The Arizona Diamondbacks headed into the 2014 Major League Baseball season with
hopes of being crowned the champions of the NL West division for the first time since a magical
2011 season. After watching their bitter rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, celebrate winning the
the 2013 division title by jumping into the infamous pool in Chase Field, the Diamondbacks
were determined to not let this occur again. It did not happen again, however, not because they
themselves won the title, but because the Dodgers would win the title elsewhere. The 2014
season was a long, grueling, and woeful one for the Arizona Diamondbacks. It will be
remembered as a season of injury, bad play, and overall tough times. Fans saw their team’s stars, Paul Goldschmidt and Patrick Corbin, fall to seasonending injuries. Ultimately, the Diamondbacks would wind up with the worst record in baseball when the season concluded. But this was all in 2014, 2015 is a year of hope and a fresh start for a team that has new management that is retooling this offseason, will have its stars healthy again and also cusps the treasured number one pick in the following year’s firstyear player draft.
Injury was a common word that was heard in the Diamondback news in 2014, as a matter
of fact, injuries agonized the team before the season had even started. Patrick Corbin, considered
to be one of the best young pitchers in all of baseball, suffered seasonending elbow surgery.
Midway through the season, Paul Goldschmidt, a feared powerful slugger, was hit by a pitch that
ended his season. Many other players on the roster would either have their season ended by an
injury or would have to play through one. These injuries forced the club to promote
inexperienced, young players to the club. As a result, the team struggled with these new players,
but out of this emerged promising, exciting players like David Peralta, and Ender Inciarte, both
of whom gained consideration for the Rookie of the Year award. Fans can look forward to seeing
the young talent and seasoned veterans merge together in the quest to bring the division title to
Arizona.
The number one selection in every sport’s draft is always a big occasion. Not only do the
Diamondbacks have the number one selection, but they have the opportunity to select a franchise
player. Players that can be the face of the entire sport, in fact. This possibility can bring a whole
new dynamic of life and energy into the team. Not to mention many more fans would be
attracted to the ballpark to see an exciting talent tear up the field. This draft selection is going to
do very well for the fans, team, and the whole entire organization.
Overall, the 2015 season will be one in which the Diamondbacks will have to establish
themselves as a top team again. After having the worst record in all of baseball, the team will
widely be considered a laughingstock. The new manager A.J, Hinch has his work cut out for him
in shaping this ballclub into the dynamic, disciplined squad they were before. Before, the team
was playing bland and unentertaining baseball. The team would constantly be outplayed on a
daily basis, this made fans grow tired of consistently watching their team lose. Hopefully the
new manager will bring a grit to the team that it desperately needs if it has any hopes of winning
in the division which by the way is home to the defending World Series champions, and the team
with the highest payroll in all of baseball, those teams are the San Fransisco Giants and the
dreaded Los Angeles Dodgers respectively.
In conclusion, 2015 is a blank page for the Arizona Diamondbacks. They have no
expectations from anyone other than their fans. They can be determined as underdogs headed
into the new season. The only thing that can be done meanwhile for fans is endure the cold
winter and wait for springtime to arrive. All the waiting will be rewarded by watching the
Diamondbacks claim the division title. Winning the title will be no simple task, as this team will
truly need to perform in order to win, but with their star talent coming back, they are in a prime
position to do so. But for now, the team must focus on retooling and rebuilding in order to tackle
the long marathon that is the major league baseball season.
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