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

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

2024 contract status: pre-arbitration, $800,000

Left-handed outfielder Jake McCarthy burst onto the scene in 2022, quickly becoming one of the Diamondbacks’ best hitters over his first 99 games, but the 2023 season was a disappointment, as he only hit . 243 with a .644 OPS and two homers.

He bounced between Triple-A and the majors, and struggled with injuries, missing the D-backs’ World Series.

In 2024, the question was whether or not he would be a contributor, or even if he would remain on the roster. He figured to be a bench hitter to start the year, but a hamstring injury to Alek Thomas opened the door for McCarthy to play a larger role in the lineup and in the outfield.

He immediately began producing, hitting .295 with a triple and three doubles through April, including a six-game hitting streak with three stolen bases.

May looked similar, as he went 3 for 4 on May 5, catapulting his average above .300. He hit his first pair of home runs in May, and although his monthly average dipped a bit as the month went on, he began to find more pop, hitting .407 while walking eight times against eight strikeouts.

His consistency continued, hitting .286 through June with an impressive .393 OBP. He frequently found ways to get on base, hitting for average, drawing walks and stealing seven bases. Even if he wasn’t hitting runs or hitting home runs, he was driving to the bases and creating chaos, all while playing solid defense on the field.

But the young outfielder’s season truly came to life in July. In the games on July 17, he recorded a hit in 11 of them and began crushing the baseball with incredible speed.

Although he didn’t hit a home run in July, he hit an incredible .345/.387/.517, with two doubles and four triples, and an incredible performance in Pittsburgh, where he scored 5 out of 5 for the first time. times in a game in his career – the only D-back to do so in 2024.

And he continued to sustain his production. August, while down slightly from July’s monstrous numbers, is still a great month for McCarthy. He slashed .311/.368/.495, his home run count more than doubling after smashing five throughout August.

He recorded eight multi-hit games during that month and began to rack up exceptional run production, scoring 17 runs and hitting 26, both high monthly totals for the season.

But perhaps McCarthy’s most iconic moment came at home on August 13 against the Colorado Rockies. Trailing 3-2, with two outs and the bases loaded, McCarthy fired a hard ground ball down the third base line for his third hit of the game, scoring two runs and leaving the Rockies en route to a sweep.

Unfortunately for McCarthy and the D-backs, September was when he started to fall apart. He is hitting just .234 over the past month and hitting just .255, with only two doubles, no triples and no home runs. He struck out 13 against two walks and only managed six runs.

But overall, McCarthy had a great 2024 season. He finished the year with an impressive .285/.349/.400 batting line over 142 games, good for a .749 OPS and 109 OPS+ (9 % above average).

His infield defense wasn’t perfect, as he had -3 defensive runs saved while splitting somewhat equal time between center field and right field, but his 98th percentile sprint speed earned him +6 strikeouts above average, top 10% in MLB.

But perhaps its most impressive look comes from its platoon splits. Although he is a left-handed hitter, McCarthy has shown the ability to hit left-handed pitches at an exceptional rate.

Although he saw fewer opportunities against lefties, his splits were almost identical, hitting .284 against lefties and .286 against righties.

His power numbers were skewed more toward right-handed pitchers, but McCarthy was a baseline machine even against some of the tougher left-handed pitchers. On top of that, he hit .350 with runners in scoring position, with 46 RBIs in RISP situations.

2025 contract status: Final pre-arbitration year, estimated salary $800,000

McCarthy figures to have earned a more everyday role with the D-backs after his excellent 2024 season, and with Alek Thomas struggling, both injured and at the plate, McCarthy’s high level of production could offset the defensive prowess Thomas brings to the center field. .

Entering his age-27 season, it appears the speedy outfielder has begun to find his game, maintaining that chaotic presence on the base paths while hitting for average and finding ways to keep going, rather than hitting.

Certainly, this brand of hitter fits the Arizona archetype. However, that doesn’t change the fact that McCarthy still has some of the league’s worst average exit velocity (84.5), barrel rate (2.7%), and sweet-spot rate (30.4%). ).

These factors might suggest some regression in 2025, but even a slight decline from his 2024 numbers would make him a particularly productive and valuable player. That said, his whiff and strikeout rates ranked in the top 20% in MLB, and his .265 xBA (expected batting average) fell just below the top 20%.

Now, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com recently reported that the D-backs are attracting trade interest in both McCarthy and Thomas.

While that remains a possibility and Arizona has decent motivation to sell high on either of them, there’s still a good chance McCarthy could be back with the D-backs in 2025 .