Other than Shelby Miller riding in on a white horse, everything that went wrong for the Diamondbacks during Dave Stewart's reign suddenly went right in 2018. A.J. Pollock stayed healthy. Zack Greinke delivered on his mega contract. Robbie Ray broke out. Ditto Zack Godley and Archie Bradley. The result was a 24-win improvement, and in a scenario in which the Dodgers don't exist, we may be hailing their 2017 as even more of a triumph.

In other words, they're really good. The talent is genuine and sure to impact the early rounds of your Fantasy draft, especially on the pitching side. Between Greinke, Ray, Godley, Taijuan Walker and Patrick Corbin, they don't have room to reintroduce Bradley, their top reliever from a year ago, to the starting rotation, which they've said in the past they intend to do. And Miller may be out of luck when he returns from Tommy John surgery.

The lineup isn't as deep, particularly if you agree with my assessment of Jake Lamb. J.D. Martinez is of course a big loss, but he was with the club only 2 1/2 months, and the Diamondbacks at least managed to secure an able replacement in Steven Souza.

The biggest issue for them offensively is that they've installed a humidor and will be using it for the first time this year. Colorado is the only environment with one in use, but it was a complete circus before adopting it in 2002. While the dry desert air has always made Chase Field a hitter-friendly environment, the data suggests a drastic overcorrection from dampening the baseballs, potentially cutting home runs by as much as 50 percent.

It's enough for me to shift all of their hitters down my rankings. 

Diamondbacks in Scott's top 300
PlayerRoto RankH2H RankRoto Pos RankH2H Pos Rank
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Paul Goldschmidt ARI 1B
#10#11#1#1
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Zack Greinke ARI SP
#29#28#5#5
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Robbie Ray ARI SP
#50#46#14#14
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A.J. Pollock ARI CF
#70#89#20#19
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Zack Godley ARI SP
#87#61#21#21
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Jake Lamb ARI 3B
#148#152#17#16
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Steven Souza TB RF
#167#234#42#51
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Patrick Corbin ARI SP
#193#156#51#52
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Taijuan Walker ARI SP
#250#188#70#68
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Archie Bradley ARI RP
#255#267#29#32
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Alex Avila ARI C
#260NR#17#17

Players in Scott's Top 100 Prospects

Diamondbacks prospects
52Jon Duplantier
This upstart put together the minors' most impressive pitching line last year -- specifically, the lowest ERA since Justin Verlander in 2005 -- which is especially notable given that he spent half the season in the hitter-friendly California League. He has some durability concerns but isn't some fly-by-night, earning high marks for pitchability with his four-pitch arsenal.
Scott's 2018 Fantasy impact: midseason hopeful

Things to Know

  • Seeing as last year's saves leader, Fernando Rodney, is now in Minnesota, Archie Bradley would be the obvious choice to take over as closer if the Diamondbacks weren't still invested in converting him back to a starter someday. The more integral his bullpen role, the more difficult it becomes to remove him from it. Brad Boxberger, acquired this offseason from the Rays, was once an All-Star closer and finished strong last year, so Bradley's claim to the role may not be a foregone conclusion.
  • Even without J.D. Martinez, the acquisition of Steven Souza and Jarrod Dyson along with the return of Yasmany Tomas from a season-ending injury creates a logjam in the outfield. Souza and Pollock figure to play most every day, but the others' roles are too up in the air for mixed-league use.
  • Some of Robbie Ray's single-game strikeout totals in the second half suggest he may still be growing as a major-league pitcher, but if we accept the full-season numbers at face value, it's possible he overachieved last year with a .267 BABIP. You can attribute almost all of last year's improvement to that number, down from .352 in 2016, and I'm not sure either extreme is the most realistic scenario for 2018. (But the humidor helps!)
  • Though he didn't get to serve as the primary catcher at either of his two stops, Alex Avila looked like a hitter transformed, hitting the ball harder than ever (as hard as anyone in the league, in fact, according to FanGraphs) and elevating it like he did during his one standout season in 2011. He should get a larger share of the at-bats this year, making him a sleeper of sorts.

Lineup & Rotation

Batting order    
                
1 David Peralta LF
2 A.J. Pollock CF
3 Paul Goldschmidt 1B
4 Jake Lamb 3B
5 Steven SouzaRF
6 Alex Avila C
7 Chris Owings 2B
8 Ketel Marte SS
Pitchers                             
SP Zack Greinke
SP Robbie Ray
SP Taijuan Walker
SP Zack Godley
SP Patrick Corbin
CL Archie Bradley
RP Brad Boxberger
RP Yoshihisa Hirano