Biggest one hit wonders in Arizona Diamondbacks history

There are a ton of one-hit wonders throughout professional sports history. Playing a sport at that level is hard, and a lot of guys can’t sustain high-level production for a long time and, in some cases, beyond just one season. The Arizona Diamondbacks haven’t been around for all that long, at least compared to the rest of Major League Baseball’s history. But there have been plenty of instances of one-hit wonders for them.

That is what we will be looking at today. These guys peaked in one season and never seemed to be able to recapture the magic of that one year. No other season even comes close to this one year in their career. For some, this was a life-defining season.

Chad Tracy

The Diamondbacks took Chad Tracy in the seventh round of the 2001 MLB draft. In his 2004 rookie season, Tracy batted .289/.343/.407. He had a low 11% strikeout rate with a respectable 8.5% walk rate. While these numbers look decent on paper, considering how good at hitting the rest of the league was and how hitter-friendly Chase Field was.

Regardless, Tracy then broke out in 2005. In 553 plate appearances, Tracy slashed .308/.359/.553 with a .385 wOBA and 130 wRC+. While his strikeout rate (14.3%) and walk rate (6.3%) both moved in the wrong direction, he saw his isolated slugging percentage go from just .123 to .245. Tracy hit 27 home runs. There were just 16 batters that year with 25+ homers and a .300+ BA.

Tracy split his time between first base and right field. At first, he was a great defender with +9 defensive runs saved and a +8.0 UZR/150. His defense in left field wasn’t as good, but he wasn’t a major liability either. He had -3 DRS but +6.8 UZR/150. Plus, his arm was about average out in right.

But after that 2005 season? Tracey was a below-league-average batter. He would hit just .261/.322/.416 with a .319 wOBA and 86 wRC+ throughout the final 1903 plate appearances of his career. Tracey hit 20 home runs in 2006 but just 27 more after that. Tracey appeared in games for the Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs in 2010 and finished off his MLB career with the Washington Nationals in 2012-2013.

Junior Spivey

The Diamondbacks drafted Junior Spievey in their very first MLB draft in 1996. The D-Backs wouldn’t play their inaugural season until 1998. On top of that, Spivey was a 36th-round pick, a round that doesn’t exist anymore (2023’s draft was 20 rounds). Spivey played his first MLB games in 2001, where he hit .258/.354/.423 with a 101 wRC+. As a platoon second baseman, these were decent numbers. But 2002 would be the peak of Spivey’s career.

Over 626 plate appearances, Spivey batted .301/.389/.476. He struck out in 16% of his plate appearances with a quality 10.4% walk rate. The middle infielder had 34 doubles and 16 home runs, leading to an isolated slugging percentage of .175. Spivey’s defense was league average with zero DRS and only +0.2 UZR/150, but he still finished the year with +4.3 fWAR.

Not only did Spivey make the 2002 All-Star game, but he also received some MVP votes. He finished 14th in voting, ahead of the likes of Andruw Jones, Gary Sheffield, Jim Edmonds, Todd Helton, and Larry Walker. Now, it’s totally debatable if Spievey was truly more deserving than any of those players. But the point of the matter is we are talking about someone who got MVP votes at one point in their career, deserving or not.

Spivey would fall well below these marks in the following three seasons. He would bat just .252/.332/.413 with a .327 wOBA and 93 wRC+ over his next 964 plate appearances with the D-Backs, Milwaukee Brewers, and Nationals. While he provided good defense at the keystone, his wRC+ in 2003-2005 would fall 31% short of his 2002 campaign. Spivey would appear in games with the Cardinals and Red Sox’s Triple-A affiliates and play some independent ball before retiring in 2009.