Diamondbacks 2023 Player Reviews: Emmanuel Rivera

Rivera failed to grab hold of the third baseman's job during an up-and-down 2023 season before losing playing time

This article is part of a series of player reviews for the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks. It was a surprising and marvelous year for the team as they won 84 games to make the postseason. They advanced to Game Five of the World Series before bowing out to the Texas Rangers. There are 54 players in all that had at least one at-bat or pitched at least one inning for the team this past season. They are being presented in reverse order of their aWAR (average WAR-Wins Above Replacement) produced, which is the average of Baseball Reference and Fangraphs WAR. These are their season stories.

Emmanuel Rivera 2023 stats were slightly worse than his career numbers albeit far from starter's numbers / Jake Oliver

Rivera was expected to form part of a platoon at third base serving as the potential answer against left-handed pitchers. While he was a decent defensive third baseman, he failed to fulfill those expectations. Rivera started the season in Triple-A with the Reno Aces. Over the first 16 games there, he hit .349 with a .969 OPS and 10 extra-base hits in 23 hits. That was enough for the D-backs to call up Rivera to serve as a part-time third baseman and designated hitter. 

It was a brilliant decision as Rivera got off to a blistering white-hot start with a .338 batting average over his first 23 games. While walks and extra-base hits were hard to come by, his OPS was a strong .823. However, he was benefiting from mostly singles that found their way into the shallow outfield. That isn't exactly sustainable and he found that out in June.

In June, he still hit at a decent rate, .271, but had just four extra-base hits and just three walks to 20 strikeouts. His OPS for the month was a nearly unplayable .622. Unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, Rojas had struggled so much that he was sent down to Triple-A,  leaving the team with only Rivera and Evan Longoria to play at third base.

This meant that the team was forced to continue to trot out Rivera every day despite his lack of ability against right-handed pitching. July was better as Rivera rediscovered his strike-zone ability and his power stroke. He rebounded to an above-average .807 OPS with a .259 batting average. He walked a healthy nine times to just 16 strikeouts. Plus, the encouraging sing was that he had two doubles and three home runs.

However, following the trade deadline, Rivera entered a prolonged slump in which he went hitless over seven straight games. After the August 11th game, Rivera was optioned to Triple-A. He would stay there until the rosters expanded on September 1st.

In the final month of the season, Rivera platooned with Jace Peterson at third base. However, even with Rivera mostly facing left-handed pitching, his slump continued. Over 20 games, Rivera had just eight hits including just one extra-base hit, a double, and a .583 OPS. The bright side was that he was seeing the ball well at the plate. He walked seven times to just five strikeouts. Still, once the playoffs came, Rivera was basically unplayable as the team turned to Longoria for his offense. 

 In the postseason, Rivera had a .235 batting average over 13 games as he frequently came in as a pinch hitter or defensive replacement. He did start four games but recorded just two hits in those 14 at-bats.

2024 Status and Outlook:

Rivera was set up to be the team's starter against left-handed pitching, but he struggled against them. He had just a .711 OPS when having the platoon advantage. Against right-handed pitching, he had a .652 OPS. That's just unplayable. While he's just now entering his age-28 season, the Diamondbacks have replaced him at third base. They acquired Eugenio Suarez to be the new everyday third baseman. This means that at best, Rivera is a backup to first and third base. The likelier option is that Rivera is sent to the Reno Aces to serve as depth in case of injury. Should he remain on the active roster, he isn't eligible for arbitration until 2025. He isn't able to hit free agency until 2028.

Diamondbacks 2023 Top 54 Player Reviews Links Hub

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