86) and Robbie Ray (2.97). —Connor Grossman
