All Arizona Diamondbacks Left Off MLB Network Radio “Top 10” Lists

No Arizona Diamondbacks made the Top 10 Hitters or Top 10 Fielders list on MLB Network Radio’s “Inside Pitch” program.

When I was reading USA Today the other day, an article by Bob Nightengale stuck out to me. Writing about the Arizona Diamondbacks, Nightengale talked about how “folks outside the Mountain Time Zone” don’t seem to show the D-Backs any love. While it was something I found true at the time, it was reinforced when listening to MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM the last few days.

On Monday’s episode of Inside Pitch, one of the network’s best shows, host Casey Stern and former MLB pitcher Brad Lidge outlined their Top 10 Pure Hitters list. As they ran through their respective rankings, I waited and waited to hear Paul Goldschmidt‘s name called.

As you’ve probably gathered from this article’s title, it never came.

Instead, Christian Yelich made both of their lists and Daniel Murphy made Stern’s bunch. Yes, they’re both great lefty sticks with smooth strokes, but you’d be fired as a GM if you took either over Goldie. Andrew Benintendi, with less than 300 career MLB games, also made both lists.

Does Goldschmidt strike out more than you’d like? Yes, but so does J.D. Martinez, who made both lists. Goldie, in contrast to J.D., has a great eye at the plate and makes up for his K’s with boat loads of walks. In my mind, getting on base (with at least a decent amount of power) is paramount when it comes to your worth in the batter’s box. Goldie, my friend, is always on base.

Of the 11 guys who made appearances on the two hosts’ lists, Goldie’s 2018 OBP is higher than Yelich, Murphy, and Benintendi. Career-wise, though? Only Mike Trout and Joey Votto rank higher than Goldschmidt.

What about the power? Well, he’s got most of ’em there, too. Below, I’ll list the career OPS (as of August 14th) for the 11 guys who made the lists, plus Goldie.

1. Trout (.987)
2. Votto (.960)
3. Goldschmidt (.930)
4. Arenado (.888)
5. Martinez (.886)
6. Betts (.882)
7. Freeman (.878)
8. Ramirez (.858)
9. Benintendi (.826)
10. Altuve (.819)
11. Yelich (.814)
12. Murphy (.803)

All guys are great, great hitters, but it looks like Stern, who I love because we have the same name, and Lidge had some recency bias.

The following day, Stern, alongside former MLB outfielder Matt Diaz, did the same list with fielders.

And while the case isn’t as strong because he’s still getting better, D-Backs’ shortstop Nick Ahmed could have easily been included on the list. Of the three shortstops that made the cut — Andrelton Simmons, Francisco Lindor, and Jose Iglesias — Ahmed currently has the highest fielding percentage, total zone runs, and the least errors, per Baseball Reference. Then, according to FanGraphs, Ahmed is tied with Simmons for the most defensive runs saved.

With these kind of lists, it’s always splitting hairs. However, it would be nice to see the D-Backs gets a little more love nationally.