Written by Amit Lal | 25 May 2010

After a quarter of the season, here are my rankings of the Diamondbacks' players for the year-to-date*. Kelly Johnson is ranked #1 at the moment, leading the team with 12 HRs and a .938 OPS. Johnson has been slipping in the month of May (.194 AVG), but still has the best overall performance on the team. Right behind Johnson is a group that includes Chris Young, Adam LaRoche, Stephen Drew, and Mark Reynolds. Ian Kennedy has been the best pitcher on the staff. At the bottom end of the rankings are several relief pitchers, many of whom have been released or sent back to the minors. These rankings are based on offense, defense, baserunning, and pitching, and are a combination of objective and subjective analysis. Keep in mind that these rankings are only for performance up to this point, not a projection for the remainder of the season. Justin Upton, for example, is ranked #8 for his play so far, but would almost certainly be ranked in the Top 3 for a year-end projection.

#	Player	Comment
1	Kelly Johnson, 2B	Leads NL in HR with 12, in top 10 in OPS
2	Chris Young, CF	.864 OPS; tied for team RBI lead with 36
3	Adam LaRoche, 1B	.375 OBP leads team; .913 OPS is 2nd
4	Stephen Drew, SS	.861 OPS and solid defense at SS
5	Ian Kennedy, SP	Leads ARI starters in ERA and WHIP
6	Mark Reynolds, 3B	11 HR and played great defense at 3B
7	Dan Haren, SP	70Ks but 4.79 ERA; helping with .414 AVG
8	Justin Upton, RF	Slow start with bat, but better defense
9	Chris Snyder, C	.801 OPS and solid defense
10	Aaron Heilman, RP	3.44 ERA; Holding lefties to .135 AVG
11	Edwin Jackson, SP	Unlucky? 6.28 ERA despite 3.87 xFIP
12	Rodrigo Lopez, SP	Has a 4.42 ERA despite only 5.05K/9
13	Tony Abreu, MI	Hit .313 with good defense at 2B/SS/3B
14	Conor Jackson, LF	Hasn't found power stroke yet
15	Chad Qualls, CL	6.32 ERA, but 4 straight scoreless outings
16	Leo Rosales, RP	Had 7 shutout games until 7 ER + injury
17	Esmer. Vasquez, RP	Has allowed runs in only 2 of 12 games
18	Rusty Ryal, OF	.847 OPS in limited playing time
19	Kris Benson, SP	2 Quality Starts before injury
20	Cole Gillespie, OF	Hit pretty well, but team needed LHB/CF
21	Miguel Montero, C	Went 6 for 12 before injury
22	Billy Buckner, SP	Has one decent start and one bad one
23	Carlos Rosa, RP	Has a chance to move up bullpen ladder
24	Gerardo Parra, OF	Didn't hit much when replacing CJackson
25	John Hester, C	Did not take advantage of Montero injury
26	Augie Ojeda, MI	3 for 20; may play more if Abreu hits DL
27	Cesar Valdez, RP	Didn't last as a starter; now trying bullpen
28	Kevin Mulvey, RP	Allowed 7 baserunners in 3 IP; in AAA
29	Blaine Boyer, RP	7.82 ERA and 11BB in 12.2 IP; in AAA
30	Jord. Norberto, RP	Walked 6 in just 3 IP; now in AAA
31	Juan Gutierrez, RP	17 ER in 17.1 IP, 7 HRs; 4 L and 2 BS
32	Bob Howry, RP	6 HR, 17 ER in 14.1 IP; now with Cubs
33	Daniel Stange, RP	6 ER and 6 BB in 4 IP; now in AAA
34	Saul Rivera, RP	ERA of 27.00; 6 ER in just 2 IP

*This idea was stolen from Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts.