Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed will undergo season-ending hip surgery, reports Steve Gilbert of MLB.com (Twitter link). Ahmed has been on the disabled list since July 23 with a hip impingement, an issue that sprung up in June.
The 26-year-old Ahmed, whom Atlanta chose in the second round of the 2011 draft, joined the Diamondbacks organization in a 2012 trade involving Justin Upton and has been a regular in the majors since last season. Ahmed has been a drain on Arizona’s offense during that time, though, with a .223/.271/.335 batting line in 767 plate appearances. Among hitters with at least 750 PAs dating back to 2015, Ahmed ranks last in the majors in wRC+ (57).
While Ahmed’s work at the dish has left much to be desired, his defense has been a completely different story. Advanced metrics have assigned him excellent marks over the past year-plus. He ranks 13th out of all major league position players this season in Defensive Runs Saved (12), 22nd in Ultimate Zone Rating (7.9) and 19th in UZR/150 (13.2). It was a similar situation last year for Ahmed, who was sixth, 11th and seventh in those three categories.
The D-backs’ current shortstop, Chris Owings, doesn’t bring Ahmed’s defensive chops to the table, but he has hovered around the league-average mark offensively in two of the past three seasons (though he wasn’t nearly as effective in 2015). Owings’ current line of .283/.331/.413 (he’s also 12 of 12 on stolen base attempts) makes him a significant offensive upgrade over Ahmed.
Owings also did a commendable job playing CF everyday for the first time until ARI needed him back at SS.
And the Diamondbacks traded Didi to Yankees. Boy that front office makes one dumb trade after another. They need to clean house!
Yea, but they got a guy that will crush the ball for 400 ft homers, while hitting .200. Agree with you that they are very poor assessors of talent.
They got Robbie Ray in that trade, and he still has a high ceiling
Love Ahmed’s personality and glove but he is nothing more than a defensive player off the bench. Can’t keep running a guy out there that can hit above .220
I think I can give Ahmed regular at bats because he’s just so good at shortstop, which is a pretty hard position to play
Marcus Semien anyone?
But why give him regular at bats when the dbacks have Chris Owings. Owings isn’t quite as good defensively but he is definitely above average and he is hitting .280