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Diamondbacks: 3 Reasons Clay Buchholz Deserves Comeback Player of the Year

By Casey Pazzalia

SAN DIEGO, CA - AUGUST 16: Clay Buchholz #32 of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on August 16, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - AUGUST 16: Clay Buchholz #32 of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on August 16, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO – AUGUST 12: Matt Kemp #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a game-tying RBI sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning of a game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on August 12, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – AUGUST 12: Matt Kemp #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a game-tying RBI sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning of a game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on August 12, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

Matt Kemp Slumping

For a while it seemed like Matt Kemp was the front-runner for the NL Comeback Player of the Year. However, in his last 19 games, Kemp’s batting average has taken a nose-dive because, well, he’s not hitting. During this stretch, he’s hitting .086 with just five hits in 58 at-bats. Also, he hasn’t hit a home run since July 22nd.

His average, which was at .318 going into the Dodgers’ July 24th game, now sits at .282.

In addition to Kemp, the team is also sliding. Right now, they wouldn’t be in the NL Playoffs if they started today. They’re 2.5 games out of the NL Wild Card race and two games behind Arizona for the NL West lead.

Cardinals Struggles

So, a guy who has a serious case for the award who hasn’t slowed down is Miles Mikolas. However, the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award generally goes to a player from a playoff team. Greg Holland? Playoff team. Matt Harvey, Francisco Liriano, and Buster Posey? Same. Same. Same.

The Cardinals, as of August 17th, have just a 34-percent chance of making the National League Playoffs, per FanGraphs.

Hot. What Arizona Missed on Their 'Top 20 Moments' List. light

Mikolas, to his credit, has more starts under his belt than Buchholz (24 to 12) although his ERA is a bit higher than Clay’s mark (2.85 compared to 2.47). Before his breakout this year in the MLB, Mikolas was playing in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants from 2015-17 and with the Padres and Rangers from 2012-14.

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