Diamondbacks are Finalists for 2024's NL Offensive Team of the Year

After an incredible offensive year, the Diamondbacks are now finalists for the Offensive Team of the Year.

Arizona Diamondbacks players watch their teammates from the dugout during the final inning of their 11-2 win against the San Diego Padres at Chase Field on Sept. 29, 2024, in Phoenix. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Arizona Diamondbacks had an incredible offensive season in 2024. While they did not end up making it to the playoffs, awards season still comes bearing fruit for the young Arizona club.

The D-backs have been nominated for NL Offensive Team of the Year, as part of the Silver Slugger awards. This award was first given out in 2023 when the Braves and Rangers took home the hardware.

It was announced on Monday morning that the Diamondbacks along with the Los Angeles Dodgers had been named finalists on the National League side of things, while on the American League end, the Yankees and Orioles earned the honors.

Imagining a matchup against the Dodgers in this category might have been unthinkable before 2024, but there is a remarkable case that the Diamondbacks are the deserving winners.

The D-backs led all of MLB in Runs scored in 2024, with an incredible total of 886 runs. This blows the rest of the league out of the water, including the Dodgers who came second in the statistic. Los Angeles scored 842 runs, which is still an impressive total, and are only one of three teams to score more than 800 runs, but still 44 runs behind the Diamondbacks.

This pattern follows in RBI, with the Diamondbacks leading the category with 845, with the Dodgers well behind at 815.

This Arizona offense was powered by an incredible core of bats including Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, and Joc Pederson, each of which had career years, earning themselves consideration for the All-MLB team. Eugenio Suarez and Corbin Carroll started off slow but skyrocketed themselves into the same territory as other staples of the lineup with monster second halves to the year.

The D-backs also led MLB in OBP, which was the club's biggest weapon in the run-scoring department. In batting average Arizona tied for first, alongside their rival San Diego Padres with a team .263 BA.

Things head south in the slugging department. The Dodgers certainly have cause for their nomination, even without as much pure run-scoring production. The top-of-the-lineup powerhouse of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernandez made them one of the most lethal lineups in baseball over the last year.

In slugging percentage LA just overtakes Arizona for the league lead with a .446 slug compared to the D-backs' .440 percentage. OPS follows suit with the Dodgers coming out on top with a .781 clip compared to the 2nd-ranked Diamondbacks' .777.

Home Runs also go the Dodgers' way, though not as clearly as in other cases. The long ball is one of the only offensive statistics led by the American League, with the Yankees and Orioles paving the way, before the Dodgers fill in the #3 spot with 233 home runs.

The Diamondbacks on the other hand are further back in 5th with 211 home runs, behind the Atlanta Braves who had a dissapointing year.

While many stats can be skewed to paint a different picture in this debate, the pure run-scoring machine that was the Arizona Diamondbacks' lineup in 2024 should be recognized with this award. While they did not reach October baseball, that fault did not come on the backs of the offense, which, for most of the year, was an absolute force to be reckoned with.

The winners of this award, along with other Silver Slugger award winners will be announced on November 12th.

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