What’s in a hot start for the Diamondbacks’ players?
The article examines whether a hot start to the season for individual players, particularly those on the Arizona Diamondbacks, is indicative of sustained performance. While teams that begin strong often maintain playoff contention, individual player performance can fluctuate significantly over the course of a season. The analysis focuses on OPS in the first month as a benchmark for early success and long-term outcomes.
- ▪The league-average OPS in March/April of the previous season was .707, the lowest of any month.
- ▪Over 100 players had at least 90 plate appearances and an OPS above league average in the first month.
- ▪Players with strong early OPS are compared to their full-season performance to assess the significance of a hot start.
- ▪The 2024 Houston Astros had the second-worst record in April but finished the season strong to win their division.
- ▪Pitchers were excluded from this analysis due to difficulties in measuring performance consistency for both starters and relievers.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/hot-start-diamondbacks-players-055406598.html","headline":"What’s in a hot start for the Diamondbacks’ players?","datePublished":"2026-05-02T05:54:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-02T05:54:06.000Z","keywords":["Arizona Diamondbacks","Ildemaro Vargas","OPS","Chicago Cubs","hot start","so hot","Pavin Smith","Mike Trout","Kyle Schwarber","Aaron Judge"],"description":"How much does a hot start to the season matter for players?","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo Sports","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/cv/apiv2/default/icons/favicon_y112_112.png","width":112,"height":112},"url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Yahoo Sports.