Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Randal Grichuk

The platoon DH and 4th outfielder had a career year at the plate as he crushed left-handed pitching

Aug 2, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Randal Grichuk (15) reacts as he warms up before a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

This article is part of a series chronicling the individual seasons of players who appeared for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024.

Reviews for players who still have rookie eligibility for 2025 will appear in our prospect season reviews. Players are presented in the reverse order of their aWAR, an average of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs WAR.

Randal Grichuk, Right-Handed Outfielder/DH, Age: 33

2024 Contract Status: $1.50 MM,

Randal Grichuk was signed in February of 2024 to a one-year deal worth $1.5M million dollars with a mutual option and a buy-out worth up to $1.75 if the option is declined for the 2025 season. The veteran outfielder more than held up his end of the bargain with his performance this past season.

Grichuk came into the 2024 season with a career OPS of .761. That was with 70% of his plate appearances against right-handed pitching, according to Baseball-Reference

However, his OPS against just left-handers for his career prior to this season was .822 in roughly 30% of his career plate appearances. The D-backs realized that and signed him so he could hit mostly against lefties which he was clearly far better at.

They were wise in that choice as Grichuk put up a career year. He faced lefties 66% of the time and right-handers 34% of the time and had a career-best batting line of .291/.348/.528 and an OPS of .875, a 139 wRC+. 100 wRC+ is the league average. He was 39% above average. His OPS+ was 140.

In total this season, he had 74 hits, 20 doubles, two triples, 12 homers, 46 RBI, 20 walks, and only 46 strikeouts. He reached multiple career milestones this year such as 200 home runs, 1,000 hits, and 600 RBI. Grichuk reached 10 years of service time too.

Grichuk demolished left-handed pitching over 184 plate appearances. He slashed .319/.386/.528 with an OPS of .914. He had 52 hits, 14 doubles, six home runs, and 32 RBI. Against right-handers, he had a good .801 OPS but hit just .242 and had an OBP of only .274.

Grichuk started the season off slow in terms of slugging. From Opening Day to June 1, he hit .286 but slugged just .393 with an OPS of only .726. It was a far cry of what the expectations were, but the power could've been affected by his heel.

He had heel surgery shortly before the season which prevented him from making his debut until mid-April and could've affected his swing or power.

The power started to come back on June 2 and continued through August 30 where he hit .252 and slugged .455 with a .774 OPS. However, he still had just five home runs on the season and 15 doubles to go with two triples.

Then September came around and he caught fire from day one as he led off the month with a three hit game including a double and home run.

Over his 21 games in September, he hit .404 while slugging .957 with an OPS of 1.408. He had seven home runs, 19 RBI, 19 hits, five doubles, four walks, and amazingly, just six strikeouts. Grichuk pummeled the ball and consistently made loud contact to help push the D-backs to the playoffs.

It was a career month for him that showcased his impact with the bat and how important he was to the D-backs lineup.

In total, the advanced metrics backed up that this was a career season for Grichuk despite the lower counting totals due to limited games played. He walked at a career-high rate of 7.2% and struck out at a career-low rate of 16.5%.

His hard hit percentage was a career best 47.6%, a career low ground ball rate of 36.2%, and career-high Win Probability Added of 1.7.

All told, Grichuk made a major impact on the Diamondbacks offense while serving as the short-side platoon at DH and as the 4th outfielder capable of giving Lourdes Gurriel Jr, Corbin Carroll, or Jake McCarthy days off.

2025 and Beyond

2025 Contract status: Free Agent

Randal Grichuk declined his end of a $6 million mutual option in favor of taking a $1.75 million buyout and becoming a free agent. It was no surprise that Arizona picked up their end of the option but will now have to battle it out in free agency to get him.

Jack Sommers proposed offering Grichuk a two year deal worth $14 million with a third year mutual option as part of his offseason plan article. A two year deal will be required to get Grichuk back for his age 33 and 34 seasons.

Related Content: Proposing a Simple, Realistic Plan for the Diamondbacks' Offseason

Should Grichuk sign back with Arizona, there would be no reason for him to not continue to excel in a role made for him in which he faces plenty of left handers. It's a tailor made role that allows Grichuk to battle for the playoffs and experience plenty of success.

However, the Arizona Diamondbacks don't have the endless money that other teams do so there's a chance that another team offers him a big money deal or longer years. Plus, there could be other teams that offer more playing time.

However, according to Grichuk's social media, he lives in Arizona and loved played for his hometown team and being able to stay at home with his young family. That could be a factor that helps the D-backs re-sign Grichuk. Only time will tell as to whether the slugging outfielder makes a return to the teal uniforms.

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