Just about everything from the 2016 season could be viewed as a disaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Looking back now, it was probably a bit of foreshadowing when outfielder — and spark plug — A.J. Pollock went down with an elbow injury on the eve of the regular season.

Instead of taking a step forward from the 79-83 record they posted in 2015, they took a step back with a 69-93 mark.

While the outlook of this club looked more grim heading into 2017 compared to the year before, there was still a lot of young talent to get excited about.

There are another five months to go in the regular season, but here we are, with them competing for the top of the National League West with a 15-9 record.

That looks a lot different from last April, when they finished with a 12-14 record, and the presence of both Pollock and David Peralta in the first two spots of the lineup has been a noticeable and welcome difference.

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