Diamondbacks placed inside top-10 in MLB Power Rankings

At least in the National League, no team in baseball is hotter than the Arizona Diamondbacks. With eight wins in their last nine games, including a sweep of the Cleveland Guardians and a 3-1 series victory over the Phillies, the Diamondbacks have surged into the top Wild Card spot and are suddenly knocking on the Dodgers’ door for first place in the NL West.

With a grueling stretch behind them, the Diamondbacks can now look forward to a much easier couple of weeks before the real challenge begins. They are currently in a three-game series against the Rockies, followed by a nine-game road trip featuring matchups against the Rays, Marlins, and Red Sox.

Despite managing injuries to key players such as starting catcher Gabriel Moreno, Gold Glove first baseman Christian Walker, and MVP candidate Ketel Marte, the Diamondbacks have jumped to 9th in MLB’s latest Power Rankings.

This marks their highest ranking all season, as they were ranked as low as 19th at one point. Will Leitch commented, “Ketel Marte has been so hot the Diamondbacks had to give him a day off on Sunday just so he didn’t set the stadium on fire. (He also had a minor ankle contusion.) Over a stretch in which the Diamondbacks went 20-6, Marte put up the following line: .367/.443/.811, 13 homers, 30 RBIs. He leads the Majors in both homers and RBIs over that time span.”

While Leitch focused on Marte, who certainly deserves recognition, he did not mention the impact Adrian Del Castillo has made in just his first week in the big leagues. Since making his debut, Castillo has gone 7-for-15 at the plate, including a walk-off home run over the weekend.

On the pitching side, the Diamondbacks have recently welcomed back key arms into their starting rotation—Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez. Both starters delivered quality outings last week, with both games ending in wins. The Diamondbacks are also close to finding their closer. With Paul Sewald out of the role, 23-year-old Justin Martinez has picked up three saves over the past week and is riding a seven-inning scoreless streak.

Elsewhere in Leitch’s power rankings, the Orioles reclaimed the #1 spot, while the Phillies, following their series loss to Arizona, fell to #2. The Yankees, Dodgers, and Brewers rounded out the top five