MLB Draft Deep Dive: Arizona Diamondbacks

In order to satisfy my innate curiosity as it pertains to the MLB Draft, I have taken a comprehensive look at the 2018 draft for each of the 30 MLB organizations. But I also wanted to get an idea of what each of the teams had done for the 20 years prior so that is included as a prelude to the 2018 information. I'll be looking first at each team in each division, starting with the National League East, and then I'll follow up with a an overall look at both the historical draft results to date and the early 2018 results.

My goal is to get a better idea of the big picture as to how the systems compare in terms of draft results, as well as how a good or bad draft class affects a system, the overall impact of the draft on the baseball talent pool and the circuitous ways in which draft picks are used to bolster a system for which they may never even play. This project is just a first step. I intend to expand on this information over time (including a later revisit of the 2018 class and the addition of the 2019 class next offseason) and I will share my findings as I do so.

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Historical Draft Results from 1998 through 2017 (TO DATE)
Drafted 954 | Signed 656 | Pitchers Signed 315 | Position Players Signed 341
Total WAR 400.2
Total Players to MLB 104

Note: The following players are listed at the position at which they were originally drafted.

1998 | 6 to MLB | WAR 12.6 | High WAR 8.1, LHP Javier Lopez, 4th rd
1999 | 5 to MLB | WAR 23.8 | High WAR 16.8, 1B Lyle Overbay, 18th rd
2000 | 8 to MLB | WAR 30.9 | High WAR 31.0, RHP Brandon Webb, 8th rd
2001 | 6 to MLB | WAR 32.3 | High WAR 17.5, 2B Dan Uggla, 11th rd
2002 | 5 to MLB | WAR 5.3 | High WAR 4.5, C Chris Snyder, 2nd rd
2003 | 4 to MLB | WAR 12.9 | High WAR 10.4, OF Carlos Quentin, 1st rd
2004 | 6 to MLB | WAR 25.2 | High WAR 17.1, SS Stephen Drew, 1st rd
2005 | 4 to MLB | WAR 40.3 | High WAR 35.0, SS Justin Upton, 1st rd
2006 | 9 to MLB | WAR 63.6 | High WAR 54.5, RHP Max Scherzer, 1st rd
2007 | 9 to MLB | WAR 15.0 | High WAR 7.1, RHP Josh Collmenter, 15th rd
2008 | 6 to MLB | WAR 18.5 | High WAR 9.2, LHP Wade Miley, 1st rd
2009 | 12 to MLB | WAR 70.5 | High WAR 40.1, 1B Paul Goldschmidt, 8th rd
2010 | 5 to MLB | WAR 14.3 | High WAR 17.4, OF Adam Eaton, 19th rd
2011 | 5 to MLB | WAR 21.5 | High WAR 14.2, RHP Trevor Bauer, 1st rd
2012 | 3 to MLB | WAR 7.5 | High WAR 6.4, 3B Jake Lamb, 6th rd
2013 | 7 to MLB | WAR 3.1 | High WAR 3.6, RHP Brad Keller, 8th rd
2014 | 2 to MLB | WAR 0.2 | High WAR 0.3, RHP Touki Toussaint, 1st rd
2015 | 2 to MLB | WAR 2.7 | High WAR 2.9, SS Dansby Swanson, 1st rd
2016 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A
2017 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A

The highest WAR to date is that of RHP Max Scherzer (2006, 1st round, 54.5 WAR). Scherzer appeared in 46 games for the D'Backs between 2008 and 2009 (2.7 WAR) before being included in a three-team trade in December 2009 that sent Scherzer to the Tigers. The Diamondbacks ended up with a half season of RHP Edwin Jackson (0.2 WAR) and three and a half seasons of RHP Ian Kennedy (8.9 WAR) when all was said and done. Factoring in the players received when Jackson and Kennedy were traded doesn't alter the landscape very much and the trade looks very, very lopsided in retrospect. Scherzer broke through in a big way in 2013, winning the American League Cy Young Award that year. He has been named to the All-Star team every year from 2013 through 2018 and won two additional Cy Young Awards in 2016 and 2017 for the Nationals.

