Continuing our series on top Diamondbacks by position, today we delve into third base. Third base has not been a position of strength for most of the franchise's history. In fact, since 1998, D-backs third basemen rank 20th in MLB with a .749 OPS . Nonetheless, there have been some outstanding performances that we'll get into here. For the full statistical rankings see this Baseball Reference Link as well.
#1 Matt Williams 595 G, .278/.327/.471, 100 OPS+, 8.3 WAR, -.1 WPA
Matt Williams landed on the Diamondbacks in December of 1997 in a trade from the Cleveland Guardians for Travis Fryman, Tom Martin, and cash. With one year left on his deal, the cash actually came from Williams, as he took a $3 million dollar pay cut to come to Arizona for family reasons. He then immediately signed a five year, $45 million dollar extension.
With a legitimate major league star to anchor third base, the Diamondbacks launched their first season. Williams had a good but pedestrian first year in Arizona by his standards, batting .267 with 20 homers and 71 RBI. His .766 OPS was exactly league average, 100 OPS+ once adjusting for ballpark and league context. His well above average defense was still intact, however, with +8 defensive runs saved. It all totaled a solid if unspectacular 2.6 WAR.
1999 was a different story. Williams hit .303 with 35 homers among his 74 extra base hits and drove in a whopping 142 runs as the cleanup hitter for a 100 win division winner. He finished 3rd in MVP voting while putting up 4.1 WAR. That was the peak of his production with Arizona, and for the rest of his career, however. A series of horrific injuries, including a broken foot, a broken fibula, and quad and hamstring problems limited him to just 306 games over the next four years. From a pure Dollars vs. Production standpoint, the contract extension was not a success, as chronicled by good friend of the site, Jim McLennan of AZ Snakepit
WAR Dollar values notwithstanding, Williams was instrumental in lending a fledgling franchise credibility, was a key cog in their first division title, and hit a huge three-run game winning homer in game two of the 2001 World Series. On a personal note, sitting in the stands, I called that homer to my then 14 year old son just prior to the pitch, and that was probably the last time he ever thought I was a genius. To this day, Williams is remembered fondly by D-backs fans and his personage is a participant in the team's "Legends Race" along with Randy Johnson, Luis Gonzalez, and Mark Grace.
#2 Jake Lamb 596 G, .239/.329/.433, 97 OPS+, 7.5 WAR, 4.8 WPA
Lamb's ranking on this list will surprise some, but his total production for the franchise at the hot corner is a clear second place when examining the playing record. Taken by the D-backs in the 6th round of the 2012 draft, he made his major league debut just over two years later. He struggled to hit in that first call up however, batting just .230 with a .636 OPS. He was much improved during his first full season in 2015, however. Holding his own with a .263 batting average, he improved his OPS to .716, but his power had not yet manifested as he hit just 6 homers in 350 at bats. His fielding rated 12 runs above average that year, leading to 2.3 WAR.
Lamb had a power breakout the following season, smashing 29 homers and knocking in 91 runs while posting a .840 OPS, or 114 OPS+. His defense took a step back however, at -5. Still, his 2.8 WAR was a solid above average total. Lamb reproduced those numbers again in 2017, hitting 30 homers, driving in 105 and posting a .844 OPS. A hot first half earned him an All-Star Game berth. His -8 fielding runs tamped down his WAR total to 2.0 however. The defense was somewhat controversial, as Lamb came up with a solid defensive reputation and displayed that in 2015. However Matt Williams was the infield coach at the time and had him make several changes to his positioning, moving him in, and also changing his throwing footwork. Those changes backfired, as Lamb started having issues with throwing errors for the first time in his career.
A shoulder injury suffered while diving for a ball ruined Lamb's 2018 and he never really recovered, as he hit just .222 with 6 homers in 207 at bats that year. 2019 wasn't any better, as he lost out in a competition at first base with Christian Walker and by mid 2020 he was shipped off to the Oakland A's mid season. Many people were frustrated with Lamb and and his tenure with Arizona ended badly. Earlier in his career he was prone to second half slumps and always had difficulty with left hand pitching. All that notwithstanding, from 2015-2017 he posted 7.1 WAR with a 108 OPS+. He also tended to get big hits in high leverage situations, as evidenced by his 4.8 WPA, or win percentage added. In fact, that is far and away the highest WPA of any third baseman in D-backs history.
#3 Eduardo Escobar. 364 G, .254/.309/.468, 102 OPS+, 5.6 WAR, -0.9 WPA
Eduardo Escobar was an extremely popular player for the Minnesota Twins with both fans and players. With free agency looming, he was acquired by the Diamondbacks at the 2018 trade deadline. He hit .268 with eight homers , 21 RBI, and a .772 OPS, or 102 OPS+. His infectious smile and energy endeared him to teammates and fans right away. So much so that Mike Hazen signed him to a three year extension at the end of the season.
Escobar rewarded Hazen's faith with one of the better third base seasons in franchise history. He hit .269/.320/.511, 111 OPS+, driving in a 118 runs. He even led the league in triples with 10. The fact that he didn't walk much and his defense rated as just league average held down his war total to 3.3, but his season "felt" better than that watching it live. The 2020 Pandemic season was not kind to Escobar, as he slumped out of the gate and never really recovered, batting just .212/.270/.335, for a lowly 63 OPS+., posting -0.4 WAR
Escobar had a rebound season in 2021. In 98 games for the team he hit .246/.300/.478, 107 OPS+ with 20 homers and 69 RBI. He was one of the few bright spots on a team that would go on to lose 110 games. With just two months remaining on his contract, he was moved at the trade deadline to the Milwaukee Brewers. Happily for Escobar, he played well for the Brewers and got to play in the postseason, where he hit .300 on 3 for 10 batting.
More must-reads: