Nearing the end of September, who are the best Dbacks call-ups ever?

Dbacks Best September Call ups 2015-19′

2015 Brandon Drury and Peter O’Brien

The female fan favorite Brandon Drury made his debut with the Snakes in September of 2015. He played with the team through the 2017 season. Originally acquired from the Braves in the Justin Upton trade, he made an impact being a versatile utility player for the Snakes. He hit 21 HRs and 71 doubles during his time in the desert. He got sent to the Yankees in the three-team trade that brought Steven Souza Jr. to Arizona. If only that trade had worked out. Drury has been unable to establish himself in the MLB since that trade, having been sent up and down over his multi-year tenure with the Blue Jays. Now, he’s with the Mets playing well for them. Peter O’Brien has some of the best power in the MLB. He just has always struggled to make contact with the ball. He stayed with the Diamondbacks through 2016. Since then, he’s found MLB time with the Marlins and is back in the Minors again. To explain his struggles with making contact, he has 73 K’s in 182 at-bats. That’s a 40% rate. Ouch.

2016 Matt Koch

Well, the Diamondbacks had a miserable first year of their “evolution” with their new uniforms and new ace Zack Greinke. Nonetheless, a player who would help the club reach the playoffs in 2017 debuted in Sept of 2016. His name is Matt Koch. Matt appeared in 4 seasons with the Dbacks until 2019. During his time in the desert, he went 6-6 in a swingman role between the rotation and bullpen. He also had 69 K’s in 125.1 innings. Now, he is pitching in the Indians minor leagues.  A quick fun fact for another Dbacks player who made his debut in September of 2016 is Mitch Haniger. It’s okay if you forget him as he only played in a few games. Despite that, the new GM at the time Mike Hazen was able to trade him with Segura and others for Ketel Marte and Taijuan Walker. Haniger’s now an All-Star player with Seattle. So is Ketel with Arizona.

2017 No One

With a veteran squad that was healthy and marching towards the playoffs, it should come as no surprise that no one debuted in September for the Snakes. The only player to make their debut that whole season of note is Ildemaro Vargas who has been a utility player between the majors and minors for the Dbacks and Cubs since 2017. He’s back in the MLB with Arizona currently.

2018 Yoan Lopez

Well, this one backfired if only because he isn’t in the organization anymore and cost the Diamondbacks some big games. His first inning in the bigs did not go well as he gave up a go-ahead three-run HR off of Freddie Freeman. He had a rather average 2019, only struggling in the later innings of games when Torey tried to put him in high-leverage spots. However, 2020 and 2021 were abject disasters. Over his 32 innings across the two seasons, he gave up 25 runs. Now, he’s pitching in Atlanta’s minor league system and trying to make it back to the bigs. He has a  4.25 ERA over his 102.1 innings pitched in the MLB.

2019 No One

During the 2019 season, Arizona had plenty of rookie MLB debuts. Surprisingly, none made theirs in September. Despite that, we still had Josh Rojas, Merrill Kelly, Taylor Clarke, Jon Duplantier, and Kevin Cron all debut in the Majors. Rojas has developed into a stud at the MLB level. Merrill Kelly is a steady presence in the rotation delivering consistent results. Clarke and Duplantier have struggled greatly due to injuries and bad performances. They are both in Reno either rehabbing from an injury or working on getting their craft better. Kevin Cron got sent to Japan following the 2019 season after the team decided he had no permanent role for the Majors. Cron was not a great defender and/or base runner. They decided to help him pursue more money, fame, playing time, and a starting role in Japan so he could maybe come back to the MLB in the future ala Eric Thames.