3 Possible New Stations For the "Freight Train"
So currently on their 40-man roster, they have 6 outfielders. We will start with the most notable in Kevin Kiermaier, who by the way is the club's oldest player as well at 32. He is known for his defense, in 2022 he has only had 1 error in 129 chances, all in center field. With a .992 fielding percentage. But that comes with an offensive price, which would be a 50% ground ball rate, 28.7 strikeout rate, the highest of his career (league average is 21.6%), and his lowest walk percentage at 4.8% of his career when the league average is 8.3%. Harold Ramirez has played mostly DH in 2022 for the Rays. Now, he gives you a nice .297 batting average and 47 hits, but only 10 of those 47 hits have gone for extra bases. He hits the ball on the ground a lot, his ground ball percentage is 52.9% while his fly ball percentage is a putrid 15.0%. Good average, no power. Brett Phillips has played in 49 games and is batting .173 with 10 RBIs, ouch.
Manuel Margot does have the second most hits on the team with 54 and he owns a robust .303 average, but like Ramirez, he has only 14 of those 54 hits for extra bases. Josh Lowe has only played in 19 games, but he is batting .188 with 1 home run and 6 RBIs. Randy Arozarena is the best average performer across the board with 7 home runs, 14 doubles, and 31 RBIs to go along with 12 stolen bases. Collectively this group of 6 outfielders doesn't even have 25 home runs combined. I would say they need an upgrade. Peralta in left, Kiermaier/Margot in centerfield, and Arozarena in right.
Who should the Diamondbacks Target?
Ryan Yarbrough is a left-handed pitcher who has been used in a starting and relief role in his 4 years with the Rays. This season was not a good one for the southpaw, and he was sent to the minors because of it. Ryan was 0-3 with a 5.65 ERA in only 28.2 innings. But, if you look at his career numbers, he may be a candidate for a bounceback. In his 4 seasons, his record is 37-26 with 119 walks and 426 strikeouts with a WHIP of 1,194. Plus, he is starting to get expensive, at least for the Rays. He is signed for $3.8MM this season with 2 more arbitration years left, therefore he is not a free agent until 2025.