Looking At The Diamondbacks Offensive Trends Recently

A look at how the team has done, two players that are hot and two players are cold at the plate

Apr 19, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks second base Ketel Marte (4) hits / John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Diamondbacks are second in the MLB in runs scored so far through 27 games of their season. That would or should indicate that they have had a successful offensive season so far. They must be quite hot at the plate. However, that might not be the case.

While the team is second with 150 runs, three behind the Dodgers who are in first, they are third in hits, doubles, second in RBI, and fourth in walks across MLB. They have the fifth fewest strikeouts. These are all terrific numbers that should indicate this is a team that is one of the best at offense.

However, over their last two weeks or 15 games of hitting, the team has been in a downward spiral. On April 10th, their team OPS was .762. Today, it's .736. Over their last 15 games, they have hit just .250/.329/.388 with 31 doubles, 13 homers, 81 runs, 77 RBI, 55 walks, and 107 strikeouts. That total includes a two-game span in which they scored 31 runs.

That means that in the other 13 games, they scored just 50 runs. That's an average of 3.85. That will not get the win often especially with lackluster pitching. This isn't a new trend either over this new season.

If you separate the team's top-4 scoring games, in which they scored 59 runs and batted .404/472/.639, 1.110 OPS, you're left with 23 games of worrying results.

In the D-backs other 23 games, they scored just 3.96 runs per game and batted .225/.306/.347, .654 OPS. The drop in batting average is a startling 179 points and 456 points in OPS.

Of course, with a smaller sample size, any time you take a team's top four offensive games out of the equation, the numbers will drop significantly. However, this drop for the Diamondbacks seems far too extreme even with just 27 games played this season.

A lot of it can be blamed on poor hitting with runners in scoring position, late-game hitting after the 6th inning, and extreme slumps from hugely important players like Corbin Carroll. Plus, missing Geraldo Perdomo and Alek Thomas has hurt as well.

The lack of pop has affected the team. They are outside the top-ten in homers and slugging just .400.

In Late and Close situations, plate appearances in the 7th or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck, the D-backs are hitting just .142/.275/.210 with just 14 RBI and 14 runs. That's just not going to win any team games over the course of the season.

They have yet to replicate the "Answerbacks" from last year. Last year, the team would come from behind with plenty of offense and win numerous games. This year, when behind, they are hitting just .211/.305/.316. While one does struggle when losing, that's a far too low batting line.

These are the issues and trends that are currently helping explain why the Diamondbacks 12-15 record is what it is. As for who is hot and cold, the D-backs are a team split across the middle of either being hot or cold with very few in-between. As everyone knows Blaze Alexander has been hot to start the season while Corbin Carroll has been frigid cold.

Hot: Ketel Marte

He's off to an All-Star caliber season and striving to be a contender for the MVP award. Marte has been en fuego this entire season and the past 15 games have been the best. Over his last 15 games, Marte is batting .356/.412/.542/.954 with 21 hits, 12 runs, two homers, seven RBI, seven walks, and just nine strikeouts. The D-backs badly need Marte to continue to be this hot while the other half of the lineup finds its way out of their respective slumps.

Cold: Eugenio Suárez

Suárez is striking out less than he did the previous five years, but it's still at a 27% rate. He's walking at his lowest rate since 2015 at just 7.2%. He's got five doubles and just two homers but has been one of the team's best at hitting with RISP with 16 RBI. Still, his last 15 games have been tough. He is hitting just .196/.270/.304 with nine runs, 11 hits, a homer, nine RBI, four walks, and 17 strikeouts across 56 at-bats. The team needs Suárez to get back to his power-swinging ways like he's done his whole career.

Hot: Joc Pederson

Joc Pederson has fulfilled his end of the bargain after the D-backs signed him to be their RHP masher out of the DH spot. Pederson has been barreling up the ball and working an excellent eye at the plate to stack up the walks. Over his last 15 games, Pederson is hitting .242/.426/.515 with seven runs, eight hits, two homers, four RBI, eight walks, and just six strikeouts. Pederson has dominated right-hand pitching and already been worth 0.8 WAR. He's exactly what the team needed out of it's DH spot.

Honorable Mention: Gabriel Moreno, Jake McCarthy

Cold: Christian Walker

Despite his three-run homer this past week, Walker has been in a funk at the plate. He's seeing the ball well with 13 walks against 11 strikeouts over his last 15 games, but he hit just .235/.385/.314 with 12 runs, 12 hits, and six RBI. However, he's starting to turn it around with eight hits in his last seven games. The Arizona Diamondbacks need Walker to get back to being the power hitter he is so they can start scoring more runs consistently and get back to their winning ways.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have a ton of talent on offense. It will be just a matter of time before they start scoring regularly and consistently. This team has far too much talent for this slump to last much longer. Despite all this, the D-backs are still one of the most dangerous teams at the plate in MLB.