The high total WAR was in 2009, thanks in large part to the success of 1B Paul Goldscmidt (2009, 8th round, 40.1 WAR). Goldschmidt made his debut for Arizona in 2011 and played in eight seasons for the Diamondbacks prior to his December 2018 trade to the Cardinals. Goldschmidt was an All-Star from 2013 through 2018 and earned four Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves for the D'Backs. 11 other players from that 2009 Draft Class made it to the bigs with the second most productive player being OF A. J. Pollock (1st round, 20.0 WAR). Pollock has spent his entire career to date with Arizona and is currently a free agent.

2018 DRAFT
41 Drafted | 29 Signed | 18 Pitchers | 11 Position Players
31 College | 26 Signed | 17 Pitchers | 9 Position Players
2 JC/CC | 0 Signed | 0 Pitchers | 0 Position Players
8 HS/NS | 3 Signed | 1 Pitcher | 2 Position Players

Notable: The Diamondbacks received one additional draft pick for Competitive Balance (Round A). Arizona failed to sign their top pick (California HS SS Matt McLain), but signed the next 23 picks.

PITCHERS
Of the 18 pitchers signed (17 RHP, 1 LHP), all but one (college lefty Tyler Holton, 9th round) logged at least some playing time. Only one player was promoted beyond the Short Season A* level (to Full Season A). Three of the pitchers debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Diamondbacks.

Top Prospects

RHP Jackson Goddard, 3rd round, University of Kansas, SSA
29 IP | 14 G / 13 GS | 4.03 ERA | 1.069 WHIP | 12 BB : 27 K

RHP Matt Mercer, 5th round, University of Oregon, SSA
29 IP | 13 G / 13 GS | 3.10 ERA | 0.966 WHIP | 7 BB : 38 K

RHP Levi Kelly, 8th round, IMG Academy (FL), Rk
6 IP | 4 G / 4 GS | 0.00 ERA | 0.833 WHIP | 2 BB : 6 K

Noteworthy Debut

RHP Kyler Stout, 18th round, Oral Roberts University, A
32.1 IP | 23 G / 0 GS | 2.23 ERA | 1.206 WHIP | 17 BB : 53 K | 6 Saves

In total, the Diamondbacks 2018 Draft pitchers combined for a 3.09 ERA and a 1.230 WHIP over 422 innings as compared to the 3.67 ERA and 1.299 WHIP (average of 376.2 innings per affiliate) compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

POSITION PLAYERS
All 11 position players signed (2 1B, 2 2B, 3B, 2 SS, 2 OF, 2 C) logged at least some playing time. None of the players were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level. Three of the position players debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Diamondbacks, two as Top 10 prospects.

Top Prospects

🔟 OF Jake McCarthy (L/L), 1st round, University of Virginia, SSA
58 G | .288/.375/.443/.818 | 23 BB : 41 K | 21 SB : 8 CS | 17 2B / 4 3B / 3 HR

🔟 OF Alek Thomas (L/L), 2nd round, Mount Carmel HS (IL), Rk
56 G | .333/.395/.463/.858 | 24 BB : 37 K | 12 SB : 5 CS | 14 2B / 6 3B / 2 HR

SS Blaze Alexander (R/R), 11th round, IMG Academy (FL), Rk
55 G | .329/.417/.538/.955 | 31 BB : 52 K | 10 SB : 3 CS | 19 2B / 5 3B / 5 HR

🔟 Top 10 Prospect

Noteworthy Debut

1B Zack Shannon (R/R), 15th round, Delta State University, Rk
54 G | .354/.439/.677/1.116 | 28 BB : 43 K | 17 2B / 3B / 14 HR | 55 RBI

In total, the Diamondbacks 2018 Draft position players combined to hit .288/.374/.440/.815 as compared to .261/.349/.386/.735 batting line compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

*Notes on players include the highest level achieved for the 2018 season using the following abbreviations:
Rk = Rookie
SSA = Short Season A
A = Full Season A
A+ = Full Season A Advanced

GENERAL NOTES: Information was obtained from Baseball-Reference and the MLB Draft History site. The occasional discrepancy in historical information was resolved to the best of my ability by delving into the player information available on B-R. On the historical information, the player position in the totals reflects the position at which the player was drafted (and not any subsequent change of position). On the 2018 information, the player position reflects the primary position played in 2018 for all players who were signed and the position at which the player was drafted for those who did not sign. Prospect listings on MLB Pipeline were as of late December and may not reflect any subsequent changes to that site.

PREVIOUSLY

NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
NL East 2018 Draft Summary

NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
NL Central 2018 Draft Summary

COMING NEXT
Colorado Rockies