Series Takeaway: Arizona Diamondbacks Have MLB’s Best All-Around Infield

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ infield shined in a 2-1 series win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Although the Arizona Diamondbacks didn’t sweep the Philadelphia Phillies, it was definitely one of the most memorable series of the year. In Game 1, they came back in dramatic fashion to earn a 3-2 win in 14 innings. Then after dropping Game 2, Patrick Corbin and David Peralta had epic games in a 6-0 shutout.

And while there are reasons to talk about numerous players right now, the one thing that I can’t get over is how good the infield looks right now. Specifically, the Paul Goldschmidt–Ketel Marte–Nick Ahmed–Eduardo Escobar defensive alignment.

During the three games, the Diamondbacks made two errors. On most teams, that would mean the shortstop booted a grounder or the first baseman muffed a throw home, yet these errors both came from the outfield, not the infield. Upon further review, I realized that the aforementioned group hasn’t had an error in the five games they’ve started together, and that no Diamondbacks’ infielder has made an error since July 26th (12 games). Crazy stuff, right?

Sometimes, fielding stats can be tricky, though. Like, if a guy can’t get to a ball, he can’t make an error on it. Yet, these guys pass the eye-test with flying colors and have solid advanced stats.

As of August 8th, Escobar, Marte, and Ahmed all lead their respective positions in Total Zone Runs while Goldschmidt has the highest Range Factor of all MLB first baseman.

At this point in the season, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Arizona’s best group is the best all-around unit in baseball. Besides their fancy exploits with the leather, the Goldy-Marte-Ahmed-Escobar group can flat-out hit. They have 65 combined home runs this year, as well as a .310 post-ASG batting average. Plus, their fifth infielder, Daniel Descalso, is no slouch (.260 BA, 9 HR).

If they keep it up, maybe win the NL West, the respect will surely follow. With their upcoming nine-game road trip, all against losing teams, Arizona will be in good position to put some space between them and the Dodgers.