Designated hitter options still on the free agent market for the Arizona Diamondbacks to pursue
The Arizona Diamondbacks still need to find a designated hitter, so who is still out there for them to go after?
Full-time regulars
J.D. Martinez is arguably the biggest DH option still out there. Martinez batted .271/.321/.571 with a .369 wOBA and 135 wRC+. The former Boston Red Sox changed his approach at the plate, going for power and launch angle at the expense of his plate discipline. His 7.1% walk rate was his worst since 2014, and this was the first time he struck out over 30% in his career. But he posted career highs in exit velocity (93.4 MPH) and hard-hit rate (54.8%) and nearly matched a career-high in launch angle (16.8 degrees). Martinez missed a few weeks in August but otherwise played most of the season.
While Martinez’s rise in strikeouts and lower walk rate is slightly concerning, he did counteract it with a level of power he hasn’t hit for since 2017. There were only three batters with a higher ISO than Martinez in 450+ plate appearances. Those three were Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, and Matt Olson.
If Martinez isn’t the biggest DH free agent still available, then it’s Jorge Soler. Soler rebounded after a rough 2022 season to bat .250/.341/.512 across 580 plate appearances. Soler’s 11.4% walk rate was the highest since his 2016 season. Meanwhile, he struck out 24.3% of the time, slugging 36 home runs and having a .262 isolated slugging percentage. This all came to a 126 wRC+. Soler was also elite in hard-hit rate (48%), exit velocity (91.3 MPH), and barrel rate (15%). Soler occasionally plays the field but has never been a good corner outfield glove. His innings in the outfield have steadily decreased in the last three seasons.
This was Soler’s best season with the bat since 2019. Not only did he post good numbers overall, but these were his best raw power numbers (exit velo, hard-hit rate, barrel rate) since his 2019 season with the Kansas City Royals.
A strong rebound candidate to consider is Rhys Hoskins. Hoskins missed the entirety of the 2023 season after tearing his ACL in Spring Training. But the last time he played in 2022 was another quality season in his long resume. The first baseman batted .246/.332/.462 with a .345 wOBA, and 122 wRC+. Hoskins went yard 30 times and had a .216 ISO. But this was a down year for him, power-wise. That happened to be the lowest ISO of his career thus far. Hoskins also walked at an above-average rate of 10.7% with a 25.1% strikeout rate. While Hoskins has never been a full-time DH, his defense at first base has never been great, and coming off a serious leg injury, it would probably be best if his time in the field was limited.
Of the best full-time regular DH options still on the market, I’d lean toward Martinez. Not only are the D-Backs already familiar with him, but he’s consistently been an above-average hitter since 2014. Last year was his best season since his peak 2017-2019 stretch, and he made enough adjustments to avoid a harsh aging curve, in my opinion. Jorge Soler is inconsistent with a streak health track record, and while I wouldn’t be opposed to Hoskins, he’s still a risk because of his massive injury last year.
Platoon options
Brandon Belt is the best potential platoon option. Last year, 365 of his 404 plate appearances came against RHP (a touch over 90%), and batted .256/.375/.515 with a .381 wOBA and 146 wRC+ against opposite-handed pitching. Belt ranked top 15 in OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ among the 203 batters with at least 300 plate appearances vs RHP.
He only saw 39 plate appearances against left-handed pitching but registered a wRC+ of just 64. There was a worrying aspect of Belt’s season, and that was strikeouts. Even though he was a top 15 batter last year vs. righties, he also struck out over a third of the time (34.5%, to be exact).
Joc Pederson is another potential left-handed hitting platoon designated hitter option. He stepped to the plate 375 times against right-handers while batting .241/.351/.435. This was a down year for Pederson. He registered .337 wOBA and 115 wRC+ against righties, and it was just the second time he faced opposite-handed pitching at least 300 times and had a sub-120 wRC+.
But Pederson did have a .368 xwOBA on the year. His 13.4% walk rate was the best he’s posted since his 2015 rookie season, while his 20.9% strikeout rate has thus far been the best of his career. His exit velocity, hard-hit rate, and launch angle from 2023 aren’t much different from 2022, so there’s a good chance we could see him rebound next season.
Belt can occasionally play first base, and Pederson can work as a 5th outfielder, but if the D-Backs want to go full-on part-time DH, Daniel Vogelbach would be one option. 303 of his 319 plate appearances were against right-handed pitching. He batted .246/.353/.427 with a .342 wOBA and 119 wRC+. Vogelbach had a respectable 24.1% strikeout rate but had a strong 13.5% walk rate.
So far, we have only looked at left-handed hitters who can hit right-handed pitching well. But for a platoon to work, you need a right-handed hitter who can hit left-handed pitching well. One of the better platoon options vs LHP is Garrett Cooper. Cooper was consistently a solid batter from 2019 through 2022 but had a down year in 2023. He is now looking to rebound in 2024.
Cooper stepped to the plate 112 times against left-handed pitching this year but hit extremely well. In this relatively small sample size, he hit .324/.374/.529 with a .385 wOBA and 145 wRC+. 345 of his plate appearances were against same-handed pitching, but he had just an 80 wRC+ when facing a righty. However, it’s not as if Cooper hasn’t hit right-handed pitching well in the past. He had a wRC+ above 115 in ‘19, ‘21, and ‘22.
One player who could serve as a part-time DH/4th outfielder for the D-Backs is Aaron Hicks. Hicks had 74 plate appearances vs LHP this past year but had 17 hits, including three home runs and 11 walks. It is a small sample size of less than 100 plate appearances, but Hicks has a better career OPS vs LHP (.753) than when he faces RHP (.702). Hicks’ defense is far from what it once was, but could be solid in a 4th outfield capacity.
Another part-time DH/4th outfield option on the free agent market is Randal Grichuk. Grichuk saw 134 plate appearances vs. LHP, batting .328/.388/.607 with a 150 wRC+. His 9% walk rate was above league average; however, he also kept strikeouts to a minimum with just a 12.7% K-rate. These numbers are much worse than the 79 wRC+, 5% walk rate, and 23.4% K-rate he put up against RHP.
If I had to choose two of these players, it would probably be a Belt/Grichuk platoon. Take it for what you will, but if you combine Belt’s numbers vs. RHP and Grichuk’s numbers vs. LHP from last season, you get a .276/.379/.541 batter in 499 plate appearances. Both can also provide solid back-up and depth in the outfield and first base.